Update, September 29, 2026: On 14 September 2026, a federal court postponed this rule nationwide, one day before its effective date. Duration of status (D/S)The period of stay for F, J and I nonimmigrants, who are admitted for as long as they maintain their program or activity rather than until a fixed date. It appears as D/S on Form I-94.See it in the glossary remains in place for now, and the sections below describe the rule as written. See our court order explainer for what applies today.
On 17 July 2026 the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule titled 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. It was scheduled to take effect on 15 September 2026, but a federal court postponed it on 14 September 2026.
For roughly forty years, F and J nonimmigrants have been admitted for duration of status, shown on the Form I-94The Arrival/Departure Record that U.S. Customs and Border Protection creates when a nonimmigrant is admitted. It shows the class of admission and an Admit Until date, and most are now electronic and available on the CBP I-94 website. USCIS can also issue one when it approves an extension of stay or a change of status.See it in the glossary as D/S. There was no end date. As long as the person stayed enrolled and complied with the rules of their category, their admission continued. The rule would end that.
What replaces it
Under the rule as written, F and J nonimmigrants would be admitted until a specific date recorded on the I-94, known as the Admit Until Date, or AUD. The period runs up to the length of the program listed on the Form I-20 for F students or the Form DS-2019 for J exchange visitors, not to exceed four years, plus 30 days for arrival and an additional 30 days for departure.
Anyone who needs more time must either file an extension of stay with USCIS on Form I-539, or depart and seek readmission.
The four-year figure is widely misread
The rule does not impose a lifetime four-year limit on studying or conducting research in the United States. Four years is the maximum length of a single admission or extension period.
A student in a six-year doctoral program can still complete it. What changes is that they must obtain another period of authorized stay before the current I-94 expires, rather than relying on continued enrollment alone.
Who needs to act, and when
The rule includes transition provisions, and they matter more than the headline.
F students who were admitted under duration of status and are present in the United States on 15 September 2026 may generally remain without filing an extension of stay, up to the program end date on their Form I-20, or the end of post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT)Temporary work authorization that lets eligible F-1 students work in a job directly related to their field of study. It can be used before or after completing a program, for up to 12 months in total at each education level, and students with certain STEM degrees can apply for a 24-month extension. USCIS grants it on Form I-765 after the school's designated school official recommends it.See it in the glossary or STEM OPT that is valid on the effective date, not to exceed 14 November 2030. That is four years plus a sixty-day departure period.
In practice, many doctoral students will continue for several years after the rule takes effect, if it does, without taking immediate immigration action. The transition ends for an individual once they travel and are readmitted under the new rule, or once USCIS adjudicates an extension of stay. Either event produces a new I-94 with a date-specific AUD.
The change nobody is talking about
The rule introduces a regulatory concept called educational objectives, which DHS defines broadly as majors or educational levels, and places it in the same provision that governs school transfers. That creates new limits on changing majors, transferring schools, or pursuing an additional or lower-level degree. For students who change direction mid-program, this may prove more consequential than the admission date itself.