F-1 students: from 15 September, your stay gets a fixed end date

In one sentence: your permission to stay stops being tied to the length of your course and becomes a date printed on the I-94. Those already in the country and in good standing fall under a transition rule, but everyone now has to watch that date.

How it worked until now

The I-94 is the record of your entry into the United States, and it is that record, not the visa in your passport, that says how long you may stay. Until now, F-1 students received the notation D/S on it, for duration of status. There was no date: you could stay as long as you maintained status, that is, studying full time, following the program rules and respecting the authorized training. Your stay was tied to the program registered in SEVIS, the system that tracks foreign students.

What changes

The new rule replaces D/S with a fixed period. On entry, or on approval of a change of status to F-1, the government now writes a final date on the I-94, the Admit Until Date.

The period comes from the program stated on Form I-20, the document your school issues.
The first admission cannot exceed four years, and there are two lower caps: 24 months for an English course and 12 months, added together and already including holidays, for public school.
The four years run from the program's start date, not from the day you enter the country. Excluded from the cap are up to 30 days before the reporting date and the departure period after the end.
Anyone needing more time will have to ask USCIS for an extension.
A new I-20, on its own, does not extend the date on your I-94.

Topic	Before, with D/S	After, with a fixed period
I-94	Showed D/S, with no end date.	Shows a specific end date.
Initial period	Tied to the program and to your maintaining status.	The I-20 program, capped at four years, plus the departure period.
Course takes longer	The DSO updated the I-20 and SEVIS where allowed.	Beyond an updated I-20, you may need to request an extension from USCIS.
OPT and STEM OPT	Fell within D/S when authorized.	Require attention to the I-94 date and, where applicable, an extension request together with the training paperwork.
After completing	60 days to prepare to leave.	For those admitted under the new rule, the period drops to 30 days.
Transfer or change course	More flexibility, within SEVIS rules.	New limits on transferring, changing academic objective and starting another program.
Missing the deadline	A violation could cost you your status.	Going past the fixed date may generate unlawful presence and other consequences, on top of losing status.

If you are already in the United States

A student in good standing on 15 September 2026 who was admitted under D/S falls under a transition rule. In general, they may stay until the later of:

The end of the program shown on the Form I-20 valid on 15 September 2026; or
The expiry date of the EAD, the work permit card, where there is one, as with OPT;
Always subject to the cap of four years counted from 15 September 2026, plus the 60 departure days provided for this transition group.

The calculation that really changes: unlawful presence

This is the point with the greatest consequences, and the least discussed. For those admitted under D/S, unlawful presence does not start running on the day the violation occurs. It starts the day after someone recognizes the violation: USCIS, in deciding an application, or an immigration judge, in a case. While no one decides, the clock does not run.

Why this matters is what unlawful presence triggers: more than 180 days bars you from returning to the United States for three years, and more than a year, for ten. A fixed period changes that logic, because there is now a date on the I-94 after which staying is already improper.

There is an express protection worth knowing: while an extension request filed on time is pending, unlawful presence does not run, even after the I-94 has expired. You are in a period of authorized stay and, if the request is approved, you are treated as having maintained status throughout.

How to ask for more time

If you need to stay beyond the authorized date, you will have to file the extension form with USCIS, currently Form I-539, with the fee, evidence and biometrics, if requested.

USCIS must receive the request by the end of the period authorized on the I-94, which already includes the 30 days to prepare for departure.
You must show that you maintained status without interruption and that you are enrolled full time. Any past reduced course load must have been authorized by the DSO.
The accepted reasons are only these: a compelling academic reason, such as a change of topic or an unexpected research problem; illness documented by a licensed physician, osteopath, psychologist or clinical psychologist; or a circumstance beyond your control, such as a natural disaster, a national health crisis or the school closing.
Delay caused by academic probation or suspension, and a record of repeated failures, are expressly excluded.
You must show sufficient financial resources with each request, not only on first entry.
Biometrics may be required and, in certain cases, an interview.
An approved extension may cover the time needed, but does not exceed four years per grant.
F-2 dependants must be included in your request or file their own, and their period cannot exceed yours.
Filing on time does not guarantee approval: the decision is USCIS's, and the request also requires showing that you are admissible.

The costliest trap in the new rule

With the request filed on time and still pending, you may continue studying while USCIS decides. And on-campus employment, CPT and employment based on severe economic hardship continue automatically for up to 240 days counted from the end of the admission period.

But if you file within the 30 days after the end of your studies or training, there is no automatic extension at all: you may keep studying, and all work and all CPT stop until approval. Filing before the program ends, rather than after, changes everything for anyone who works.

What changes for OPT and STEM OPT

Both continue to exist, but now require the I-20, the work permit request and the extension of stay to move together.

For post-completion OPT, you need the DSO's recommendation and the required filings with USCIS.
There is a protection with a fixed date: anyone who files Form I-765 on time for post-completion OPT, or for the STEM extension, by 18 March 2027, is excused from also filing Form I-539 for an extension of stay. The work permit request alone is enough.
Once that request is approved, you are authorized to remain in F status until the EAD's expiry date, plus 60 days.
That protection is lost by travelling: anyone who leaves the United States before filing the I-765 and returns with a fixed period will have to file both the I-765 and the I-539.
Watch the start-date deadline: you may not request an OPT start date more than 30 days after the end of the program. It is no longer 60 days, because the final rule changed that period.
Anyone eligible for STEM OPT and outside that protection may need a further extension of stay, on top of the EAD extension request.
A pending request does not automatically authorize every kind of employment: you must check the specific rule and the validity of the EAD.

Changing school or course

Your situation	New limit
Below graduate level	You may not transfer or change academic objective during the first academic year, except by SEVP authorization for extraordinary circumstances.
Graduate level or above	You may not change academic objective during the program. Transferring during the program depends on an SEVP exception for extraordinary circumstances.
New program after completing	As a rule it must be at a higher level. If it goes past the I-94 date, an extension will be needed.

The extraordinary circumstances the rule mentions include the school closing and a prolonged inability to hold in-person classes because of a natural disaster. Other causes are assessed by SEVP, the government program that oversees the schools.

The departure deadlines, which apply under both regimes

Anyone who finishes the course and the authorized training gets a period to prepare to leave the country or transfer to another certified school. During that period you remain in status, and you may even request a change to another visa category or to permanent residence. It is the window in which a great deal gets resolved.

Sixty days after completing the course and the authorized training, for those already in the country under the old regime. For those admitted under the new rule, this drops to thirty days.
Thirty days counted from the day the course or training actually ends, if it ends before the I-94 date. The clock runs from the real end, not from the printed date.
Fifteen days for those who withdraw from classes with the DSO's authorization.
No additional period for anyone who stopped carrying a full course load without authorization, or otherwise lost status. Here there is no grace period.

If you lose status: the reinstatement request

Losing status does not necessarily end your time in the United States. There is reinstatement, the request to restore F-1 standing, filed on Form I-539 together with an I-20 carrying the recommendation of the DSO at the school you attend. It is a narrow route, and the decision rests with USCIS.

The request must show all of this at once: that it was filed within five months of losing status, or that an exceptional circumstance prevented that and it came as soon as possible; that you have no record of repeated or wilful violations; that you are enrolled or will be enrolled full time in the immediate future at the school that issued the I-20; that there was no unauthorized work; and that there is no other ground to deport you beyond the loss of status itself.

In addition, you must show one of two things: that the violation arose from a circumstance beyond your control, or that it relates to a reduced course load the DSO could have authorized, and that refusing reinstatement would cause you extreme hardship.

Do not confuse reinstatement with a program extension. The extension is preventive: anyone who will not finish the course by the I-20 date should request it from the DSO before the program ends. After that deadline, it is no longer an extension but reinstatement. And here is a detail that decides cases: if the DSO only enters the extension in SEVIS after the I-20 date has passed, the route is already reinstatement, even if the reason was legitimate. Reinstatement and extension requests filed together fall together, and neither fee comes back.

Travelling with a request pending

Leaving the United States does not automatically abandon every extension request. But if you return with a new I-20 whose program runs past the period previously authorized, USCIS may treat the pending extension as abandoned. The work permit request, by contrast, is never treated as abandoned because of travel, and it is wise to travel with a copy of Form I-797C, which proves you filed.

There is a specific trap for anyone who obtained a change of status to F-1 inside the United States before 15 September 2026: on leaving and returning after that date, your readmission is for the I-20 period, capped at four years, and you lose the transition protection that would have run to 14 November 2030. And a change of status request, unlike an extension request, is treated as abandoned if you leave the country while it is pending. Before travelling, review your I-94, visa, I-20, SEVIS record and the strategy of your case.

The rule is being challenged in court

A group of universities and organizations has asked the federal court in Massachusetts to suspend the rule, in Presidents' Alliance v. DHS (1:26-cv-13799). A hearing is set for 3 September 2026.

Position as of 29 August 2026: no suspension has been granted, and for now the 15 September date stands. On 27 August the Government asked to respond only by 4 September, a day after the hearing, and that request has not yet been decided. If it is granted, eleven days remain between the response and the effective date, and the chance of the rule taking effect before the court rules increases.

In practice, this does not change what you should do: plan around 15 September, because that is the date that applies today. A suspension, if it comes, only helps those who prepared.

Checklist for F-1 students

Download and check your I-94 right after each entry.
Note the Admit Until Date and set reminders several months ahead.
Compare the I-94, the I-20, the EAD and the academic calendar.
Tell the DSO promptly about any delay, planned change or need for an extension.
Do not rely on a new I-20 alone to stay beyond the I-94 date.
Plan OPT and STEM OPT in advance and confirm whether you will also need an extension of stay.
Include F-2 dependants in your request, or protect their period separately.
Do not travel with a request pending without first assessing the impact.

Myths and facts

Myth	Fact
My visa is valid for five years, so I can stay five years.	What governs your stay is the I-94, not the validity of the visa in your passport.
A new I-20 extends my status on its own.	No, where the stay goes past the I-94 date. USCIS approval may be required.
Every student loses status on 15/09/2026.	No. There is a transition rule for those in good standing who were admitted under D/S.
I can wait for the I-94 to expire before asking for an extension.	No. USCIS must receive the request on time. Delay may force reinstatement and bring serious consequences.

In short

The main change is simple and far-reaching: you stop depending only on the length of the program and gain a fixed immigration date. That raises the importance of planning, of watching the I-94, and of talking to the DSO. Current students need to find out whether they fall under the transition rule; those about to start need to plan extensions, OPT, transfers and travel in advance.

Sources

DHS, final rule, Federal Register 91 FR 44976, 17 July 2026, DHS Docket ICEB-2025-0001, RIN 1653-AA95, from 44976 to 45131 in the GPO edition, including preamble, responses to comments and the text of the amendments to 8 C.F.R.
DHS Study in the States, official summary of the final rule.
USCIS Policy Manual, volume 2, part F, chapter 8.
Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. Department of Homeland Security, 1:26-cv-13799 (D. Mass.), the case seeking suspension of the rule, with a hearing set for 3 September 2026.
Where the rule's executive summary diverges from the regulatory text, the regulatory text prevails.

Updated 29 August 2026. The rule is set to take effect on 15 September 2026, is being challenged in court, and may be changed or suspended. Confirm the situation before acting.