By Nicholas A. Mastroianni III, President and Chief Marketing Officer, U.S. Immigration Fund
A version of this article was first published in India Today. Read the original here.
The United States has finalized a rule that ends “Duration of Status” for international students and replaces it with a fixed admission period. The Department of Homeland Security published the final rule in the Federal Register on July 17, 2026, and it takes effect on September 15, 2026. The mechanics are technical, but the message for families is simple: a student visa admits a young person to study, not to settle, and the families who plan for permanent residency early keep the widest set of options.
Duration of Status (D/S) was the framework, used since the early 1990s, under which the United States admitted F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors for as long as they maintained full-time study or their exchange program, with no fixed expiration date on the Form I-94. Under D/S, a student could remain and extend through the university, without applying to the federal government for additional time.
The final rule replaces that open-ended arrangement with a fixed admission period and a new government approval step for anyone who needs to stay longer.
DHS published the final rule, “Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure,” in the Federal Register at 91 FR 44976. It takes effect on September 15, 2026, which is 60 days after publication. DHS has described the change as a way to provide additional oversight and to better evaluate whether these nonimmigrants are maintaining status while in the United States. Because the rule is classified as a major rule, it remains subject to congressional review, and DHS has said it will publish a notice if the effective date changes.
Under the final rule, a student admitted on or after September 15, 2026 receives a specific “Admit Until Date” on the Form I-94, set to the program end date on the Form I-20 or four years, whichever is shorter. The four-year period runs from the program start date on the I-20 or DS-2019, not from the date the student enters the country. A student who needs more time must file an Extension of Stay application directly with USCIS, complete biometrics, and demonstrate continued eligibility, or leave and re-enter. The rule also shortens the post-completion grace period for new admissions to 30 days, and it restricts changing schools, majors, or education levels, with the firmest limits on graduate students.
| Feature | Duration of Status (before Sept 15, 2026) | Fixed admission period (effective Sept 15, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Length of stay | As long as the student maintains full-time study; no fixed end date | Program end date on the I-20, or four years, whichever is shorter |
| Form I-94 end date | Listed as “D/S,” with no specific date | A specific “Admit Until Date” |
| How extensions work | The university’s designated school official handles them | A formal Extension of Stay application to USCIS, with biometrics |
| Grace period after completing a program (F-1) | 60 days | 30 days for new admissions; current D/S students keep 60 days until they travel or obtain a USCIS extension |
| Changing school, major, or level | Generally permitted | Restricted, with the tightest limits on graduate students |
| When unlawful presence begins | Generally after a formal finding of a violation | After the Admit Until Date, if the student neither files an extension nor departs |
| How the four years is measured | Not applicable | From the program start date on the I-20 or DS-2019, not from entry |
The rule includes transition protections for students who were already in Duration of Status before the effective date. F and J nonimmigrants in D/S as of September 15, 2026 may generally remain until the program end date on their Form I-20 or DS-2019, or four years from the effective date, whichever comes first, without needing a corrected Form I-94. International travel after the effective date, or a USCIS-approved extension, converts a student to the new fixed-date system, including the 30-day grace period.
DHS also built in relief for post-study work. A student who is present on September 15, 2026, maintains valid F-1 status, and timely files Form I-765 for post-completion OPT or STEM OPT before March 18, 2027 generally will not need to file a separate change-of-status application solely to pursue that work authorization. Even so, every student should track the expiration date on their Form I-94 closely, because the timeline now matters far more than it did.
Under Duration of Status, a student generally began to accrue unlawful presence only after the government formally found a violation. Under the fixed-date system, the clock starts at the Admit Until Date if the student has not filed an extension or departed. That difference raises the stakes of a late filing. Under Section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, more than 180 days of unlawful presence may lead to a three-year bar on returning to the United States, and a year or more may lead to a ten-year bar. A missed date is no longer a paperwork matter. It may become a setback measured in years.
Optional Practical Training (OPT) and its STEM extension continue, but they now run against fixed admission dates rather than an open-ended status. If a student’s authorized stay lapses while an extension sits in the USCIS queue, that work authorization may stop, even when the student holds a valid permit. The exposure falls heavily on students from India. According to the Open Doors report, roughly 360,000 Indian students studied in the United States in the 2024 to 2025 academic year, close to 31 percent of more than one million international students, and international education analysts estimate that Indian nationals make up about half of all OPT and STEM OPT participants.
No, and this is the point beneath the headlines. The F-1 visa is, by law, a temporary permission. To receive one, a student must show an intention to leave once the studies end. Everything else about the visa follows from that single requirement.
For years, the path to permanent residency hid that fact rather than changing it. A student studied, took a work permit, entered the H-1B lottery, found an employer willing to sponsor, and waited for a green card that, for Indian nationals, may take well beyond a decade. Each of those steps depended on a separate permission that someone else controlled. If the lottery does not select the student, if no employer will sponsor, or if an officer denies an extension, the path ends. The new rule did not create that fragility. It made it harder to ignore.
For families, the takeaway is practical. Education planning and immigration planning have become two separate questions, and the second cannot wait until the first is nearly finished. When a family sends a sixteen-year-old abroad to study, that family is also making an assumption about whether the child can stay. The earlier a family examines that assumption, the more choices it keeps.
This is why a growing number of families now treat permanent residency as a goal to plan for directly, rather than an outcome they hope a student visa will eventually produce.
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is a United States immigration route that allows a qualifying investor, and immediate family including a child under the age of 21, to pursue lawful permanent residency through a qualifying investment that creates jobs in the United States. The minimum investment in a targeted employment area is $800,000, the law requires the investor to place that capital at risk, and the primary objective is permanent residency rather than financial return. Immigration outcomes are not guaranteed, and the program is open to accredited and qualified investors only.
For a student, the difference is structural. A child who already holds permanent residency studies and works without the annual extensions, the lottery, the program limits, or the loss of status that the new rule introduces. EB-5 is a serious commitment and the wrong fit for many families, and its interaction with a student’s current F-1 status, travel plans, and any future adjustment of status is exactly the kind of question to work through with qualified immigration counsel, and early.
“The rule does not change what a student visa has always been. It makes the limits of that visa impossible to ignore,” said Nicholas A. Mastroianni III, President and Chief Marketing Officer of U.S. Immigration Fund. “For families who want a child to build a life in the United States, the lesson is to treat permanent residency as its own decision, and to make it early.”
When does the new Duration of Status rule take effect? DHS published the final rule in the Federal Register on July 17, 2026, at 91 FR 44976, with an effective date of September 15, 2026. Because it is a major rule subject to congressional review, the effective date could still change.
How long can an F-1 student stay under the new rule? A student admitted on or after September 15, 2026 receives a fixed admission period equal to the program end date on the Form I-20, or four years, whichever is shorter, measured from the program start date. To stay longer, the student must file an Extension of Stay with USCIS or travel and re-enter.
Do current F-1 students need to do anything right now? Students admitted for Duration of Status before September 15, 2026 may generally remain until their program end date or four years from the effective date, whichever is earlier, without a corrected Form I-94. International travel or a USCIS extension moves them to the fixed-date system, so current students should confirm their plans with their designated school official and immigration counsel before traveling.
Does the new rule change OPT? OPT and STEM OPT continue, but they run against fixed admission dates. DHS provided temporary relief for students who timely file Form I-765 for post-completion OPT or STEM OPT before March 18, 2027. Students should monitor the expiration date on their Form I-94 closely.
What happens if a student stays past their Admit Until Date? A student who remains past the authorized date without an approved extension or timely departure may begin to accrue unlawful presence. More than 180 days may lead to a three-year bar on re-entry, and a year or more may lead to a ten-year bar, under Section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Is the F-1 visa a path to a green card? No. The F-1 visa is a temporary, study-purpose visa that requires an intention to leave after studies. Permanent residency requires a separate path, such as employer sponsorship or an investment-based route.
Can EB-5 help a student remain in the United States permanently? The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is one route to permanent residency that does not depend on the H-1B lottery or an employer, and it may include a child under 21. It is a serious commitment, with a minimum investment of $800,000 in at-risk capital, and immigration outcomes are not guaranteed. It is open to accredited and qualified investors only.
About the author Nicholas A. Mastroianni III is President and Chief Marketing Officer of U.S. Immigration Fund (USIF), one of the largest and most established EB-5 regional centers in the United States. In about fifteen years, USIF has worked with more than 5,450 investors and their families pursuing permanent residency in the United States.
Sources
SIGN UP TO LEARN MORE
"*" indicates required fields
AVAILABLE NOW?
Speak to your EB-5 immigration specialist on WhatsApp.
