Duration of Status Ends September 15, 2026: What Changes for International Students and Exchange Visitors in Texas

What Changed, and When

On July 17, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security, through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, published a final rule in the Federal Register titled “Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media”, published at 91 FR 44976. The rule strikes every reference to “duration of status” from the DHS regulations governing F, J and I nonimmigrants.

The rule states its effective date is September 15, 2026. It also carries an unusual caveat, in the rule’s own words: “This rule has been classified as a major rule subject to congressional review. The effective date is September 15, 2026. However, at the conclusion of the congressional review, if the effective date has been changed, DHS will publish a document in the Federal Register to establish the actual effective date or to terminate the rule.” The proposed version was published on August 28, 2025 and drew close to 22,000 public comments.

Who in Texas This Reaches

Texas is the third-largest host state for international students in the country, behind California and New York, and it posted the largest year-over-year increase of any state in the 2024/25 academic year — up 8 percent, or 7,497 students — according to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors 2025 release. Those students and scholars are spread across public and private campuses in Austin, College Station, Houston, Dallas, Denton, Lubbock, El Paso, San Antonio, Richardson and dozens of smaller communities.

The rule reaches three groups: F academic students, including those on post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM OPT; J exchange visitors, a category that in Texas includes research scholars, medical residents and fellows, professors and au pairs; and I representatives of foreign information media. Their dependents in F-2 and J-2 status are affected alongside them. Texas employers of F-1 and J-1 workers, university international offices and exchange program sponsors are affected on the compliance side.

What This Changes Legally

Fixed admission periods replace open-ended admission. Under the final rule, F and J nonimmigrants are admitted for the length of their program, not to exceed four years. That four-year clock is measured from the program start date shown on the Form I-20 or Form DS-2019, not from the date of physical entry into the United States. I nonimmigrants are generally admitted for up to 240 days; I nonimmigrants holding passports issued by the People’s Republic of China, excluding the Hong Kong and Macau SARs, are generally admitted for up to 90 days.

The F-1 departure window is cut in half. The period an F-1 student has to prepare to depart after completing a course of study or authorized post-completion practical training drops from 60 days to 30 days. A student who ends study or training early must depart, or take timely action to maintain or change status, within 30 days of the end date. The parallel window for a J-1 exchange visitor whose program end date is shortened is also 30 days.

A new extension-of-stay process. Anyone in F, J or I status who needs more time than the fixed period allows must file Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, with USCIS before the authorized period of stay expires. USCIS may require biometrics. An F-1 student who files a timely extension application may continue a full course of study while it is pending; a J-1 exchange visitor may continue authorized training; an I nonimmigrant may continue working for a foreign employer for up to 240 days, or 90 days for most PRC passport holders, while a timely-filed application is pending.

The standard for an F-1 extension is narrower than the old system. As summarized in a July 22, 2026 client alert from Duane Morris LLP, an F-1 student seeking an extension generally must have continuously maintained status and show a compelling academic reason, a documented medical illness or condition, or circumstances beyond the student’s control. Academic probation, suspension and repeated inability to complete a program are generally treated as unacceptable bases for an extension request.

Transition rules for people already here. F and J nonimmigrants who are in duration of status on the effective date may 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. Travel matters: someone in that transitional group who leaves the country and is readmitted after September 15 receives a new I-94 with a fixed date instead of duration of status. F-1 students who timely file Form I-765 for post-completion OPT or STEM OPT on or before March 18, 2027 are not also required to file a separate extension application. I nonimmigrants already in duration of status may remain for up to 240 days, or 90 days for most PRC passport holders.

Several rules about changing course are new. The final rule generally requires an F-1 student to complete the first academic year at the school that issued the initial Form I-20 before transferring, absent a qualifying Student and Exchange Visitor Program exception; generally bars graduate-level students from changing educational objective or transferring schools, absent a qualifying exception; permits progression only to a higher educational level after completing one; and caps language training at an aggregate 24 months. Existing H-1B cap-gap protection is not changed by the rule. A pending change-of-status application is treated as abandoned if the applicant departs the United States while it is pending.

A Federal Lawsuit Is Pending

On August 18, 2026, a coalition led by NAFSA: Association of International Educators and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration filed a complaint and a motion for a preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, asking the court to stop the rule from taking effect. The other plaintiffs listed by NAFSA are the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, the American Federation of Teachers, Graduate Labor Organization AFT Local 6516, the International Union, UAW, UAW Local 2322, and The NewsGuild-CWA. They are represented by McDermott Will & Schulte.

According to the coalition’s description of its own filing, the complaint argues that the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act because DHS did not adequately assess costs and benefits, meaningfully respond to public comments, consider less burdensome alternatives, or justify the rule based on its stated objectives, and that DHS allowed an inadequate comment period and exceeded its statutory authority. Those are allegations that a court has not ruled on. As Inside Higher Ed reported on August 19, the plaintiffs told the court the rule is already affecting enrollment decisions.

Two things follow from this for anyone reading dates off a calendar. First, the September 15 effective date stands unless a court or the congressional review process changes it. Second, litigation of this kind can move quickly and the posture can shift with a single order, so a date that looks settled one week may not be the next. An immigration attorney tracking the docket can say where the case stands at the moment a decision has to be made.

What Kind of Option Might Apply

Nothing on this page is a prediction about any individual case, and no one should read a general summary as an answer about their own status. What an immigration lawyer can review, on the specific facts, includes:

• Which admission period actually applies — the transitional rule for someone already in duration of status, or a fixed date from a new entry, and what the Form I-94 says.
• Whether an extension-of-stay filing is needed, and when — including whether the March 18, 2027 OPT and STEM OPT filing relief covers a particular student.
• What documentation supports an extension request under the narrower academic, medical and beyond-the-student’s-control grounds.
• How international travel changes the picture for someone in the transitional group, and how the abandonment rule affects a pending change-of-status application.
• What the new transfer and educational-objective restrictions mean for a graduate student mid-program, or for a student in the first academic year.
• Employer-side compliance — Form I-9 reverification timelines, the 240-day continued-work window, and H-1B cap-gap planning for F-1 employees.

A university international student office is an important resource and is often the first place a student asks. Designated school officials advise on SEVIS records and program documents; they are not a substitute for an attorney where an individual’s legal status, a filing strategy or a compliance exposure is at stake. Many people use both.

Why Acting Quickly Can Matter

The dates in this rule are fixed points, and each one is a fact rather than a warning: the rule takes effect September 15, 2026; an extension application must be filed before the authorized period of stay expires; the F-1 departure window is 30 days instead of 60; and the OPT and STEM OPT filing relief runs through March 18, 2027. Documentation that supports an extension — an updated Form I-20, medical records, a letter explaining an academic delay — generally has to be requested from a third party, which is the part that consumes calendar time.

Because the effective date is three weeks out and a motion for a preliminary injunction is pending, this is a period where the answer to “what applies to me” can change. Talking to an immigration lawyer early gives more room to work with than talking to one after a deadline has passed. If a lawyer in our network offers an initial consultation, it is free.

Sources

1. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media,” final rule, 91 FR 44976, Federal Register, July 17, 2026 (primary document).
2. NAFSA: Association of International Educators, “Legal Challenge to the Final Rule Ending Duration of Status (D/S),” updated August 18, 2026.
3. NAFSA and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, “Coalition Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Rule Ending Duration of Status,” August 18, 2026.
4. Inside Higher Ed, “Lawsuit Seeks to Vacate Rule Ending Duration of Status,” August 19, 2026.
5. Duane Morris LLP, client alert on the end of duration of status for F, J and I nonimmigrants, July 22, 2026.
6. Institute of International Education, Open Doors 2025 international student enrollment release, November 2025.