F-1 and J-1 Students: What the End of "Duration of Status" Means From 15 September 2026

For nearly five decades, an F-1 student entering the United States was admitted for "duration of status" — the letters D/S on the I-94, meaning you could stay as long as you remained a student in good standing. No fixed date, no extension paperwork with the government, and the school's designated school official (DSO) handled programme changes inside SEVIS.

That ends on 15 September 2026. A Department of Homeland Security final rule, published in the Federal Register on 17 July 2026 as document 2026-14439, replaces D/S with admission for a fixed period for three classifications: F (academic students), J (exchange visitors) and I (representatives of foreign information media). DHS received close to 22,000 public comments on the August 2025 proposal and finalised it with several changes.

This article explains what the new system looks like, what students already in the US should do, and — because it is the question every Indian, Chinese and Nigerian graduate asks next — where the $100,000 H-1B fee stands after a summer of litigation.

What "duration of status" was

Under D/S, your authorised stay was defined by your activity rather than by a date. As long as you were enrolled full time, working only with authorisation and following the other conditions of F-1 status, you were lawfully present. If you changed degree level, needed an extra semester or moved to Optional Practical Training (OPT), your DSO updated SEVIS and, for OPT, you applied to USCIS for a work permit — but you never applied to extend your stay.

DHS's stated reason for scrapping this is oversight: the preamble argues that D/S left immigration officers with no "predetermined points in time" to check whether a student was still maintaining status. Commenters pointed out that the overstay rate for F, M and J visa holders was 3.67% in FY 2023; DHS acknowledged the compliance record but proceeded anyway.

The new fixed period of admission

How long you are admitted for

From 15 September 2026, CBP admits F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors up to the programme end date on the Form I-20 or DS-2019, not to exceed four years. The four years run from the programme start date. You may still arrive up to 30 days before that date, and those early days do not count against the cap.

At the end of the admission period you receive a 30-day period to depart or to seek lawful authorisation to remain. If your programme ends earlier than expected, the 30 days run from the new end date, not the one originally on your I-20.

Two categories are treated differently:

For most master's students the programme end date, not the cap, is the binding constraint. A four-year bachelor's that runs long, or a PhD, will need at least one extension.

Extension of stay through USCIS

If you need more time than your admission period allows, you apply to USCIS for an extension of stay (EOS) on Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. Under USCIS's fee schedule (Form G-1055, edition of 29 May 2026) the filing fee is $470 on paper or $420 online, and the same schedule lists premium processing for I-539 in the F and J categories at $2,075. Dependants in F-2 or J-2 status can be included on one form for one fee.

The rule lists the grounds on which an extension may be granted: a programme longer than the initial admission, compelling academic reasons, a documented illness or medical condition, circumstances outside your control, post-completion OPT, the STEM OPT extension, academic training for J-1s, or starting a new programme.

Three procedural protections were added in the final rule:

• You can keep studying while it is pending. An F-1 student who files on time is authorised to continue a full course of study after the admission period expires until USCIS decides. For J-1s, employment already authorised continues for up to 240 days while a timely application is pending.
• Travel does not automatically abandon the application — provided you return within your previously authorised period and seek admission only for the balance of it. If you re-enter with a new I-20 or DS-2019 showing an end date beyond that period while the extension is pending, USCIS may treat the extension as abandoned. Travel with your Form I-797C receipt notice.
• A six-month reprieve on OPT. For the first six months after the rule takes effect, students applying for employment authorisation for post-completion OPT or STEM OPT get a short-term reprieve from having to file a separate extension of stay alongside the work-permit application.

DHS estimates the rule's annualised cost at $443.1 million to $448.6 million, most of it borne by students and schools; it has promised implementation guidance and training in response to universities' objections.

Students already in the US: the transition rule

If you are in F or J status, were admitted for D/S and are properly maintaining status on 15 September 2026, new 8 CFR 214.1(m) authorises you to remain until the later of:

• the expiry date on your Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766), or
• the programme end date on your Form I-20 or DS-2019,

but not beyond four years from 15 September 2026. F nonimmigrants then receive a 60-day departure period, which the rule fixes at 14 November 2030; J nonimmigrants receive 30 days, to 15 October 2030.

Any employment or training already authorised — CPT, OPT, STEM OPT, academic training — continues until the end date your DSO or responsible officer endorsed, or until your EAD expires.

You need to file an extension with USCIS only if you need time beyond that: a programme running past four years from September 2026, post-completion OPT or STEM OPT that you have not yet applied for, or a new programme of study.

Practical steps before and after 15 September

1. 1Check your I-20 end date now. If it is short of your actual expected completion — common where a DSO set a conservative date — talk to your international office about whether it should be corrected before the rule takes effect.
2. 2Print and keep your current I-94. A record showing D/S and an entry date before 15 September is your proof for the transition rule.
3. 3Diary the date that matters. For most current students that is the I-20 end date. USCIS I-539 processing routinely takes months and you must file before the period ends, so start three to four months out.
4. 4Do not leave and re-enter casually. After 15 September, every new admission gives you a fixed date. A trip home over the winter break will bring you back under the new regime with an I-94 date set from your I-20. SEVP publishes implementation guidance on studyinthestates.dhs.gov.

Unlawful presence: why the date now matters

Under D/S, unlawful presence generally did not start accruing until USCIS or an immigration judge made a formal finding. Under the fixed-period rule it accrues from your I-94 date. More than 180 days triggers a three-year bar on re-entry once you leave; more than a year triggers a ten-year bar. A missed extension can close the door on a future H-1B or green card.

The Congressional Review Act caveat

The rule is classified as a major rule under the Congressional Review Act, which means it cannot take effect until at least 60 days after Congress receives DHS's report or 60 days after publication, whichever is later. DHS has set 15 September 2026 as the effective date on that basis, but its own notice says that if the effective date changes at the conclusion of congressional review, it "will publish a document in the Federal Register to establish the actual effective date or to terminate the rule."

Read that plainly: the date is expected to hold, but it is not immovable, and Congress has the power to disapprove the rule. Check the Federal Register or your DSO's advice before relying on any date in this article for a decision that cannot be reversed.

The $100,000 H-1B fee: where it stands

For students planning to move from OPT to an H-1B, the second question of the summer is whether employers will still have to pay $100,000 per petition.

What happened. Presidential Proclamation 10973 of 19 September 2025 imposed a $100,000 payment as a condition of entry for new H-1B workers. Twenty state attorneys general challenged it, and on 8 June 2026 the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment on all claims and vacated the policy in full, holding that the payment was a tax the President had no authority to impose rather than an immigration restriction. The government appealed, and on 24 July 2026, in State of California v. Noem, the First Circuit refused to stay the vacatur while the appeal proceeds.

The position today. According to Littler's analysis of the appellate ruling, USCIS and the State Department cannot currently assess or require the $100,000 payment for H-1B filings. The appeal itself is not decided. A separate challenge produced the opposite result at district level — that court found the fee within presidential authority — and is pending at the D.C. Circuit, so the courts are split and the question may not end at the First Circuit.

The expiry date. Proclamation 10973 expires on 20 September 2026 unless the President extends it. If it lapses, the appeal about it becomes largely academic for new filings.

The replacement. On 25 August 2026 DHS published a proposed rule for a $103,265 fee on every H-1B cap-subject petition, including advanced-degree exemption cases, on top of all existing fees. This is a regulation rather than a proclamation, so the argument that sank the first version does not apply in the same way. It is only a proposal: written comments close on 24 September 2026, and nothing is payable until a final rule is published. For an Indian or Chinese master's student graduating in 2027, the realistic reading is that the $100,000 proclamation is unlikely to govern your H-1B — but a fee of the same order may be, if the proposal survives the comment period. Our August 2026 round-up has more.

What to do now

• New students arriving for spring 2027: expect an I-94 with a date, not D/S. Make sure the I-20 end date reflects the full length of your course before you travel.
• Current students: find your I-20 end date and calendar an I-539 filing three to four months before it if you will need OPT or more time.
• Graduating in 2026-27: apply for post-completion OPT in the usual way; the six-month reprieve should mean no separate extension filing in the first window after 15 September. Confirm with your DSO.
• Planning an H-1B: watch 20 September (proclamation expiry) and 24 September (comment deadline on the $103,265 proposal).

If you are still trying to secure an F-1 interview for this academic year, our guide to F-1 visa slots for fall 2026 in India covers the appointment situation, and the F-1 requirements page has the document checklist.