NBC: Massive Chinese Fraud Suspected in OPT Visa-Worker Program

Numerous U.S.-based companies that got Optional Practical Training (OPT) work permits for Chinese graduates have quietly closed their doors following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown and media investigations, according to a report by NBC Bay Area.

“NBC’s efforts to contact officers at 14 suspicious companies [who got many OPT work permits] were met with a series of dead-end business addresses and disconnected phone numbers, ” said the NBC Bay Area report. The report continued:

Emails, phone calls, and social media messages went unanswered by all but two companies. In those two instances, an officer reached by phone verified their identity but declined to discuss their company. Those 14 companies employed more than 5,500 foreign students through the OPT program in 2017, according to ICE records.

The OPT program allows 300,000 foreign graduates to get work permits lasting one to three years if they pay tuition to U.S. universities. The matching Curricular Practical Training (CPT) program gives 100,000 work permits to students each year. These two huge programs offer work permits to 400,000 foreigners each year, even as 800,000 Americans graduate from four-year colleges with skilled degrees.

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