Court Blocks the F-1/J-1 Fixed Admission Rule a Day Before It Hit

The DHS rule that would have ended “duration of status” for international students is on hold. On September 14, 2026, one day before it was set to take effect, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted nationwide preliminary relief blocking it. Duration of status stays in place for now.

The final rule, published July 17, 2026 and set to take effect September 15, would have replaced the open-ended stay written on an F, J, or I nonimmigrant’s I-94 with a fixed admission period, generally four years. Anyone who needed longer would have had to file an extension-of-stay application with USCIS. It also tightened the rules on school transfers, changes of educational objective, and second degrees.

The challenge, Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. Department of Homeland Security, was filed August 18 by a coalition that included NAFSA, the Presidents’ Alliance, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, the American Federation of Teachers, and the UAW. The court’s order preserves the duration-of-status system across the country while the case continues.

For students, the practical takeaway is that the old framework governs again. A change of status still works, a second master’s degree is still allowed, and your I-94 does not carry a hard end date. If you were rushing to transfer schools before the rule’s cutoff or bracing for the fixed departure date the rule would have stamped on your I-94, that pressure is off for now.

The “for now” is the part to hold onto. This is a preliminary injunction under the court’s authority to stay an agency rule pending review, not a final judgment. The case still has to be litigated, and the government can appeal to the First Circuit or ask for a stay.

Kuck’s read is that the ruling will hold on appeal. The court found that the rule failed to account for the reliance interests of students and schools, which is a core requirement when an agency changes a long-standing policy.

What is back in effect while the injunction stands:

• Duration of status on your I-94. Your admission is not capped at a fixed four-year date, and you do not have to file an extension of stay with USCIS to keep studying.
• Change of status. Switching to another nonimmigrant category from inside the United States remains available under the old standard.
• A second degree or a second master’s. Pursuing an additional program is still permitted without the rule’s new restrictions.
• School transfers and changes of program. These follow the existing SEVP process under 8 CFR 214.2(f), not the blocked rule’s tighter requirements.

One caution: the injunction covers this rule, not every change coming for nonimmigrants. The administration has separately floated ending the 60-day grace period for laid-off visa workers, which will be published and litigated on its own track. On the fixed admission period specifically, though, the rule is frozen.

If your status decision was on hold pending September 15, whether a change of status, a program extension, or a transfer, you are operating under the same rules that applied before the final rule was published. Keep documenting your compliance with your DSO, and watch the docket. A stay from the First Circuit is the one development that could put the rule back in play.