Judge pauses D/S rule for F and J students

On September 14, U.S. District Court Judge Dennis Saylor issued a temporary order that paused the F-1/J-1 “End of Duration of Status” rule from going into effect on September 15, 2026. Below is an update that was sent out by the International Student Resource Center (ISRC):

“On September 14 at about 5:00pm, a U.S. District Court Judge in Massachusetts (Judge Dennis Saylor) issued a nationwide order pausing the D/S rule from going into effect on September 15, 2026. Importantly, this is not a final ruling on the lawsuit itself. Rather, the court found that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their case, and has paused the D/S rule from taking effect while the underlying lawsuit continues.

“Full text of the Memo and Order on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction is available here. 

“DHS is currently enjoined from implementing the D/S rule, though they are appealing the injunction. The next hearing is scheduled for October 2nd.

A good summary article from Inside Higher Ed (IHE) can be found here.”

Information about the lawsuit is developing, and therefore, we might not be able to answer your immediate questions about the Duration of Status rule. However, for the time being, nothing pertaining to your F-1 status has changed. We will be monitoring updates, but we will likely not be able to provide you with additional information about the lawsuit until late October or November.