The United States will replace its decades-old "duration of status" student visa system with a fixed admission period, capped at four years or the normal length of the study programme, under a final rule set to take effect on September 15.

The Department of Homeland Security published the rule in the Federal Register, formalizing a change that ends the long-standing practice of allowing foreign students to remain in the country for as long as they stayed enrolled. Students will now receive a fixed end date at entry. Extensions will be decided case by case by the US government rather than by universities.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, welcomed the change. The policy "makes it clear to everyone up front — the applicant, the university and the government — that the terms of entry are for a specific purpose, for a specific duration, and that when those have been fulfilled the student must depart the country," he said in emailed comments.

The programme ensures temporary visas remain "just that: temporary, with a fixed end date," Mehlman said. He added that the policy "will also end the practice of endlessly enrolling in classes beyond completion solely for the purpose of extending a student visa," and that the government, not "universities which often have a financial interest in having a foreign student remain," will now decide on extensions.

Background and numbers

Duration of status for certain visa classes dates to 1978 and has remained largely unchanged since. DHS first proposed ending indefinite stays in September 2020, during the first Trump administration, but withdrew the proposal in July 2021 under President Biden.

The Center for Immigration Studies supported the rule in a formal comment, citing "pay-to-stay fraud" in which school officials falsely report students as enrolled "in return for cash payments." Federal data cited in the debate show that at least 2,100 foreign students who entered the programme between 2000 and 2010 remained in the country until 2026 as "lifelong students."

Who is affected

The rule applies to foreign students on US student visas, as well as foreign journalists and media representatives, whose duration-of-status treatment also ends under the change. Hundreds of thousands of enrolled students will need to work within the new fixed timelines and, where needed, apply for extensions through the government procedure the rule establishes.

Criticism from higher education and immigration groups

The American Council on Education said the rule would "hurt [the] global talent pipeline," "ignore academic realities," and create "unnecessary bureaucracy." The group declined to specify what limits it would support, referring questions to its public statement and to a report from the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers. Neither NAFSA nor the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education responded to requests for comment.

The American Immigration Council wrote in a blog post that the rule will create "additional red tape and costs" and "serve to drive even more students away." The group also warned that ending duration of status for foreign journalists and media "will send the message that the United States is not the country it once was."

Santiago Calvo, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, offered a split verdict. "DHS should rigorously enforce rules governing immigration fraud and overstays," he wrote in City Journal. "But requiring hundreds of thousands of compliant students to prove repeatedly that they deserve to finish legitimate degrees is bad not just for them, but for America." He called the new rule a "blunt instrument."

Students and sponsoring institutions should consult the final rule published in the Federal Register and DHS guidance for authoritative details on eligibility and the new extension-of-stay procedure.