- Ohio State University is pushing to keep student visa limits blocked after a federal injunction on Sept. 14, 2026.
- The rule would have capped most F-1 students at four years or less and cut the grace period to 30 days.
- Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV said the policy could cause catastrophic damage to higher education and the U.S. economy.
Ohio State University leaders are pressing to keep student visa limits blocked after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Sept. 14, 2026. The order came one day before the change was due to start. It froze a Trump administration rule that would have capped most international students at four years, with longer stays requiring an extension request, fees and new biometrics.
The rule would have replaced the long-standing “duration of status” system for F-1 students with a fixed admission period, usually no longer than four years or the length of the program, whichever came first. It also would have cut the post-completion grace period from 60 days to 30 days. Students would have reapplied.
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U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Massachusetts blocked the rule nationwide while the case moves forward. In the injunction order, Saylor wrote that “The damage to the higher education system and to the economy of the United States is likely to be catastrophic.”
“The damage to the higher education system and to the economy of the United States is likely to be catastrophic,”
Leaders at the university said the proposal would disrupt degree completion, research and the international enrollment pipeline. Ohio universities warned the change would add more red tape and hurt the state economy. Schools said doctoral and medical programs were especially exposed because they often run longer than four years. It would hit the longest tracks first.
The Office of International Affairs said the fixed “admit until date” system would also replace the familiar duration-of-status approach. It said most F-1 and J-1 stays would have been capped at four years plus a grace period. Undergraduates would have been barred from changing schools or majors in their first academic year, while graduate students would have faced tighter limits on program changes.
The fixed clock would have replaced a decades-old system
The current system has let students remain as long as they keep meeting program requirements. That framework has been in place for roughly five decades. OSU’s guidance said current students and scholars already in the United States before Sept. 15, 2026 can stay under existing terms. Travel on or after that date would have triggered the new fixed-term framework.
The administration said the change would prevent unlawful stays after student visas expire. Markwayne Mullin made that case for the department. The legal fight is still open, and the administration may appeal. For now, the nationwide injunction keeps the older rules in place while the case proceeds.
