The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today made available a public examination variation of its last rule to end period of status (D/S) for F, J and I visa holders, with the new regulations to work from September 15.
Under the finalised rule, worldwide trainees on F-1 visas will be limited to four-year remain in the United States– a change commonly criticised by teachers and migration specialists who state it is set to trigger “turmoil” for students, organizations and federal visa processing.
Those who take longer than four years to complete their degree, consisting of PhD and medical students, and students moving onto OPT, will be required to apply for an extension of stay with DHS. New limits will also be put on those altering majors.
Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, the association of global educators, has called the guideline a “misdirected and unnecessary policy shift that injects uncertainty, bureaucracy and fear into a system that has long worked successfully.”
“This guideline presents unneeded federal government intrusion into academic decision-making,” she included, pledging: “We will vigorously explore every readily available avenue to challenge this hazardous and shortsighted guideline”.
“Regardless of more than 20,000 public comments … that raised severe concerns, DHS has actually picked to move forward with a guideline that will develop more barriers for international talent without making our country safer or more powerful.”
The guideline will be officially published in the Federal Register tomorrow, on July 17, and will enter force 60 days after publication. Until then, current visa guidelines will use.
The guideline also restricts J-1 exchange visitor visa holders, consisting of lots of international researchers operating at United States universities, and international media on I visas to fixed periods of admission.
We will intensely explore every offered avenue to challenge this damaging and shortsighted guideline
Fanta Aw, NAFSA
For its part, the Trump administration has said the changes will improve migration oversight and protect US national security by gathering nonimmigrant details.
However critics argue that worldwide trainees are currently the most tracked nonimmigrant group in the US, which the rule will hand over decision-making power to DHS to decide whether a student is given a visa extension and can continue their studies.
“It needs to be on the institutions that set up their requirements for each program to choose whether that student is progressing towards their degree,” said Presidents’ Alliance deputy director of federal policy Zuzanna Čeplá Wootson, speaking to The PIE before the guideline became last.
She highlighted that four years was frequently not enough time for American and global trainees alike to finish a bachelor’s degree, adding it was “very regular” to take longer.
Aw restated that the rule “locations life-altering academic choices in the hands of an already overloaded migration system– not teachers, and not institutions”.
She warned it would further prevent global students from studying in the United States, progressively becoming “less welcoming, less predictable, and less committed” as international competition for talent intensifies.
NAFSA has stated the final rule was “complicated”, prompting colleges and universities to inspect its information page. “Institutions will face higher compliance costs and legal dangers, enrolment impacts and much heavier recommending problems,” it stated.
Especially, those confessed to the US before September 15 will not need to instantly make an application for a date-certain I-94 type. But they will need to apply for an extension of stay in order to remain in status beyond the current documented end date, or four years from the last guideline reliable date, whichever is shorter.
The guideline’s publication has been commonly expected in current months, after DHS submitted it to the Workplace of Management and Spending Plan (OMB) in May, which completed evaluating the guideline in mid-June.
< img src ="// www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E"/ > < img src="https://thepienews.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SRT-Fairs-_-Ad-600-x-500px-V2.jpg"/ >