End of Duration of Status: What Changes on 15 September 2026

For almost fifty years, an F-1 student admitted to the United States received no departure date. The Form I-94 read “D/S” — duration of status — and the stay lasted as long as the student remained enrolled and complied with their programme. That arrangement ends on 15 September 2026. A Department of Homeland Security final rule published on 17 July 2026 replaces duration of status with a fixed admission date for F academic students, J exchange visitors, and I representatives of foreign information media.

This guide sets out what the rule changes, who it affects and when, and what people already in the United States need to do. It is a reference to the rule itself rather than a forecast: for the wider picture on enrolment, see our analysis of why the number of international students in the US is falling.

What Duration of Status Meant, and Why DHS Is Ending It

Duration of status was an admission without an end date. For an F-1 student it ran for as long as the student pursued a full course of study at an SEVP-certified school, plus any authorised practical training and a period to depart. For a J-1 exchange visitor it ran for the length of the programme plus time to depart. For most I nonimmigrants it ran for the duration of their foreign employment. Dependants tracked the principal.

The framework is not as old as it feels. Between 1973 and 1979, F students were admitted for one year at a time and applied for extensions in twelve-month increments. Legacy INS introduced duration of status for F students effective 1 January 1979, explicitly to save money and staff time. It was briefly reversed in January 1981, reinstated in April 1983, and extended to J and I nonimmigrants in 1985 — again on paperwork-reduction grounds.

DHS argues the population has outgrown the arrangement. In fiscal year 2024 there were more than 1.8 million admissions in F status, over 500,000 in J status, and 37,330 in I status. Because someone admitted for duration of status is rarely required to deal with an immigration officer again, DHS says it has too few checkpoints to confirm that the terms of the classification are being met.

The rule cites specific cases: more than 2,100 people who first entered as F-1 students between 2000 and 2010 and were still in active F-1 status in April 2025; one student who has held F-1 status for roughly 35 years across a dance programme and successive language courses; three doctoral students who took more than twenty years to finish. DHS received close to 22,000 public comments on the proposal.

Timeline: How the End of Duration of Status Unfolded

The rule has been through a full notice-and-comment cycle, and it carries dates that matter well beyond the effective date itself.

Date	Event
28 August 2025	DHS publishes proposed rule (90 FR 42070), 32-day comment period
September-October 2025	Close to 22,000 public comments received
17 July 2026	Final rule published (91 FR 44976), DHS Docket ICEB-2025-0001, RIN 1653-AA95
15 September 2026	Effective date. Duration of status ends for F, J and I admissions
18 March 2027	Deadline to file Form I-765 for OPT or STEM OPT under the six-month filing reprieve
14 September 2028	Latest date to which DHS may postpone the academic mobility restrictions
15 October 2030	Outer limit of the transition period for J-1 exchange visitors
14 November 2030	Outer limit of the transition period for F-1 students

Source: DHS final rule, 91 FR 44976, Federal Register

One caveat sits over all of it. DHS has classified this as a major rule subject to congressional review, and the Federal Register notice states that if the effective date changes at the conclusion of that review, DHS will publish a further document to set the actual date or terminate the rule. The end of duration of status is enacted, but it is not beyond change.

What the End of Duration of Status Changes for F-1 Students

From 15 September 2026, Customs and Border Protection will print a specific “admit until” date on the I-94 instead of “D/S”. The date is the programme end date on the Form I-20, capped at four years, plus a 30-day grace period. Students may still enter up to 30 days before the programme start date, as now.

• Fixed admission period — programme length on the I-20, to a maximum of four years, plus 30 days.
• The post-completion grace period drops from 60 days to 30 days, aligning F-1 with J-1.
• English language training students are limited to an aggregate 24 months, including breaks and annual vacation.
• A student who ends study or training early must depart or take action to maintain status within 30 days of the new end date.
• Delay caused by academic probation, suspension, or a repeated inability or unwillingness to complete the course is generally not an acceptable reason for a programme extension.
• USCIS may collect biometrics with an extension application, and may require an interview.

Two points about the end of duration of status are widely misread. First, the four-year cap is not a lifetime limit. It caps each grant of admission or extension, not the total time a person may hold F-1 status. A six-year doctorate is still permitted; it simply requires a new period of admission part-way through. Second, the cap does not change what a school may write on the I-20. An institution can still issue a Form I-20 covering a six-year programme. The four years bind CBP and USCIS, not the registrar.

The requirements to obtain the visa in the first place are unchanged. Nobody who qualifies for an F-1 visa today becomes ineligible on 15 September. What changes is the amount of administration required to hold it, and how quickly a delay turns into a status problem.

The New Limits on Transfers and Changing Course

The fixed admission date has drawn the headlines, but for many students the academic mobility restrictions in the same rule will bite harder. They create a new regulatory concept, the “educational objective”, defined as a student’s major or educational level. Changing majors, changing degree level, or adding a second degree at the same level all count. Ordinary course selection, concentrations, and normal progress within a degree do not.

Action	Undergraduate, first academic year	Undergraduate, after first year	Graduate level and above
Transfer to another school	Not permitted without SEVP exception	Permitted	Not permitted at any point during the programme without SEVP exception
Change major	Not permitted without SEVP exception	Permitted	Not permitted at any point during the programme
Change educational level	Not permitted without SEVP exception	Permitted	Not permitted at any point during the programme
Add a second degree at the same level	Not permitted	Not permitted after completing a programme	Not permitted
Move to a higher level after completing a programme	Permitted	Permitted	Permitted
Move to the same or a lower level after completing a programme	Not permitted	Not permitted	Not permitted
Any of the above while on academic probation or suspension	Generally not permitted	Generally not permitted	Generally not permitted

Effective 15 September 2026, subject to possible DHS postponement to 14 September 2028

The practical consequences for graduate students are significant. A student who begins an MS in Mechanical Engineering cannot switch to Computer Science while in F-1 status. A doctoral student whose principal investigator moves to another university cannot follow them to a new institution mid-programme without an SEVP exception. Students on academic probation or suspension, or who have repeatedly failed coursework, are generally not eligible to transfer or change objectives at all.

The rule also expects upward progression. After completing a programme, an F-1 student may not begin another at the same or a lower educational level. Bachelor’s to master’s and master’s to doctorate are permitted; master’s to a second master’s, or master’s to a graduate certificate, are not. DHS has clarified that this applies only to programmes completed after 15 September 2026.

One escape hatch is built in. DHS acknowledges that these provisions may require SEVIS changes, and has given itself discretion to postpone the transfer, educational-objective, and progression restrictions until 14 September 2028 if implementation proves unworkable. It has committed to at least 30 days’ notice through SEVP channels. The delay authority itself expires two years after the effective date.

What the End of Duration of Status Means for J-1 Exchange Visitors

J-1 exchange visitors face the same core change: admission for the length of the programme on the Form DS-2019, capped at four years, plus the existing 30-day grace period, which is unchanged. Research scholars, professors, physicians, au pairs, camp counsellors, and summer work travel participants are all within scope.

• A J-1 whose programme end date is shortened must depart, or take steps to maintain lawful status, within 30 days of the new date.
• A J-1 employment-authorised incident to status with a specific employer may continue working for up to 240 days while a timely filed extension application is pending.
• J-2 dependants do not get that benefit. Their work authorisation stops when the EAD expires, regardless of a pending application.
• Responsible Officers have defined obligations when submitting late requests to extend a programme end date.

There is a narrow temporary reprieve for J-1s whose duration of status stay expires shortly after the rule takes effect: they may apply for an extension and continue working for the period shown on the new DS-2019, however long adjudication takes.

I Nonimmigrants: Representatives of Foreign Information Media

The I classification is the smallest group affected by the end of duration of status and gets the shortest treatment here, but the change is the sharpest. Foreign media representatives move from duration of employment to a fixed period of up to 240 days. Holders of passports issued by the People’s Republic of China, other than Hong Kong and Macau SAR passports, were already on fixed periods and remain so.

An I nonimmigrant with a timely filed extension application pending may continue working for their foreign employer for up to 240 days — 90 days for PRC passport holders. The rule also codifies the definition of a foreign media organisation, consistent with existing USCIS and State Department practice, and updates the evidence required to establish eligibility.

Extension of Stay: The Process That Replaces Duration of Status

This is the mechanism that replaces the invisible continuation of duration of status. Anyone who needs to remain past the date on their I-94 has two routes: file with USCIS, or leave and come back.

Route one: file Form I-539 with USCIS

Under duration of status, extending a stay was invisible: the school updated SEVIS and issued a new I-20, and lawful presence followed automatically. That link is now broken. Updating the SEVIS record no longer extends the stay if the I-94 expires before the new programme end date.

An extension application uses Form I-539, filed before the I-94 expires. It requires a filing fee, an updated Form I-20 or DS-2019, evidence of continued eligibility, and evidence of admissibility. Biometrics may be collected and an interview may be required. USCIS makes the decision — a designated school official’s recommendation is one factor, not the determination.

Timing decides what you may keep doing while you wait. If the application is filed before the programme end date on the I-20 or DS-2019, the applicant remains in a period of authorised stay while it is pending. An F-1 student may keep pursuing a full course of study — the rule codifies this explicitly — and may continue on-campus employment, curricular practical training, and severe economic hardship employment for up to 240 days. A J-1 may continue the programme, academic training, and employment incident to status for up to 240 days.

File later, during the 30-day grace period but before the I-94 expires, and the application is still timely, but the automatic continuation of employment and training does not apply. The applicant may generally remain while it is pending, but must wait for approval before working or training again.

One trap deserves emphasis. Filing an extension application does not extend an OPT or STEM OPT extension Employment Authorization Document. Those benefits run only for the validity of the EAD. There is, however, a six-month reprieve: F-1 students in duration of status who timely file Form I-765 for post-completion OPT or a STEM OPT extension on or before 18 March 2027 are not required to file an extension application.

Route two: depart and seek readmission

Leaving the United States and re-entering with a valid I-20 or DS-2019, and a valid visa where required, produces a fresh I-94 with a new admit-until date. For some people this is faster and cheaper than filing. For others it is the riskier path, and the calculation turns on specifics: whether the visa is still valid, appointment availability at the relevant post, the possibility of administrative processing or refusal, any applicable travel ban, and whether an adjustment of status application is pending that international travel would jeopardise.

A denial is consequential. An applicant whose extension is refused may lose authorisation to remain in the United States from the point of denial, which can end a degree, an exchange programme, or employment authorisation. Under the old duration of status framework, this decision point simply did not exist.

Transition Rules: Who Keeps Duration of Status, and Until When

Nobody’s I-94 changes automatically on 15 September 2026. The transition provision covers anyone who, on that date, was in the United States, had been admitted for duration of status, and was properly maintaining F-1 or J-1 status.

Those people continue under the old framework until the later of the programme end date on their current Form I-20 or DS-2019, or the expiry of their EAD if they are on OPT or STEM OPT. An outer limit applies: four years from the effective date, plus the applicable grace period. That produces 14 November 2030 for F-1 students, who keep the 60-day grace period under transition, and 15 October 2030 for J-1 exchange visitors.

Feature	Before 15 September 2026	From 15 September 2026
I-94 admit-until date	Duration of status, no fixed end date	Specific date: programme length on I-20 or DS-2019, capped at four years
Early entry before programme start	30 days	30 days, unchanged
F-1 post-completion grace period	60 days	30 days
J-1 grace period	30 days	30 days, unchanged
English language training	Duration of status	24 months aggregate, including breaks and vacation
I nonimmigrants	Duration of employment	Up to 240 days
Extending the stay	School or sponsor extends the programme in SEVIS	Form I-539 filed with USCIS, or depart and re-enter
Who decides	Designated school official or responsible officer	USCIS immigration officer; school recommendation is one factor
Biometrics and interview	Not generally required	May be required with an extension application
Graduate transfers and major changes	Generally permitted, subject to SEVP rules	Barred during the programme, absent SEVP exception

Source: DHS final rule, 91 FR 44976, Federal Register

Two events end the transition benefit. Travelling abroad and re-entering on or after 15 September 2026 produces a new date-specific I-94 under the new rules. So does an approved extension application. Either way, the 30-day grace period replaces the 60-day one from that point.

The rule also settles two related questions. Someone whose change of status to F or J was approved before the effective date, who then departs and seeks admission afterwards, is admitted under the new framework. And departing the United States while a change of status application is pending is treated as abandoning it — a codification of long-standing policy rather than a new restriction.

What to Do, by Situation

The end of duration of status does not require immediate action from most people already in the country. It does require everyone to start tracking a date they previously never had to think about.

Your situation	What applies	What to do
Arriving for the first time on or after 15 September 2026	Fixed admit-until date, four-year cap, 30-day grace period	Check the I-94 record after entry and diarise the admit-until date
In the US on duration of status, programme ends before 2030	Transition provision; 60-day grace period retained	No action needed until the I-20 end date approaches
In the US on duration of status, doctorate running past 2030	Transition provision, outer limit 14 November 2030	Plan an extension of stay well before the outer limit
On OPT or STEM OPT on 15 September 2026	May continue to EAD expiry	File Form I-765 by 18 March 2027 to use the filing reprieve
Planning to travel abroad after 15 September 2026	Transition benefit ends on re-entry	Weigh the visa position and processing risk before booking
Graduate student considering a transfer or change of major	Barred during the programme, absent SEVP exception	Speak to the DSO before committing to anything
Undergraduate in the first academic year	Transfer and change of objective barred	Wait until the first academic year is complete
J-1 scholar with an appointment being extended	New DS-2019 does not by itself extend the I-94	File an extension of stay before the I-94 expires
Change of status application pending with USCIS	Departure is treated as abandonment	Do not leave the US while it is pending

General guidance only. Confirm your position with your DSO or Responsible Officer

The single habit worth building is checking the I-94 record after every entry. Under duration of status the field read “D/S” and could safely be ignored. The end of duration of status makes it the most important line on the record: it now carries a date that governs lawful presence, and a CBP data-entry error that would once have been harmless can put someone out of status. Anyone preparing to travel should work through our USA student checklist before departure, and read the USA student visa guide for how the F, M, and J routes compare.

What Is Still Unsettled

Several things about the end of duration of status remain genuinely open, and anyone planning around the rule should treat them as moving parts.

• Congressional review. DHS may publish a document changing the effective date or terminating the rule.
• Whether DHS exercises its discretion to postpone the academic mobility restrictions to 14 September 2028.
• Whether a graduate student who completes one degree may transfer to a different institution for a higher-level programme. The rule bars transfers “during” a programme of study, which suggests it may be permitted after completion, but DHS has not confirmed this reading and SEVP guidance is awaited.
• Extension processing times at volume. USCIS has not previously adjudicated this category at anything like this scale.
• The filing fee. Confirm the current amount on the USCIS website before filing, as fees change.

The rule includes a severability clause, so a court striking down one provision would not automatically take the rest with it. Anyone whose plans depend on a specific element should follow SEVP announcements and take advice from their designated school official or responsible officer rather than relying on any single summary, including this one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Key Takeaways

Key Takeaways

– Duration of status ends on 15 September 2026 for F academic students, J exchange visitors, and I foreign media representatives, replaced by a fixed date on the Form I-94.

– F-1 and J-1 admissions are capped at the programme length on the I-20 or DS-2019, to a maximum of four years, plus a grace period.

– The four-year cap limits each grant of admission, not total time in status. Longer programmes remain possible via an extension of stay.

– The F-1 post-completion grace period drops from 60 days to 30 days. The J-1 grace period stays at 30 days.

– Graduate students may not transfer schools or change major or degree level at any point during a programme, absent an SEVP exception.

– Undergraduates face the same restrictions during their first academic year only.

– Extensions use Form I-539, with a fee, biometrics, and a possible interview. USCIS decides, not the school.

– Students already in the US on duration of status need take no action until their current I-20 or EAD end date, subject to an outer limit of 14 November 2030.

– Travelling abroad and re-entering after 15 September 2026 ends the transition benefit and applies the new rules immediately.

– The rule is a major rule subject to congressional review; DHS may still change the effective date or terminate it.