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Visa fee shock creates relocation-decision tool niche

Build a decision tool for international students facing the proposed $100k post-graduate work fee: a calculator comparing net cost of staying in the US versus pivoting to Canada, UK, Germany or Australia, paired with a directory of employers and visa pathways in those countries. Monetize via affiliate leads to immigration consultants, relocation services and premium policy-alert subscriptions for university international-student offices.

via Hacker News
Original post

What to build

A web calculator for international students that compares the all-in net cost and timeline of pursuing post-graduate work in the US (including the proposed $100k fee) versus Canada, the UK, Germany, or Australia, with a built-in directory of employers that sponsor visas and relocation/immigration consultants in each destination.

A proposed $100k US fee on post-graduate work authorization for international students creates a sudden, high-stakes decision point that a simple cost-comparison tool could resolve far faster than reading policy news or university memos.

Demand

International students, grad applicants, and university international-student offices need a fast way to quantify whether staying in the US still pencils out versus relocating, and the 78-point/117-comment Hacker News thread shows the topic already has an engaged, decision-minded audience searching for clarity.

  • Hacker NewsDiscussion

    78 points, 117 comments on HN discussing the proposed $100k charge for international students doing post-graduate work in the US — high engagement at the source

Stack

  • Next.js
  • Supabase
  • Stripe (for premium alerts/affiliate payouts)
  • OpenAI API (for personalized visa-pathway Q&A)
  • Airtable (employer/visa-pathway directory backend)
  • Resend (email alerts to university offices)

Solo + AI difficulty

The calculator itself (cost/timeline comparison logic across 5 countries) is a straightforward MVP a solo builder with AI can ship in 1-2 weeks; the hard, ongoing part is keeping visa fee/rule data accurate across jurisdictions and building a trustworthy employer/consultant directory, which requires manual curation or partnerships rather than pure automation. Realistic time-to-MVP is 2-3 weeks for a single-country-pair version, longer to cover all four alternative destinations credibly.

Entry threshold
No license needed to build an informational comparison and matching tool; a solo builder can ship a calculator plus country/visa database and alert system in a few weeks, though giving tailored legal advice would require disclaimers or partnering with licensed immigration attorneys.
Window
3-6 months

Where to find first users

  • r/f1visa and r/immigration on Reddit
  • International student Facebook/WhatsApp groups and Discord servers
  • University international student office newsletters (cold outreach/partnership)
  • Product Hunt launch timed to policy news cycle

Competitors

Counter-signals & risks

  • The $100k charge is a proposal, not enacted law; it may be watered down, blocked by litigation/Congress, or never implemented, which would undercut urgency for a decision tool built around it.

  • Historical match is 'none' — there is no precedent confirming this type of fee has driven measurable student migration before, so the scale of behavioral shift (and thus market size) is speculative.

  • International students and university offices may default to free official guidance (embassies, NAFSA, university international offices) rather than paying for a third-party calculator or affiliate-driven leads, limiting monetization.

Original title: US proposes $100k charge for international students to do post-graduate work

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Visa fee shock creates relocation-decision tool niche — Nichr