What’s Happening?
On September 14, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued nationwide preliminary relief blocking implementation of the Department of Homeland Security’s (“DHS”) final rule that was scheduled to eliminate Duration of Status (“D/S”) for F-1 students, J-1 exchange visitors, and I representatives of foreign information media beginning September 15, 2026.
As D&S previously reported on July 17, 2026, DHS finalized the rule replacing the longstanding D/S framework with fixed periods of admission, with an effective date of September 15, 2026.
The rule will now not take effect on September 15, 2026, and the existing D/S framework remains in place for now. The Court postponed the rule’s effective date and preliminarily enjoined DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) from taking further action to implement it while the litigation continues.
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On June 17, 2026, the White House office that reviews new regulations before they take effect completed its review of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule entitled "Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media", but only after requiring some changes to the original draft.
The completion of this review represents a significant milestone in the rulemaking process and indicates that public release of the final rule may be imminent. However, the final regulatory text has not yet been released to the public.
The proposed rule, initially published in August 2025, seeks to change how long international students (F-1), exchange visitors (J-1), and foreign media representatives (I) are allowed to stay in the U.S. Right now, many of these visa holders are admitted through “duration of status” meaning that they get to stay for as long as they remain enrolled in school or maintain their program status, with no fixed end date. This rule would instead give them a specific, fixed expiration date on their stay, after which they would need to formally apply for an extension if they want to remain longer.
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