‘American dream’ becomes nightmare as U.S. visa uncertainties unsettle Korean students

When Park first moved to New York for college from Korea, she loved the sense of open-ended possibility her education offered

She graduated from a competitive international school in Korea where about 95 percent of her class went on to study in the United States, and she pictured a future built around career freedom and doing things on her own terms

Three years later, the soon-to-be-junior, who is studying communications and asked to be identified only by her surname, is living in a different reality — one shaped by quiet self-censorship and mounting anxiety under U.S. President Donald Trump’s shifting policies toward international students

“People have gotten really quiet,” Park told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “There’s a hush-hush feeling among students when it comes to talking about politics or immigration. Everyone’s warning each other to be careful on social media — even telling friends not to post things that could be risky.”

As Washington rolls out new policies that could affect international students’ prospects of studying — and finding jobs after graduating — the caution now comes with real financial and legal stakes attached

F-1 visas cover most international students enrolled full-time at U.S. colleges and universities, including many completing internships during their studies through a separate work authorization called Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

Under a federal rule taking effect Sept. 15, F-1 status will no longer grant an open-ended “duration of status” (D/S). Instead, visa admissions will carry a fixed maximum period of four years

For students moving on to Optional Practical Training (OPT) or extended-STEM OPT after graduation, this shift means they will often need to file a separate Extension of Stay application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

OPT work can’t legally start until that application is approved, creating a real chance of a gap between finishing school and being cleared to work, adding friction to a hiring process many employers already found slow and unpredictable

“My parents have told me to look into options abroad more broadly — not to just assume it has to be the United States — and to check out places like Canada or Australia,” Park said

A growing chilling effect across campus

Park’s experience is not an unfamiliar one across the U.S. higher education pipeline

As the U.S. back-to-school season approaches, Korean international students are grappling with a series of policy moves from Washington — with more potentially still to come

In addition to the finalized rule scrapping duration of status in favor of a four-year visa cap, reports revealed that the Trump administration is weighing a $100,000 fee on OPT, the postgraduation work permit that allows international graduates to work in the United States for one to three years

Neither policy singles out Korean students, but the timing has landed hard in a country that sends more students to U.S. universities than almost anywhere else — Korea was the third-largest 5 academic year, behind only India and China, according to the Institute of International Education

On “Mijunmo,” a Naver online community used by Koreans to trade advice on living in the United States, posts titled “Worried about OPT” have piled up by the day

“A huge cost burden makes companies reluctant to hire us, and that makes it harder to hold onto our legal status here,” said Hong, who is entering his third year at an American university and asked to be identified only by his surname. “Massive fees turn into corporate hiring avoidance. It makes you ask: Is it really worth insisting on staying in the United States at that kind of cost and uncertainty?”

Rethinking where to go, and who can still afford to

The hesitation reaches students before they even set foot on a U.S. campus

One student accepted into a UCLA graduate program starting this fall — identified, like others in this story, only by her surname, Kim — said she is now weighing whether to enroll somewhere outside the United States instead, given how uncertain OPT policy has become

In Seoul’s Apgujeong district, a renowned hub for U.S. college admissions prep, consultants report shifting family dynamics

“Tuition and living costs have gone up a lot, and the exchange rate burden has gotten heavier too, so cases where parents used to tighten their belts and send their kids to the United States no matter what have definitely become a lot rarer,” said one admissions consultant. “I think there’s a clearer tendency now than before for families with enough financial room to be the ones sending their kids to the United States.”

He added that some anxious parents are considering exploring universities in Asian hubs, such as Singapore or Hong Kong, as parallel safety nets alongside U.S. applications

However, not every consultant sees a mass exodus

Another consultant who specializes in Korean high school students applying to U.S. colleges noted that families who had already spent years preparing rarely abandon their primary target

“More stringent or more difficult policies didn’t seem to discourage them too much, as long as they saw a reasonable opening,” she said

A harder calculus for male students

The four-year cap carries an extra layer of complexity for Korean men, who must fit two years of mandatory military service around a fixed academic timeline

“For male students who aren’t green card holders, having to spend two years in the military under a four-year visa cap seriously limits their flexibility and their competitiveness in the job market,” said J. Jung, a college junior in New York who is currently completing his military service in Korea

Kim, a senior set to graduate this December, described the mood among his male peers as unsettled. Students are debating whether to enlist now or wait, with unconfirmed “talk” that the four-year rule might exempt the period spent on military leave, though “it’s too uncertain” to plan around

“Everyone doubts how realistic any of this actually is, but just the fact that the government is putting out this kind of anti-immigration rhetoric is a big risk for international students on its own,” he said

Facing a hiring market that has grown wary of sponsoring international graduates, Kim adjusted his own plans. Rather than holding out for a role in the United States, he accepted a return offer at the Seoul office of a U.S. firm

“In the past, I would have pushed a lot harder to find a job here,” he said. “But companies can’t really justify hiring an entry-level international grad right now, given the uncertainty. You can’t just plan for A or B anymore — you have to prepare C, D and E.”

What’s confirmed, and what’s still just talk

Immigration law experts emphasize that students and parents must carefully distinguish regulatory changes from political rhetoric and floating proposals

The elimination of duration of status and the implementation of the four-year visa cap is a finalized administrative rule scheduled to take effect on Sept. 15. The proposed $100,000 OPT fee, by contrast, remains an unapproved concept

“If the $100,000 OPT fee is officially pursued, it will almost certainly face legal challenges over executive authority,” said Shin Ji-min, an immigration attorney at Shin Law in New York

A counselor at a Gangnam-based admissions consulting firm who spoke on condition of anonymity cautioned against overreacting to headline-grabbing policy proposals, pointing to a history of sweeping immigration announcements that ultimately fizzled out

“Uncertainty is never good […] Most powerful people in the tech industry would want cheap immigrant labor, so my bet is over long periods of time, the oligarchs will win,” he said

Lee Yu-ree, an immigration attorney at Kookmin Emigration Corp in Seoul, pointed to clear judicial precedent

Federal courts previously struck down a nearly identical $100,000 fee on H-1B skilled worker visas, ruling that such a massive charge constitutes a tax — an authority reserved strictly for the U.S. Congress, not the executive branch

“These floating proposals often serve as political messaging ahead of U.S. midterm elections,” she said

“It’s not that the government is stopping student visas altogether,” she added. “For students who are genuinely pursuing their degrees, the four-year cap doesn’t deal a fatal blow — it simply creates additional administrative hassles, re-interview burdens at embassies and travel expenses.”

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Source: www.koreajoongangdaily.com