United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a Proposed Rule that would eliminate the Duration of Status (D/S) admission for F-1 academic students, J-1 exchange visitors, and I representatives of information media. A D/S admission means that a nonimmigrant has been admitted for an undefined length of time and will continue to maintain status if he/she continues to comply with the terms and conditions of the relevant nonimmigrant classification. If the Proposed Rule becomes effective, F-1, J-1, and I nonimmigrants would be admitted for fixed periods of stay not to exceed four (4) years and the expiration dates of these periods would be noted on their I-94 admission records.

Comments on the Proposed Rule must be received on or before September 29, 2025.  After these comments are considered, an Interim Final Rule with a 30-day implementation period may be issued.  This is likely to happen before the end of the year.

The purpose of the replacement of D/S admissions with admissions for fixed time periods is to bring the F-1, J-1, and I nonimmigrant classifications in line with “most” other nonimmigrant classifications such as H-1B, L-1, O-1 and TN, and, per ICE,  would provide additional protections and oversight of these nonimmigrant classifications and will “allow DHS to better evaluate whether these nonimmigrants are maintaining status while temporarily in the United States.”   The Proposed Rule also notes that fixed periods of stays will “ensure that DHS has an effective mechanism to periodically and directly assess whether these nonimmigrants are complying with the conditions of their classifications and U.S. immigration laws, and to obtain timely and accurate information about the activities these aliens have engaged in and plan to engage in during their temporary stay in the United States.”

Under the Proposed Rule, an F-1, J-1, or I nonimmigrant that wishes to stay in the United States beyond the fixed period of admission noted in an I-94 admission record would have to file an extension of stay application with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) before the expiration of the period of admission.  The Proposed Rule does not create a new form for such an application and the current Form I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status will be used.  The filing of the form will require biometric collection. The Proposed Rule also notes that if a nonimmigrant in F-1, -J-1, or I status timely files an extension of stay application, leaves the United States before USCIS approves that application, and subsequently applies for admission to continue his or her activities for the balance of the previously authorized admission period, USCIS will generally not consider the extension of stay application abandoned.  A nonimmigrant who has timely filed an extension application that remains pending after an admission period has expired will receive an automatic extension of his/her current employment authorization for up to 240 days.

An obvious hazard of the imposition of a fixed period of stay for F-1, J-1, and I nonimmigrants is that they will now become subject to becoming unlawfully present if they remain in the United States beyond the date until which they have been admitted without timely filing an application to extend or change status.  An accrual of more than 180 days of unlawful presence will result in a three-year bar from reentering the United States and an accrual of more than one year will result in a ten-year bar.

The Proposed Rule also introduces a number of other changes to control more effectively the admission and activities of F-1 students.  These include the following:

• Requiring that students at levels below  the graduate degree level changing educational objectives (i.e., programs, majors, or educational levels) or transferring to an SEVP-certified school must complete his or her first academic year of a program of study at the school that initially issued his or her Form I-20 or successor form, unless an exception is authorized by SEVP;
• Prohibiting F-1 students at the graduate education level from changing programs at any point during a program of study;
• Prohibiting F-1 students from changing to a new program at the same or a lower educational level;
• Decreasing the grace period for F-1 nonimmigrants to prepare to depart from the United States after completion of a course of study or authorized period of post-completion practical training from 60 to 30 days;
• Limiting language training students to an aggregate 24-month period of stay, including breaks and annual vacations.

The Final Rule may undergo some changes before it is published as an Interim Final Rule, although it is likely that the elimination of D/S admissions will remain in place.  All persons and organizations that wish to comment on the Proposed Rule and offer suggestions as to how the rule may be revised are encouraged to submit comments to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. Docket No. ICEB-2025-0001 should be cited.