New DHS Rule Reshapes International Student Visas
- intnllawsociety
- Jul 31
- 5 min read
By Cady Wu
On July 16, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released regulations limiting periods of stay for F and J visa holders to 4 years to further the administration’s goals of preventing visa fraud and national security concerns surrounding immigration. With a 60-day transition period, the regulation is set to begin on September 15, 2026, affecting students studying abroad and researchers at U.S. institutions, who now need to apply for extensions if exceeding their proposed period of stay. As a regulation, the new change reshapes the long upheld “duration of status” (D/S) framework that has allowed for visa holders to remain in the U.S. as long as they maintain their course of study or research.
F and J visas are nonimmigrant visas for foreign nationals coming to the U.S. to participate in educational or cultural programs. F visas—F-1 visas for foreign students studying abroad in the United States, F-2 visas for F-1 visa holders’ dependents (spouses or children under 21), and F-3 visas for students crossing the border for a U.S.-based institution—allow for nonimmigrants to study in the U.S. as long as they are at a Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)-certified school. J visas include J-1 visas for foreign nationals participating in educational or cultural exchanges and J-2 visas for dependents. To qualify for a J-1 visa, applicants must be sponsored by approved U.S. institutions or other organizations and fall into one of 14 categories: au pairs, camp counselors, government visitors, interns, international visitors, physicians, professors or researchers, scholars, specialists, students in university or a secondary school, summer work, teachers, or trainees. For both, recipients must be admitted to a full-time study or exchange visitor program, demonstrate adequate English skills, have proof of sufficient funds to cover tuition or living expenses for the first year, as well as have an intent to return home, usually proven by maintaining a foreign residence for after the program concludes.
When F or J visa holders arrive in the U.S., Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at their port of entry will issue documentation for how long the visa holder can legally remain in the U.S. Since the 1990s, the CBP has used the D/S framework to allow F and J visa holders to remain in the country as long as they are making normal progress towards their objectives. The objective of D/S was to offer flexibility for programs of study that typically span longer and allow for people to pursue continuous degrees. As the authority to extend and transfer F-1 and J-1 visas was transferred over to the program sponsors, D/S allowed flexibility as long as all changes were documented in the DHS-run Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.
Yet according to the new regulations, D/S has now been eliminated and replaced with a new system admitting F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors with an exact date based on their initial plan for program length, up to four years long. In situations in which visitors need more than four years to complete their program, visa holders now need to file a formal application to request the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for permission to change or complete their program under extension of stay (EOS), requiring additional fees, biometrics, and potentially an interview. Moreover, instead of previously deferring authority to sponsor programs or institutions regarding changes in the study program such as changing a field of study, continuing for additional training, or transferring schools, an application directly to USCIS is now required. Undergraduate F-1 students are also prohibited from changing programs and majors during the first year, unless under SEVP approval in extenuating circumstances, and for graduate-level F-1 students, they cannot change programs during their program.
Stricter requirements have also been instituted: students must provide evidence supporting grounds for an extension, such as compelling academic difficulties, illness, or extenuating circumstances, rather than simply relying on previous grounds of needing more time. Following the completion of the program, students may also not reenter in F-1 status to pursue another program at the same or lower level. Still, the regulation has not clarified how these applications will be judged or how long processing time will take, creating significant uncertainty issues for when visa holders will need to apply for a visa renewal if their program duration is reaching an end. Once the visa has expired, students and exchange visitors also only have 30 days to exit from the U.S., compared to a 60-day grace period for F-1 visa holders in the past.
Citing the significant influx in F and J visa holders, the DHS wrote that the framework of D/S posed challenges for their ability to oversee nonimmigrant visa holders while they are in the U.S., as they were generally not required to have direct interaction with DHS. Hence, they argued, to prevent the abuse of student and exchange visitor visas, the regulations replacing D/S would help to mitigate risks for nonimmigrants that would otherwise exploit programs to remain in the U.S.; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin commented that D/S would compromise national security, allow visa fraud to occur, and that the new regulations would ensure that foreign students remain focused on their purpose to complete their program and return home.
Still, critics and organizations like NAFSA are concerned that for international students, additional paperwork and uncertainty might create degree completion, residency, and physician training issues. As more than half of first-time bachelor’s degree recipients need more than four years to complete their degree and the median doctoral student spends nearly six years to finish a dissertation, for many visa holders, the uncertainty of obtaining an accepted EOS might deter international visitors from coming to the U.S. These concerns come in light of the Trump administration’s crackdowns on immigration, since which international applicants to post-secondary institutions have declined, and colleges have strained resources, with some even needing to cut staff and programs; critics worry that the new regulations might exacerbate current trends. Moreover, university research projects and collaborations may be cut as a result of less talent being attracted, which could also pose issues for institutions in receiving adequate funding for their operations.
At the end of the day, the DHS final rule remains one of the most substantial changes to the F and J visa system in decades. For immigration enforcement from the government, the replacement of D/S with fixed admission periods has shifted responsibility onto students and exchange visitors to maintain their lawful states through EOS applications. For current and future international students after the effective date, visa holders should carefully monitor their immigration timelines and maintain consistent communication with designated program officials to submit EOS applications well before their authorized stay expires. As institutions, federal agencies, and immigration practitioners begin implementing the new guidelines, the long term effects of the removal of D/S on education and exchange visitor programs will continue to evolve. Whether the regulation succeeds in reducing visa fraud is a goal that will need to be balanced with maintaining U.S. attractiveness as a destination for higher education among foreign talent.
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