This Obscure Program Feeds the H-1B Visa—Meet Optional Practical Training

The Trump administration could soon propose changes to OPT, which has grown significantly in recent decades.

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This Obscure Program Feeds the H-1B Visa—Meet Optional Practical Training — A visa stamp on a foreign passport in Los Angeles on June 6, 2020. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images
A visa stamp on a foreign passport in Los Angeles on June 6, 2020. Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Senior Reporter

3/21/2026|Updated: 3/21/2026

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WASHINGTON—Americans have become familiar with the H-1B, a skilled worker visa that has sparked heated debates among conservatives.

But there’s a key feeder for the visa that many Americans may not know—one that is meeting increased scrutiny from Congress ahead of possible reforms from the Trump administration.

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Nathan Worcester

Senior Reporter

Nathan Worcester is an award-winning journalist for The Epoch Times based in Washington, D.C. He frequently covers Capitol Hill, elections, and the ideas that shape our times. He has also written about energy and the environment. Nathan can be reached at [email protected]