Duration-of-Status Rule Change Clears White House Review

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has finished its review of a rule that would end duration of status, a long-standing regulation that allows international students to stay in the U.S. until they finish their degree. The Department of Homeland Security can finalize the change any day now.

Last summer, DHS proposed replacing duration of status with new policy that would only allow those individuals to stay in the country for four years before they must request an extension. It also placed limitations on students’ ability to change majors and institutions. It’s unclear what changes, if any, the department made it the final rule in response to the public’s feedback on the proposal. Several commenters argued that ending duration of status would further discourage international students—whose numbers are already declining—from studying in the U.S.

International education leaders have criticized DHS’s plans, noting that a significant number of students are in programs designed take longer than four years, including almost all Ph.D. programs and some undergraduate programs. It would also be burdensome on physicians completing their residencies on J-1 visas. On the institutional side, colleges would also likely have to hire staff to help students file requests for extensions.

The Department of Homeland Security, however, said in the proposed rule that international students typically earn their bachelor’s degrees within four years of entering the country, and that 79 percent of international students are enrolled in either a two-year master’s or a four-year bachelor’s program.

International educators have been preparing for the rule change for months; at NAFSA’s recent conference, sessions about duration of status were filled to capacity.