The White House has cleared a final regulation that could significantly change how international students maintain legal status in the United States, paving the way for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to replace the long-standing “duration of status” system with fixed periods of stay for student and exchange visitor visa holders, according to a report by Bloomberg Law.
Currently, students on F visas are generally allowed to remain in the US as long as they continue their academic programme and comply with visa conditions. Under the new framework, students would instead receive a fixed period of authorised stay and may have to seek extensions from immigration authorities if their studies continue beyond that period.
