Overview
- U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on Monday, Sept. 14, pausing the DHS rule that was due to take effect on Sept. 15 and keeping current visa practice in place while the case proceeds.
- The July rule would have replaced the nearly 50‑year 'duration of status' system with fixed Admit‑Until‑Dates, generally capping F and J visas at four years and limiting most I (journalist) visas to 240 days and Chinese journalists to 90 days.
- DHS said the change aimed to curb visa abuse and tighten national security, but the court found the agency's procedural record weak and its national‑security justification thin, calling the rationale 'exceptionally weak.'
- Under the rule students needing more than four years would have to file a USCIS extension request that DHS estimated could total about 460,000 filings a year, with a $400 fee, three narrow grounds for approval and no administrative appeal of denials.
- A coalition of universities, educators and labor groups sued to block the rule and will return to court at a status conference on Oct. 2 as plaintiffs seek to vacate the regulation and universities warn of lost enrollment, staff strain and longer USCIS backlogs.