Kashmala Khan ’29
Managing Editor
Gaurika Adlakha ’29
Contributing Writer
For Trinity’s international students, a major change to the rules governing their stay in the United States was supposed to take effect this semester; however, a federal court put the change on hold one day before its implementation. The hold has left students with one important certainty: for now, nothing has changed.
On July 17, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule ending the longstanding “Duration of Status” policy for F-1 students. Under the current system, students can generally remain in the United States for the duration of their academic program as long as they maintain their status. Under the new rule, students would no longer be admitted for the flexible “Duration of Status” period. This means that their stay would generally end when they complete their program or after four years, whichever comes first. Students who need additional time would have to apply for an extension.
But before the rule could take effect on Sept. 15, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued nationwide preliminary relief on Sept. 14, postponing implementation while the lawsuit challenging the rule continues. The existing Duration of Status system therefore remains in place for F-1 students.
Katharine Clair, Associate Director for the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) at Trinity College, in conversation with the Tripod said that international students should continue following the rules currently in place. “At this moment, the answer is nothing,” Clair said. “We just don’t know when the injunction will end or whether the rule will be rescinded.”
If implemented, the rule would introduce an additional process for students who need to remain in the country beyond their authorized period. Students would generally need to file Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. USCIS currently lists the filing fee as $420 for online applications and $470 for paper applications. That additional process could be particularly significant for students approaching graduation. Clair said she is concerned about the potential effect on seniors who plan to use Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows eligible F-1 students to work in the United States in a field related to their studies.
Under the proposed rule, students whose admission period has ended would need an approved extension before they could start OPT. DHS acknowledged in the final rule that requiring students to obtain an extension could create additional administrative burdens. The proposed changes would also affect academic mobility. Undergraduate students generally would not be permitted to transfer schools or change their educational objective during their first academic year, unless an exception applied. Graduate students would face stricter restrictions: under the rule, they generally could not change educational objectives or transfer institutions during their program, except in circumstances authorized by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
For students still adjusting to college, that could make academic decisions considerably less flexible.
Clair pointed to students who arrive at a college and realize that it does not offer the academic program they ultimately want. She mentioned that at Trinity, for example, an international student could discover that they want to pursue a field that the College does not offer as a major. Under the proposed rule, a first-year student would generally have to complete an academic year before transferring or changing their educational objective.
The rule could also create complications for students who need additional time to complete their degrees. Under the proposed regulations, an extension of stay would have to be approved by the government rather than being handled solely through the existing Duration of Status framework. DHS also stated that delays caused by academic probation or suspension would generally not constitute acceptable grounds for an extension, although extension requests would be considered individually.
For Trinity, the possibility of these changes has already prompted preparation. Clair said her office sent international students an initial explanation of the proposed rule and held a presentation on the changes on Sept. 11. She has held off on distributing the presentation slides, however, because she does not want students to mistake proposed requirements for rules currently in effect.
The lawsuit challenging the rule was filed Aug. 18 by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and several other organizations and unions. The plaintiffs argue that DHS violated the Administrative Procedure Act in issuing the rule by providing an inadequate public comment period and exceeding its statutory authority.
On Sept. 14, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV granted nationwide preliminary relief, blocking the rule from taking effect while the litigation proceeds. The court’s action did not permanently invalidate the rule; the underlying lawsuit is still ongoing. The next scheduled court proceeding is a status conference on Oct. 2. It is not necessarily the date the injunction will expire or the date the lawsuit will be resolved.
For now, Clair’s advice to Trinity’s international students is straightforward: watch their inboxes.
“I will try as we go along to give as much information as we can,” Clair said. “My goal is that whenever there are any changes going on with the new rule, including post-hearing updates, I will inform students.”
Until then, the rule may be on hold, but for the students whose education and post-graduation plans could depend on it, the waiting itself is becoming part of the story.
