Proposed Rule on the elimination of the "Duration of Status (D/S)"

The rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on June 27, 2025 entitled "Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Media" aims to replace the previously "flexible" residence status for international students with F visas, exchange visitors with J visas and representatives of foreign media with I visas with fixed residence periods.

Back in 2020, the US government under President Donald Trump had proposed a similar change, but it was never finalized and was later withdrawn under the Biden administration.

Status Quo with Duration of Status (D/S)

Duration of status (D/S) means that holders of F, J and I visas may legally stay in the USA as long as the conditions of the respective status are met. Under the current regulations, F, J and I visa holders can therefore remain in the United States for as long as their studies, internship or journalistic stay lasts. Unlike other US visas, no fixed departure date is entered in the passport or I-94 form upon entry. Instead, it is marked "D/S", which indicates an indefinite stay for a specific purpose.

This includes enrolled students, participants in an exchange program or journalists.

Two examples:

1. If a student has previously entered the country on an F-1 visa, she will receive the entry "D/S" on the I-94 form. In this case, the legal residence status is based on the I-20 form issued by the US university - the period of study is noted there. If the student decides to extend the period of study at the university, she can simply obtain a new, extended I-20 form and thus continue to reside legally in the US under "D/S" status. No separate extension of residence status via the USCIS or visa extension is necessary.
2. If a journalist enters the country with an I visa, he will also receive the entry "D/S" - he can theoretically stay in the United States indefinitely, depending on his journalistic activities. This means that if the journalistic assignment in the US ends, the person must leave the United States immediately.

Potential impact of the proposed rule

With the proposed change, travelers with the aforementioned US visas would receive a fixed departure date, which could result in more complex and expensive status extension applications within the USA or even a visa renewal (for internship extensions, longer study periods, etc.).

Students (F-1), participants in exchange programs (J-1) or journalists (I visa) must expect

• additional delays,
• financial burdens and
• legal uncertainty.

It is particularly critical that applications for an extension of status within the US often take several months to process.

At the same time, the term "unlawful presence" is to be redefined. Until now, for example, an unlawful presence for F-1 students only comes into force when the US immigration authority USCIS issues a formal notice of violation or a US immigration court makes a corresponding decision. In the future, however, unlawful presence could occur automatically upon expiration of the residence status noted on the I-94 - unless narrowly defined exceptions apply.

The current proposed rule to eliminate the existing duration of status (D/S) model was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review on June 27, 2025. This review represents one of the final steps in the US rulemaking process.

This is followed by publication in the Federal Register. This is usually followed by a public comment period of 30 or 60 days before a final decision is made - a process that can take several months.

However, experts are worried that the measure could be issued as an interim final rule. In this case, the new rule would come into force immediately without a prior comment period. Details regarding the planned duration of the residence status - for example, on a semester or annual basis - are expected to be announced upon publication in the Federal Register.

We will inform you as soon as concrete changes are known.