The U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed a policy on Aug. 28 that would end the longstanding “duration of status” policy, preventing international students from staying in the U.S. longer than four years.
For over 30 years, the “duration of status” measure allowed international students to remain in the U.S. as long as they followed their visa rules and made progress toward completing their academic program.
Under the proposed changes, international students with F-1 or J-1 visas could only stay in the U.S. for a maximum of four years, with a grace period of 30 days after program completion. Students who want to stay in the country past their four years — such as taking a fifth year or transferring schools — would have to apply for an extension directly with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services with a filing fee of up to $470.
Ruby Powers, managing attorney of Powers Law Group, said, if approved, the policy would revise the current process of approving the extension of stay through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. SEVIS is a database designated University advisors can access to track international students’ compliance with rules specific to their visa type, she said.
With SEVIS, the process of extending a student’s stay is more streamlined through school resources, Powers said. Transitioning to USCIS could bring more delays for students, she said, with an estimated processing time of 3.5 months, according to USCIS.
“Duration of status was a great way to give those students that opportunity to have a little bit of flexibility,” Powers said. “They still had to maintain their education requirements, and it was closely monitored with the SEVIS program.”
For Alex, an international student who requested a pseudonym for safety, the duration of status policy would have given them room to add a major and pursue a wider range of interests. After waiting months to secure their visa, Alex said the idea of more administrative barriers under the potential rule heightened their concerns.
“I am currently discovering more fields than what I originally applied for,” Alex said. “I am still considering the costs it’ll cause me … in the future.”
Additionally, undergraduate F-1 visa students would not be able to change their major or program within the first academic year, according to the proposed rule. Meanwhile, graduate students on an F-1 visa would not be allowed to change their program at any point.
Under the proposed changes, students who do not apply for an extension of stay would immediately begin accruing “unlawful presence,” which can impact their ability to reenter the United States. Under the current policy, F-1 and J-1 visa students do not begin accruing unlawful presence until the day after USCIS finds a formal status violation, or the day following a judge’s deportation or removal order.
Powers said that while monitoring international students’ activities for visa eligibility is not a new phenomenon, the proposed rule creates concerns.
“This is a part of a greater strategy to make it more difficult for immigrants in the United States to maintain their status and to find options to stay in the United States and move from one visa to the next,” Powers said.
