The Trump administration has finalized a rule that would end “duration of status,” the longstanding policy that lets international students remain in the United States until they complete their degree. The White House Office of Management and Budget completed its review of the final Department of Homeland Security rule on June 17, 2026, the last step before publication.
Under the rule, students on F-1 and J-1 visas and exchange visitors would be admitted for a fixed period of up to four years, or the length of their program, whichever is shorter, rather than for the duration of their studies. Foreign journalists on I visas would be admitted for up to 240 days. Students in longer programs, such as doctoral or medical degrees, would have to apply for extensions before their authorized stay expired, adding cost, paperwork, and the risk of falling out of status.
The rule had not yet been published in the Federal Register and would take effect 60 days after publication, with reporting indicating it would apply to new students arriving in September 2026. Universities have warned the change would deter international enrollment, which brings tens of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy each year.
The final rule was published in the Federal Register on July 17, 2026, to take effect September 15. On September 14, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor in Boston, an appointee of President George W. Bush, blocked it in a case brought by a coalition of unions and higher education groups. He called the administration's national security and anti-fraud rationales “exceptionally weak,” wrote that “The government's contention that the rule is necessary to safeguard national security borders on the absurd,” and warned that “The damage to the higher education system and to the economy of the United States is likely to be catastrophic.” About 1.6 million people hold F visas and another 500,000 hold J visas. Saylor postponed the rule's effective date under the Administrative Procedure Act rather than striking it, so the merits remain undecided, and he applied the postponement nationwide, writing that relief limited to the plaintiffs, who represent almost 600 institutions, would create parallel regulatory regimes. He wrote that “the government's proffered rationales for the rule are exceptionally weak, and the connection between the rule and the problems it purports to address is exceptionally attenuated,” and suggested the rule may be meant “to achieve other, undisclosed, goals—such as, for example, asserting greater government control over academic institutions and the press.”
DHS general counsel James Percival said the ruling means ICE must “permit this rampant abuse of our immigration system,” adding, “Come on a student visa, take one class per semester, and stay here for decades.” A department spokesperson said, “The performative outrage is incredible.”
Correction (September 15, 2026): an earlier version of this entry said foreign media on I visas would be admitted for up to four years. The final rule caps I-visa admissions at 240 days, with an exception for some journalists from China.