US ends open-ended stays for foreign students, exchange visitors and journalists

The US Department of Homeland Security announced on 16 July 2026 a final rule that ends "duration of status", the system that since 1978 has let international students, exchange visitors and foreign journalists stay in the United States for as long as their program or assignment lasted. In its place come fixed admission periods: F visa (student) and J visa (exchange visitor) holders will be admitted for the length of their specific program, capped at four years, and foreign media on I visas will be limited to 240 days per admission. The rule is scheduled for Federal Register publication on 17 July and takes effect 60 days later, which puts the start date at 15 September 2026. Anyone already in the US under duration of status will be moved onto the new system automatically.

Background

Since 1978, F, J and I visa holders have been admitted "D/S" — for the duration of their status — rather than until a fixed date. A student's permission to stay simply tracked their enrolment, with universities reporting changes through the SEVIS system, and no date appeared on the I-94 admission record. DHS argues this allowed people to remain indefinitely without routine government checks; Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the old system let thousands "abuse our immigration system by perpetually enrolling in courses to avoid having to leave the U.S.", and the department describes its target as "forever students". A first attempt to end duration of status was proposed in 2020 and withdrawn; DHS revived the proposal in August 2025 and has now finalised it.

What exactly changed

Four things. First, fixed admission: F and J visa holders are admitted until their program end date as listed on the Form I-20 or DS-2019, with an absolute maximum of four years. Second, federal extensions: anyone who needs more time — a PhD that runs long, a delayed graduation — must file a Form I-539 extension-of-stay application with USCIS before their admission expires, which involves biometric vetting, background checks and fraud screening. Universities no longer handle this internally. Third, a shorter grace period: F-1 students will have 30 days after finishing their program to depart, transfer or change status, down from 60. Fourth, journalists on I visas are limited to 240 days per admission, and 90 days for nationals of China, according to the rule text reported by Reuters.

Who it affects

The populations are large: US authorities recorded about 1.8 million admissions of international students in 2024, more than 500,000 exchange visitors in fiscal 2024, and roughly 37,300 foreign journalists and their dependants. Concretely: a master's student whose two-year program runs on schedule will notice little beyond a date on their I-94. A PhD student, whose degree typically takes five to seven years, will need at least one USCIS extension filing mid-program. A researcher on a five-year J-1 will face the same. Students already in the US on 15 September keep their current terms initially but are capped at four years from the rule's effective date unless they file for an extension.

What this means in practice

People currently studying in the US, or starting a program this autumn, can check their program end date on their Form I-20 or DS-2019 — under the new rule that date, or the four-year mark, becomes the hard boundary of their admission. Programs longer than four years will require a timely extension filing with USCIS, and DHS has not published processing-time commitments for these filings, so the practical risk sits with anyone whose status would lapse while an application is pending. Our United States country guide (/country-guides/united-states) covers the visa landscape for people planning a longer move.