{"id":1338,"date":"2026-08-24T14:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T18:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/?page_id=1338"},"modified":"2026-08-24T14:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T18:09:11","slug":"duration-of-status-updates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/duration-of-status-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Duration of Status Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fixed Period of Stay in the U.S. (Elimination of Duration of Status D\/S)<\/h3>\n

What you need to know:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. On July 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued\u00a0a\u00a0final rule\u00a0entitled,\u00a0Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Once the final rule takes effect, it will eliminate\u00a0“duration of status (D\/S)\u201d on the Form I-94\u00a0Admit Until Date (AUD) and\u00a0will replace it\u00a0with a fixed period of stay that admits all students and scholars on F-1 and J-1 visas up until an exact date. In most cases, the Admit Until Date (AUD) on an individual’s Form I-94 will coincide with the\u00a0program\u00a0end date noted on the Form I-20 or DS-2019, or a maximum period of four years, whichever is shorter. Students and scholars needing more than four years to complete their program\u00a0objectives\u00a0will need to file an extension application through USCIS after the rule takes effect.\u00a0 *The final rule goes into effect on September 15, 2026.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Effective\u00a0September 15, 2026<\/strong>, the following changes will apply to F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors \u2013 Please read carefully:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Fixed\u00a0\u201cAdmit Until Date (AUD)\u201d\u00a0on the I<\/strong>\u201194<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0The I\u201194 will\u00a0list a specific departure date, called the Admit Until Date (AUD), when\u00a0you enter the U.S. In most cases, the AUD will coorelate to the program end date on the Form\u202fI\u201120 or DS\u20112019, or a maximum period of four years, whichever is shorter. The AUD\u00a0is inclusive of\u00a0a\u00a030-day\u00a0departure\u00a0period.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Maximum stay of four years<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 In most cases, the\u00a0I-94 Admit Until Date (AUD)\u00a0will\u00a0not exceed four years, even if the program end date listed on the I-20 or DS-2019 is later.<\/li>\n
      2. Formal Extension of Stay\u00a0(EOS)\u00a0application with USCIS<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Anyone needing additional time\u00a0extending beyond their I-94 Admit Until Date (AUD)\u00a0to complete their program, or to utilize post-completion employment benefits\u00a0(e.g.,\u00a0OPT,\u00a0STEM\u00a0OPT, Academic\u00a0Training) will have to\u00a0file\u00a0a formal Extension of Stay\u00a0(EOS)\u00a0application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which will incur additional fees\u00a0for the student or scholar,\u00a0as required by USCIS.<\/li>\n
      3. Reduced grace period for F-1 students<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the F-1 student grace period\u00a0will\u00a0be reduced\u00a0from 60 to 30 days You will need to depart at this time.\u00a0The J-1 student grace period\u00a0remains\u00a0at\u00a030 days.<\/li>\n
      4. Restrictions on\u00a0program transfers\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\n
          \n
        1. Undergraduate\u00a0<\/strong>F-1\u00a0and\u00a0J-1\u00a0students\u00a0may not transfer\u00a0to\u00a0a different U.S. institution during their first\u00a0year of study<\/u><\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        2. Graduate\u00a0<\/strong>F-1 and J-1 students may not transfer to a different U.S. institution during their program of study<\/u><\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        3. J-1\u00a0Scholars\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0There are no restrictions\u00a0on\u00a0transferring institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
        4. Important Restrictions on\u00a0changes\u00a0to field\u00a0of study\/major\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>\n
            \n
          1. Undergraduate\u00a0<\/strong>F-1\u00a0and J-1 students may not change majors in their first year of study.<\/li>\n
          2. Graduate\u00a0<\/strong>F-1 or J-1 students may not change programs\/field of study at any point during their program of study.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            The final rule was published in the Federal Register on Friday, July 17, 2026.\u00a0The final rule goes into effect on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.<\/strong>\u00a0Until then, current D\/S policies\u00a0remain\u00a0in effect.<\/p>\n

            What can you do now?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

            Familiarize yourself with your I-94\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0You can access your\u00a0<\/span>Form I-94<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on the official government website.\u00a0Right now, the I<\/span>\u2011<\/span>94 for most F<\/span>\u2011<\/span>1 and J<\/span>\u2011<\/span>1 visa holders\u00a0shows\u00a0\u201cD\/S\u201d (Duration of Status) in the\u00a0Admit Until Date<\/strong> field.\u202fEffective September 15, 2026, the D\/S policy will be eliminated, and any F-1 and J-1 visa holders entering the U.S. after this date will show a fixed date in this field:<\/span><\/p>\n

            \"photo<\/a><\/p>\n

            Check your passport\u00a0expiration\u00a0date\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0Federal regulations\u00a0require\u00a0your passport to remain valid at least 6 months into the future when in the U.S. If your passport expires\u00a0before\u00a0the\u00a0Admit Until Date on\u00a0your\u00a0I-94, your authorized stay\u00a0in the U.S.\u00a0is effectively limited to that\u00a0expiration\u00a0date, and you could fall out of status. Plan accordingly and renew if needed.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Fixed Period of Stay in the U.S. (Elimination of Duration of Status D\/S) What you need to know: On July 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued\u00a0a\u00a0final rule\u00a0entitled,\u00a0Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media.\u00a0Once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1293,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1338","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1341,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1338\/revisions\/1341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/global-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}