International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) is closely monitoring immigration updates, and we have collected critical immigration updates in one place. It is very important that you independently stay aware of official updates from the Federal government. In addition, this is not a substitute for qualified legal counsel. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Notes on Travel
Critical, please review all updates on current travel bans and restrictions before engaging in travel. Regular travel requirements continue to exist. We have guides below on travelling requirements:
USCIS page on Travel while a Permanent Resident
Court Postpones Implementation of DHS Final Rule Ending Duration of Status effective September 14, 2026.
A federal district court in Massachusetts has temporarily postponed the effective date of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule that would replace duration of status admissions for F, J, and I nonimmigrants with fixed periods of admission; the rule was set to take effect on September 15, 2026. The court order means that, for the time being, DHS is barred from implementing the final rule and F, J, and I nonimmigrants will retain duration of status admissions. Note, the government is likely to quickly appeal the court decision.
DHS Final Rule Ending Duration of Status published July 17, 2026. Rule is in effect on September 15, 2026.
The final rule replacing “duration of status” admission to the U.S. for F an J nonimmigrant status has been published. Barring litigation or Congressional Review the rule will go into effect on September 15, 2026. After this date, D/S on Form I-94s will be replaced with an admit until date (AUD). This is the date a person admitted in that status can legally remain in the U.S. without (1) filing an extension of status using the Form I-539 with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), or (2) exiting the U.S. and re-entering in valid status.
The full rule is available at the Federal Register. It is important to note that our understanding of practical implications and processes will change and evolve as we continue to receive clarification from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Summary of Key Changes
The following changes impact the use and maintenance of status for F and J nonimmigrant status:
- The Admit Until Date (AUD) is limited to the length of the Form I-20/Form DS-2019 or four years. The AUD will be whichever is shorter (meaning a maximum of four years);
- Individuals needing to extend their legal period of stay will need to file an Extension of Stay (EOS) request with USCIS using the Form I-539 and paying all applicable fees;
- English as a Second Language (ESL) study is capped at 24 months;
- Undergraduate students may change their educational objectives (i.e. major) or transfer schools only after their first year of study (exceptions may be granted in extenuating circumstances);
- Graduate students are not eligible to change their educational objectives (i.e. major) or education level (e.g. changing from PhD to Masters);
- Graduate students will be allowed to transfer schools only in extenuating circumstances;
- After completing a program of study, F-1 students cannot repeat the same level of education or take a program below the completed level of education (e.g. a bachelors student cannot enroll in another bachelors program, a PhD student cannot enroll in an additional masters program);
- The F-1 grace period will be reduced from 60 to 30 days.
Transition Period
There are specific provisions for persons in F-1 and J-1 non-immigrant status who are in the U.S. in valid status before September 15, 2026.
Individuals with a D/S Form I-94 do NOT have to apply for an AUD Form I-94 immediately. They are considered to have valid status until the end of their current Form I-20/Form DS-2019/OPT EAD or four years from the effective rule date (September 15, 2026), whichever is shorter. F-1 students will retain the legacy 60 day grace-period unless they exit and re-enter the U.S. NOTE, any person exiting and re-entering after the effective rule date (September 15, 2026) will receive an AUD Form I-94.
Students who are present in the United States 60 days when the final rule takes effect on September 15, 2026, and who timely filed for post-completion OPT or STEM OPT by March 18, 2027 do not need to file a separate application for an Extension of Status with the OPT or STEM OPT application. Students who meet this requirement but travel outside the U.S. prior to submitting an OPT or STEM OPT application will need to file an Extension of Status application as well as their post-completion OPT or STEM OPT application.
Further Information: Immigration Forums & Duration of Status Course
The campus community is invited to attend a Duration of Status Forum hosted by the Division of Global Engagement. These forums will be held in the International House and livestreamed on YouTube. (Please note that the livestream will not include the Q&A session from the forum.)
These forums will be held on:
August 28th, 3:00-4:30pm
Further information about the forums can be found on DGE’s SharePoint site.
All students are required, and the campus community is invited to take a course on Changes to Duration of Status.
Duration of Status Frequently Asked Questions
What do students need to do?
Stay informed about any changes to immigration requirements by following updates on this page and reading any emails from ISSS promptly. Complete the Changes to Duration of Status course to understand more about the new rules.
At least two weeks prior to the effective date of the new rule on September 15, 2026, check your documentation to be sure that all of the information is correct.
- Pay close attention to the program of study listed on your I-20; if it is not correct, work with ISSS to get your information updated prior to September 15, 2026.
- Consider your current program end date and whether you have a compelling academic or medical reason that necessitates an extension of your I-20. You must file your complete extension request in the ISSS Portal, including documentation of your extension reason and your continued financial support, at least 5-7 business days prior to September 15, 2026.
After each entry to the US once the new rule comes into effect on September 15, 2026, you must download your new I-94 and upload it to the ISSS Portal so that your Admit Until Date can be adjusted. Your admit until date will impact your ability to register for classes and continue on-campus employment, so it is very important to update the ISSS Portal with each re-entry to the United States!
Always know the important dates for your immigration status in the United States!
What important dates do students need to be aware of?
Students, please stay aware of your important dates:
- Your passport expiration date: your passport must always be valid at least six months into the future. Your passport expiration date could also influence your admit until date.
- Your visa expiration date: the expiration date on your U.S. visa determines the last date that you can use that visa to enter the U.S. Your visa expiration date does not determine your admit until date.
- The admit until date on your I-94: your admit until date will now be a fixed date rather than continuing for the duration of your maintenance of status.
- Your I-20 or DS-2019 program end date: this date marks the expected end of your academic program. If your program end date falls after your admit until date, you must file an extension of status petition with both ISSS and USCIS. If you need to extend your program end date after September 15, 2026, you will need to extend both your program end date and your admit until date with ISSS and USCIS.
Is there now a four year limit on studying in the United States?
The new final rule does not establish a four year limit on time in F-1 status. It establishes a fixed period of admission based on the student’s existing program end date, with a maximum length of four years. At the end of the fixed period of admission, a student may be able to file an Extension of Status or travel outside the U.S. and re-enter in order to extend or reset the fixed period of admission.
Does time spent in the U.S. in F-1 status prior to September 15, 2026 count towards a four-year maximum period of entry that will be established on that date?
No. As of September 15, 2026, all students in the U.S. will have a new fixed period of admission based on their I-20 program end date on that date OR four years plus the applicable grace period, whichever is shorter. The new Admit Until Date (AUD) will not use previous time spent in the United States in determining the fixed admission date.
Can I travel over the upcoming winter holidays?
All students considering travel should read our guide to Traveling in F-1 Status. Pay close attention to relevant dates, including your current passport expiration date, visa expiration date, and program end date, to determine if you need to renew or extend any documents.
If you will seek authorization for OPT (for Spring 2027 graduates) or STEM OPT (for those with OPT authorization expiring before June 16, 2027), travel after September 15, 2026 will require you to file both an OPT or STEM OPT application and an Extension of Status application.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions and responses is also available on the DHS Study in the States website.
Court Order Removes H-1B $100,000 Fee as Part of the Presidential Proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers released June 8, 2026.
A Federal judge has declared unlawful the Presidential Proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, of September 19, 2025. This has removed the $100,000 fee provision for the filing of H-1Bs.
Court Order vacates and Declares Unlawful USCIS Adjudication Freeze released June 5th, 2026.
In a June 5, 2026 memorandum and order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, USCIS’s “Benefits Hold Policy, the Global Asylum Hold Policy, the Comprehensive Re-Review Policy, and the Country-Specific Factors Policy – are declared unlawful and are vacated and set aside.”
This effectively eliminates the hold on processing USCIS applications from countries subject to the travel-ban. It is possible that this will continue to be challenged in court, so this suspension is not a guarantee of future processing. Note, This is not a guarantee of approval. It simply means the request for benefit will be revied by USCIS.
(currently suspended) USCIS Places Adjudication Hold on Benefits Applications Filed by or for Individuals from Travel Ban Countries released January 13, 2026.
A pair of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Policy Memoranda describe a hold that USCIS has placed a hold on adjudication of pending benefit requests submitted by applicants whose citizenship or country of birth are from the countries identified in two travel-ban proclamations: Presidential Proclamation 10949 of June 4, 2025 and Presidential Proclamation 10988 of December 16, 2025.
We understand this to include typical petitions filed by and for individual in higher education including: Form I-765 filed for Optional Practical Training, Form I-539 filed to change nonimmigrant status, Form I-129 filed by an H-1B petitioner requesting extension of an H-1B.
Note, the administration has stated this a temporary pause in processing and not a suspension of approval.
Presidential Proclamation Expands Travel Ban and Entry Restrictions released December 16, 2025 effective at 12:01am (EST) January 1, 2026.
President Trump has issued a presidential proclamation restricting and banning the entry of certain foreign nationals to the United States.
Entry into the United States for nationals of the following countries as immigrants or non-immigrants is banned with some exceptions:
Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos. Libya, Mali, Niger, Palestinian Authority, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen.
Entry into the United States for nationals of the following countries as immigrants or non-immigrants on the following B-1, B‑2, B-1/B-2, F, M, and J visas status is suspended and consular officers are instructed to reduce the issuance of new visas in these categories to foreign nationals from these countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Entry into United States for nationals of Turkmenistan as immigrants is suspended.
Scope and Limitations
As per the proclamation Section 6(a), this proclamation only applies to:
Foreign nationals, “outside the United States on the applicable effective date of this proclamation.”
Foreign nationals, “[who] do not have a valid visa on the applicable effective date of this proclamation.”
As per the proclamation Section 6(b), a series of exceptions exist:
(i) Any lawful permanent resident of the United States;
(ii) Any dual national of a country designated under sections 2, 3, 4, or 5 of this proclamation when the individual is traveling on a passport issued by a country not so designated;
(iii) Any foreign national traveling with a valid nonimmigrant visa in the following classifications: A-1, A-2, C-2, C-3, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1, NATO‑2, NATO-3, NATO-4, NATO-5, or NATO-6;
(iv) Any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State;
(v) Special Immigrant Visas for United States Government employees under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D); and
(vi) immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran.
Who to Contact for Help
Please contact Anna Kholod at [email protected] with detailed information about your situation.
Please contact Cheryl Pile at [email protected] with detailed information about your situation.
Please contact Dave Lawson at [email protected] with detailed information about your situation.
Please contact Dave Lawson at [email protected] with detailed information about your situation.
Please contact Morgan Owens at [email protected] with detailed information about your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, Permanent Residents are excepted from all restrictions as per Section 6(b)(i).
Yes, as per Section 6(a)(ii) this does not apply to foreign nationals with a valid visa. Please note, we still recommend that you carefully follow our travel guides listed below.
No, as per Section 8(c) visa revocation is not part of this proclamation.
No, this does not apply to persons already inside the U.S. per Section 6(a)(i). Note, there may be additional factors impacting petitions adjudicated by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). We do not have further clarification at this time.
We are not completely certain as to how pending visa cases will be handled. As per the proclamation we believe that pending visas will be denied based on the order to consular officers.
Qualified immigration counsel is critical. If you are not sponsored by the University of Tennessee, we recommend that you seek an advisement from an American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) attorney. You can find one in your area using the Find an Immigration Lawyer search.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will not Accept Self-Submitted Photos released December 12, 2025.
USCIS has stated that it will no longer accept self-submitted photos. The exact implications for individuals submitting forms with photos (e.g. form I-765) is still unclear. It may require biometric appointments for individuals required to submit photos. This appointments would be requested by USCIS as part of the approval process.
Department of State (DOS) Expands Screening and Vetting of H-1B and H-4 Visa Applications released December 3, 2025 effective December 15, 2025.
DOS has announced that enhanced vetting of applicants for H-1B and H-4 visas will be conducted. This will likely include placing visa applicants in 221(g) administrative processing.
Presidential Proclamation Restricts Entry of H-1B Workers Unless Employer Pays $100K Fee released September 19, 2025.
President Trump has released a Proclamation that restricts entry of H-1B specialty occupation workers unless employers pay a $100,000 fee per petition, with limited national-interest exemptions, for a one-year period.
October 27, 2025 update, USCIS has clarified in an update that the fee only applies, “to new H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, on behalf of beneficiaries who are outside the United States and do not have a valid H-1B visa.” This means that petitions filed for persons inside the U.S. are not impacted. USCIS has also provided guidance on the process for requesting an exemption in the national interest. Please consult with ISSS to determine the correct path for your sponsorship.
Critical Update, at 5:26pm on September 20th, a memo was signed by Joseph B. Edlow (Director of USCIS) stating that the Proclamation does not impact the ability, “… of any current visa holder to travel to or from the United States.” We recommend that all current H-1B holders traveling with a valid visa have this memo saved to present at customs.
Critical Update, based on the FAQ released by USCIS on September 21, 2025, we are proceeding with H-1B extensions.
Important, it is unclear how this impacts H-1B status sponsored by cap-exempt institutions, such as the University of Tennessee.
Important, our recommendation is that all persons sponsored for H-1B status by the University of Tennessee suspend international travel unless consultation has been made with ISSS. Consultations can be made using our Bookings page here.
Department of State (DOS) Announces Requirement of Visa Interviews in Country of Nationality or Residence released September 6, 2025.
DOS has announced that effective immediately applicants for U.S. non-immigrant visas should schedule their appointments in their country of nationality or residence. This also applies to immigrant visa requests. A notation on the release states that, “existing nonimmigrant visa appointments will generally not be cancelled.”
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to consider Anti-Americanism in Immigrant Benefit Requests released August 19, 2025.
USCIS has stated that requests receiving social media vetting will be also reviewed for anti-American activity. Any anti-American activity will be considered “overwhelmingly negative” as part of the analysis.
Department of State (DOS) Revises Interview Waiver Policy released July 25, 2025.
Effective September 2, 2025, DOS will no longer allow interview waivers for F and J visas.
Executive and Regulatory Actions
NAFSA Page on Executive and Regulatory Actions Under the Second Trump Administration
The NAFSA: Association of International Educators has collected updates that are relevant to international educators, students, and scholars. Updates are organized by relevant area.