Ghost offices, Indian HR networks, OPT visas: Shell scam under ICE Scanner

Locked Offices, Fake Payrolls? Inside the OPT Shell Company Crackdown Rocking Indian Students in the US

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)  has identified 10,000 foreign students, including several from India, who claim to be working for highly suspect employers by misusing the Optional Practical Training (OPT) component of their visas, acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons said in a press conference on Tuesday. 

 

OPT allows foreign nationals who enter the United States on a student visa to work in the US for 12, or in some cases 24, months. It also allows students to transition to an H-1B visa sponsored by employers.

 

At a press conference with officials from ICE and US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Lyons outlined some of the findings of an agency investigation into fraud associated with the Optional Practical Training program. “Our nation will not tolerate security threats originating from the foreign student program,” Lyons said. 

What is the OPT fraud controversy in a nutshell? 

 

The OPT fraud controversy in the US revolves around allegations that thousands of international students, many of them Indian, used suspicious or fake employers to maintain legal work status under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. OPT allows foreign students on F-1 visas to work in the US after graduation, especially in STEM fields, and is widely used by Indian students as a pathway to H-1B jobs and long-term employment in America. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), investigators found cases where students were listed as employees of companies that appeared to have little or no real business activity. Reports described locked offices, empty buildings, multiple companies registered at the same address, and firms with almost no staff claiming to employ hundreds of OPT workers.

 

Authorities allege that some of these companies functioned as “shell companies” — businesses that legally exist on paper but may not conduct genuine operations. ICE believes certain firms were allegedly created mainly to issue employment documents, maintain payroll records, and help students avoid falling out of legal visa status while they searched for real jobs or waited for H-1B sponsorship. Under OPT rules, students cannot remain unemployed beyond a certain limit, so having an employer on record is critical to staying legally in the US.

 

In some investigations, ICE officials reportedly found that supposed US employers redirected questions to India-based HR representatives or recruiters. Authorities suspect some networks may have been coordinated remotely through Indian staffing or consulting connections. However, the allegations are aimed at specific companies and networks, not at Indian students as a whole or the Indian government.

 

“We've encountered cases involving espionage, biological threats, intellectual property theft, visa and employment fraud, and even scams targeting elderly Americans, all perpetrated by individuals abusing their status as students,” Lyons said.

 

Lyons and other officials outlined how federal investigators conducted site visits, identifying, among other things, cases where OPT beneficiaries were being “managed” by employees based in India, in violation of a provision of the programme requiring US training and direction.

 

Lyons said the OPT programme, which was unveiled during the George W Bush administration, had anticipated only a few thousand beneficiaries to receive training before returning homes.

 

“Instead, OPT ballooned into an uncontrolled guest worker pipeline with hundreds of thousands of foreign students working in the United States. As the programme's size has exploded, so has the fraud,” he said.

 

US authorities are investigating nearly:

 

10,000 foreign students

linked to what officials described as “highly suspect employers” under the OPT program.

 

The crackdown is significant because OPT serves as one of the most important bridges between:

 

a US student visa,

and longer-term work opportunities like the H-1B visa.

 

For Indian students especially, OPT has become central to the economics of studying in America.

 

The Optional Practical Training program allows international students on F-1 visas to work in the US after graduation in jobs related to their field of study.

 

Most graduates receive:

 

12 months of work authorisation,

while STEM students can receive extensions allowing them to work for up to:

36 months.

 

Over the years, OPT has evolved into a major talent pipeline for:

 

Silicon Valley,

technology firms,

consulting companies,

and engineering employers

 

According to available OPT data:

 

Indian students represent the largest group participating in the program,

with over:

68,000 Indian OPT students

in recent years

 

Major tech companies including:

 

Amazon,

Google,

Microsoft,

Deloitte,

and Intel

have historically hired large numbers of OPT participants.

 

But US immigration authorities now argue the program has increasingly become vulnerable to misuse.

 

ICE officials recently described OPT as a:

 “magnet for fraud,”

claiming investigators found suspicious employers operating from:

 

empty offices,

residential addresses,

or inactive worksites.

 

Authorities also allege some companies may have been created primarily to help students maintain visa status rather than provide legitimate employment.

 

The crackdown appears particularly focused on:

 

staffing firms,

IT consulting companies,

and recruitment intermediaries,

which US authorities say require tighter monitoring.

 

The growing scrutiny is creating uncertainty for thousands of international students — especially Indians, who form the largest overseas student community in the US.

 

For many students, OPT is financially critical.

 

A large percentage of Indian students pursue expensive master’s degrees in the US with the expectation that OPT will allow them to:

 

recover education costs,

gain American work experience,

and eventually transition into longer-term employment visas.

 

Without OPT, the financial equation of a US education changes dramatically.

 

For example, a student spending:60,000 to $100,000

on tuition and living expenses often depends on post-study work income to repay loans.

 

The latest scrutiny comes amid broader immigration tightening under the Trump administration.

 

Over the past year, US authorities have also faced criticism after abruptly terminating SEVIS records of thousands of international students based on minor legal infractions or database matches. Courts later pushed back against several of those actions, forcing authorities to reverse many terminations.

 

In parallel, lawmakers and immigration hardliners have increasingly questioned whether OPT hurts American workers by allowing companies access to cheaper foreign labour.

 

Some Republican lawmakers have openly pushed for:

 

restricting,

reforming,

or even:

eliminating OPT entirely.

 

At the same time, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers has introduced legislation aimed at formally protecting and codifying the OPT program into law, arguing it is essential for:

 

American innovation,

STEM talent,

and competitiveness against countries like China.

 

Universities are also increasingly worried.

 

International students contribute billions of dollars annually to the US education economy through:

 

tuition,

housing,

living expenses,

and research participation.

 

For many universities, especially STEM-heavy graduate programs, Indian students form a major revenue and talent base.

 

If uncertainty around OPT increases further, immigration experts believe more students could begin reconsidering:

 

the US,

and shift toward countries like:

Canada,

the UK,

Australia,

Germany,

or Singapore.

 

That shift has already started slowly after repeated visa uncertainties and immigration crackdowns in recent years.    With inputs from PTI