Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian F-1 Students: OPT, H-1B and the US Job Search for North Africans

The country-specific route from F-1 to OPT to H-1B for Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian students, with the official numbers and what the $70,000 OPT fee proposal actually says.

If you are one of the Moroccan students in the USA (Open Doors counted 1,975 in the 2024/25 academic year), or one of their Tunisian and Algerian classmates, your route to a US job is the standard F-1 route: up to 12 months of OPT after each degree, 24 more months of STEM OPT if your degree qualifies, then usually an employer-sponsored H-1B. Where you come from changes three things: you interview for visas at home and in person, you generally wait in the rest-of-world green card queue, and you will read confused coverage of the proposed OPT fee, which your school, not you, would legally owe.

Status, as of November 1, 2026

• In effect: OPT, STEM OPT and its 180-day automatic extension, the 90/150-day unemployment limits, wage-weighted H-1B selection.
• Proposed only: the OPT fee (comments close November 9, 2026).
• Blocked: the fixed-admission "duration of status" rule (since September 14, 2026) and collection of the $100,000 H-1B payment.
• Challenged: SEVP's CPT guidance, still in force; court hearing November 6, 2026 (check the docket afterwards).
• Travel ban: Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria are not on Proclamation 10998's lists; Libya and Mauritania are.

Can Moroccan students work in the US after graduation?

As of November 2026, yes. Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian F-1 graduates can work in the US on post-completion OPT for up to 12 months per degree level, plus a 24-month STEM OPT extension for a qualifying STEM degree. Nationality does not change OPT eligibility. To stay longer, most graduates need an employer to sponsor an H-1B or another work visa.

• Applying. Your DSO recommends OPT in SEVIS; you file Form I-765 within 30 days, between 90 days before and 60 days after your program end date. The fee is $470 online or $520 on paper (USCIS G-1055, edition 10/26/26); premium processing is $1,780.
• Waiting. 80% of F-1 student I-765s were completed within 5 months (USCIS tool, November 1, 2026). USCIS can deny without a request for evidence when initial evidence is missing (in effect since August 5, 2026, challenged), so file complete.
• Unemployment. 90 days on OPT and 150 in total with STEM OPT, counted for each day "without employer information" (SEVIS Help Hub). No 60-day OPT limit exists.
• STEM OPT needs a degree on the DHS STEM list, an E-Verify employer and a Form I-983 training plan. For timely filers USCIS still says it "will automatically extend your employment authorization for 180 days" (USCIS STEM OPT page).
• After OPT. With the fixed-admission rule blocked, duration of status and the 60-day F-1 grace period still apply; USCIS "will proceed under the previous regulatory provisions" (Form I-539 page). DHS's appeal is pending, so check for a ruling.

Moroccan students in the USA by the numbers (with Tunisia and Algeria)

Open Doors counts students plus OPT participants for an academic year; SEVIS counts active F and M records on one date, language training included. Don't mix the two.

Sources: Open Doors 2025 census tables (Tables 7 and 8); DHS SEVIS mapping data for October 2026 and October 2025, read November 1, 2026. Open Doors 2026 is not yet published.

• Moroccan growth is undergraduate. Moroccan undergraduates rose 22.6% in 2024/25 while graduate students fell 4.5%. OPT participants rose 13.5% to 354, about 18% of the total.
• Records are down. Moroccan SEVIS records fell 6.1% year over year, close to the 7.1% national drop. The community is small, so build referrals beyond it; our guide to networking through nationality communities shows how.
• Algeria differs. More than a third of Algerian records were in language training (our reading of the DHS table), which carries no OPT eligibility.

Will Moroccan students have to pay a $70,000 OPT fee?

Not under any rule in force. As of November 1, 2026, the fee exists only in a proposed rule published October 8, 2026, which names the school, not the student, as the legal payer. It would reach only DSO recommendations dated 60 or more days after a final rule, and no final rule exists.

Common misconception: some regional coverage described the proposal as a $70,000 sum, or deposit, that Moroccan students would pay before working.

Correction, from the rule text: "Schools would have to pay the OPT fee prior to the DSO entering the recommendation for OPT in SEVIS" (91 FR 64575, October 8, 2026). Schools "may pass the financial obligation of this proposed fee onto F-1 nonimmigrant students, all students, or employers," so you could bear some cost under a final rule, but nothing is owed today.

What the proposal (Federal Register document 2026-20660, docket ICEB-2026-0100) says:

• Amounts. $70,000 before the initial OPT recommendation and $30,000 before each later one, STEM OPT included; the headline "$100,000" is the NPRM's worked total for both. SEVP's BCM 2610-02 calls the $30,000 a charge "for the second year"; the Federal Register text, which controls, applies it to each later recommendation.
• Who is outside it. Students already on or approved for OPT, or with a DSO recommendation dated before the effective date.
• Still open. The NPRM does not settle whether a student whose first OPT was fee-free would owe $70,000 or $30,000 for STEM OPT, and DHS asks for comment on re-charging $70,000 at each higher degree level.
• Comments. More than 4,700 as of November 1, 2026, closing 11:59 p.m. ET on November 9. After that it remains a proposal until DHS publishes a final rule.

Our explainer of who would pay the proposed OPT fee works through the scenarios; ask your DSO about your own dates.

Where do Moroccans, Tunisians and Algerians apply for US visas?

At home, in most cases. Since September 6, 2025, you apply in your country of nationality or residence, so a Moroccan seeking a US student visa or an H-1B stamp normally books in Morocco. Since October 1, 2025, F-1 and H-1B applicants, renewals included, interview in person under State's interview-waiver update. A renewal in Paris, Madrid or Montreal is generally possible only if you legally reside there.

BAL reported (May 4, 2026) that Casablanca's new consulate "is now the sole location" for US visa services in Morocco (BAL). The E-2 row follows law-firm summaries of State's treaty-country table. Confirm both before paying a fee.

• Neighbours face harder rules. Libya is on Proclamation 10998's full list; Mauritania is on its partial list, which bars new B, F, M, J and immigrant visas (State Department notice; WashU summary). Nouakchott is one of 25 African posts whose routine visa work moved to regional hubs on August 1, 2026 (Brown ISSS).
• Vetting and waits. Online presence is reviewed for F, M and J (since June 2025) and H-1B and H-4 applicants (since December 15, 2025). Check the Global Visa Wait Times page (updated October 21, 2026); a 221(g) hold has no fixed timeline.
• Stay put while initial OPT is pending. Cornell, Johns Hopkins and USC advise against international travel until the EAD arrives; a missed biometrics appointment can delay or deny the case.

See our guide to stamping in your country of nationality or residence. Egyptians have their own Egyptian F-1 STEM and H-1B guide; the Middle East F-1 sponsorship guide covers the Gulf and the Levant.

Do French-speaking North African graduates have an edge with US employers?

Not automatically. A US employer sponsors you because the job needs your skills and it is willing to file, not because you speak French. French, Arabic and Darija are assets in roles that use them:

• Market-facing roles at US companies selling into France, Quebec, francophone Africa or the Middle East: sales engineering, customer success, compliance, operations.
• Language data and AI, such as Arabic and French evaluation and localization. Some are contract roles or need no specific degree, which makes an H-1B hard, so ask about sponsorship early.
• Supply chain, energy and development teams with partners across North and West Africa.

What decides sponsorship is the role and its wage. An H-1B needs a specialty occupation, and since February 27, 2026 the lottery is weighted by wage level: a Level IV offer gets four entries, a Level I offer one. Ads rarely say whether a company sponsors: according to Match.dev, 88.1% of 2,718 US engineering roles it read on October 13, 2026 were silent on it (one vendor's count). State your language level (CEFR C1, for example), prove it with a project, and find employers that already file in the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub.

The H-1B route for North African graduates: what changed

The rules are the same for every nationality. What changed is where you stamp, how the lottery picks and which costs are real.

Sources: USCIS Form I-129, H-1B registration and cap-gap pages.

FY2028 registration is not announced (USCIS must give 30 days' notice; March 2027 is only an expectation), and a proposed $103,265 cap-subject fee has no final rule. Cap-gap extends OPT to April 1 for a timely cap-subject petition; cap-exempt employers (universities and affiliated nonprofits) get none, so they must file before your OPT EAD expires. Founders, or staff of a company at least half owned by fellow nationals, can read our E-2 treaty investor guide and ask an immigration attorney.

How long is the green card wait for North Africans?

Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria are not listed separately in the Visa Bulletin, so people born there share the rest-of-world queue, which generally follows country of birth rather than passport. That queue is far shorter than India's or China's, but most employer-sponsored cases first need PERM labor certification.

USCIS requires the Dates for Filing chart for November employment-based I-485s (USCIS filing charts); consular cases always use Final Action Dates. The December bulletin is not out, so any December cutoff is a forecast.

• PERM. DOL's FLAG page showed analyst review at January 2026 priority dates, averaging 303 days, as of October 21, 2026. DOL's PERM labor-market-test proposal (RIN 1205-AC29) cleared White House review on October 23, 2026 but is unpublished; current rules apply.
• Birth country. A Moroccan citizen born in India is generally charged to India's far longer queue; cross-chargeability through a spouse can change that, so ask an attorney early.

Our November 2026 Visa Bulletin explainer covers the chart rules.

A worked timeline: Salma, a Moroccan master's student graduating May 15, 2027

Salma is hypothetical; the dates follow current rules and the fee proposal as written.

1. November 9, 2026. OPT-fee comments close. No fee exists.
2. February 14, 2027. Her earliest OPT filing date, 90 days before her program end date. If her DSO's recommendation predates any final rule's effective date (at least 60 days after publication), the proposal as written would not reach her.
3. March 2027 (expected, not announced). FY2028 H-1B registration, weighted by her offer's wage level.
4. May 15, 2027. Program ends. She must file by July 14, 2027, and within 30 days of her DSO's recommendation.
5. Within about 5 months of filing (80% of cases, per USCIS on November 1, 2026). The EAD arrives; no work before its start date.
6. October 1, 2027. Earliest H-1B start if she is selected and a change of status is approved.
7. If not selected. STEM OPT (if her degree qualifies), filed before her OPT EAD expires, and another registration. Any fee then depends on a final rule that does not exist yet.

What to do this semester

1. Meet your DSO to confirm your program end date, OPT window and any school guidance on the proposed fee.
2. Comment on docket ICEB-2026-0100 at Regulations.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on November 9, 2026, if you want your view counted.
3. Check your degree's CIP code against the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List.
4. Prepare Form I-765 in your USCIS online account with every required initial document.
5. Search the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub for employers that file for roles like yours.
6. Talk to your DSO before any travel, especially with an OPT application pending, and check wait times for Casablanca, Tunis or Algiers.
7. Read the Morocco or Tunisia entries in IRS Publication 901 (Algeria has none) and use a tax professional who handles Form 1040-NR.

Common mistakes

• Treating the OPT fee as law, or as a deposit you owe. It is a proposal; the school would be the legal payer.
• Planning a visa renewal in France, Spain or Canada without legal residence there.
• Assuming French opens sponsorship doors on its own. The job's degree requirement and wage level decide.
• Reading your green card queue off your passport. Chargeability generally follows country of birth.
• Letting the 90-day clock run. Days without employer information count, so report each job as your school instructs.
• Taking rules from WhatsApp groups. Use the Federal Register, USCIS and your DSO.

Frequently asked questions

Can Moroccan students work in the US after graduation?

Yes. As of November 2026, a Moroccan F-1 graduate can work on post-completion OPT for up to 12 months per degree level, plus 24 months of STEM OPT with a qualifying STEM degree and an E-Verify employer. Nationality does not change eligibility. Staying longer usually takes an employer-sponsored H-1B.

Will Moroccan students have to pay a $70,000 OPT fee?

Not under any rule in force. As of November 1, 2026, the fee is only proposed (comments close November 9, 2026). The school would be the legal payer of $70,000 before an initial OPT recommendation and $30,000 before each later one, and could pass the cost on. It would reach only DSO recommendations dated 60 or more days after a final rule.

Where do Moroccans and Tunisians apply for US visas?

Since September 6, 2025, in their country of nationality or residence. For most Moroccans that means the US Consulate General in Casablanca, and for Tunisians the US Embassy in Tunis (confirm on the US Mission's visa page). F-1 and H-1B applicants, renewals included, interview in person.

Do French-speaking North African graduates have an edge with US employers?

Not automatically. Sponsorship turns on the role, its wage level and the employer's willingness to file. French and Arabic help in jobs that use them, such as francophone or Middle Eastern markets, multilingual support or language data, so state your level and prove it with a project.

How long is the green card wait for North Africans?

People born in Morocco, Tunisia or Algeria generally fall in the rest-of-world queue. In the November 2026 Visa Bulletin, EB-1 is current and the EB-2 rest-of-world Final Action Date is April 1, 2025. Most cases first need PERM, where DOL's average analyst review was 303 days as of October 21, 2026.

Sources

• Federal Register, OPT fees proposed rule (2026-10-08) and GovInfo text; ICE SEVP, BCM 2610-02
• USCIS, G-1055, I-539, I-129, STEM OPT, processing times, filing charts
• Study in the States, unemployment counter and October 2026 SEVIS data
• State Department, interview waivers, Proclamation 10998, wait times, treaty countries
• DOL, FLAG processing times; IIE, Open Doors 2025 tables; IRS, Publication 901

How we checked this: on November 1, 2026 we read the Federal Register text of the OPT fee proposal, the USCIS, State, ICE, DOL and Study in the States pages above, the Open Doors 2025 tables and DHS SEVIS data, plus BAL and university summaries for consular details.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your own I-20, I-94, EAD and notices govern your case: take OPT and SEVIS questions to your DSO, petitions and status strategy to a licensed immigration attorney, and tax questions to a tax professional.

If you want help running a sponsor-focused search while your OPT clock runs, talk to F1Jobs.