Hiring Foreign Talent After September 15: The F-1 Fixed-Term Rule, OPT Timing, and the H-1B Fee Whiplash

Alka Bahal, Partner & Chair, Corporate Immigration Services | OGC Solutions

Alka Bahal’s practice is corporate immigration and nothing else. She advises employers on Federal Employment Eligibility Verification, conducts I-9 audits, and defends clients in I-9/IRCA inspections. She obtains non-immigrant and immigrant visas, develops compliance programs for employers, and facilitates the global movement of client personnel. Across nearly 30 years in immigration and nationality law she has filed tens of thousands of petitions related to non-immigrant employment and permanent residence acquisition. She works with the firm’s labor, employment, and corporate lawyers to deliver integrated cross-border advice.

• Education & Credentials

Alka earned her Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Marquette University. She is admitted to the bar in New Jersey and has permission to represent immigration clients across the United States and globally. She also speaks Spanish and Hindi.

• Recognition & Leadership

Alka has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America since 2023 and is ranked by Chambers & Partners’ USA Guide 2024 for Immigration in New Jersey. She chairs the Essex County Bar Association Immigration Committee. She is a member and past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Immigration Law Committee. A recognized speaker and author, she regularly hosts seminars on business immigration, compliance, and strategic planning.

• Professional Involvement

Within the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Alka serves on the national Verification and Documentation Liaison Committee and the Distance Learning Committee, and she is active in the New York and New Jersey chapters. Her committee work also includes the ICE Committee on Worksite Enforcement, the Customs and Border Control Committee, and the Department of Labor Committee. She sits on the ABA Advisory Panel. Within the New Jersey State Bar Association she holds appointments to the International Law and Organizations Special Committee and the Paralegal Special Committee. She is a member of the South Asian Bar Association and serves as a LinkedIn Advisor.

• Experience

Employer compliance sits at the center of Alka’s work: advising on Federal Employment Eligibility Verification, conducting I-9 audits, defending clients in I-9/IRCA inspections, and building compliance programs for employers. She has filed tens of thousands of petitions related to non-immigrant employment and permanent residence acquisition, and she handles visa processing and the movement of personnel for clients operating across borders.

Her nearly 30 years in immigration and nationality law have been spent solely on corporate immigration, serving Fortune 500 corporations, small startup ventures, and nonprofit organizations across biotechnology, construction, healthcare, and information technology. She advocates strategic immigration planning built around each client’s business needs and cost-effective representation.

SESSION 1 – Planning H-1B Sponsorship and OPT Conversion Through the Fee Litigation | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session examines the compounding fee and regulatory changes reshaping H-1B sponsorship strategy in 2026–2027, including the $100,000 fee imposed by Proclamation 10973, the ensuing litigation in California v. Mullin, and August DHS proposal to establish a $103,265 fee for all H-1B cap-subject petitions. Attorneys will learn how the new weighted lottery, extended cap gap provisions, and DOL’s changes to the prevailing wage system affect the OPT-to-H-1B conversion pathway. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for advising employers on change-of-status timing, wage-level strategy under the weighted lottery, and STEM OPT as a multi-cycle buffer during fee uncertainty.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Onboarding F-1 and OPT Hires Under the September 15 Fixed-Admission Rule | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session covers the DHS final rule eliminating duration-of-status (D/S) admission for F-1 nonimmigrants and replacing it with a fixed admission period and reduction of the grace period from 60 to 30 days, effective September 15, 2026. Attorneys will learn how the rule reshapes employer onboarding obligations, I-9 tracking, OPT/STEM OPT timing, unlawful presence exposure, and the dual-adjudication requirements triggered when a student’s authorized period approaches the four-year cap. Attendees leave with a practical compliance framework for auditing current F-1/OPT workforces, updating immigration tracking systems, and counseling employees on the travel and grace-period traps created by the new regime.