What already happened, and what it is called
DHS final rule 2026-14439, *"Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media"*, was published 17 July 2026 and became effective 15 September 2026.
It changes the admission period for the F, J and I classifications from duration of status to admission for a fixed time period, and amends 8 CFR parts 214, 248 and 274. The transition provision now sits at 8 CFR 214.1(m), which the current eCFR confirms by carving it out of the duration-of-status language in the same section.
We searched the Federal Register for any correction, delay or stay of that rule published after 17 July 2026 and found none. We did not check litigation, and we will not imply otherwise: the Federal Register would not show a court order, so that is simply outside what this check covers.
The two proposals that are still open
Eliminating the discretionary 60-day grace period — comments close 10 November 2026
Proposed rule 2026-18631, published 11 September 2026, would remove 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2) — the provision giving certain nonimmigrant classifications and their dependents an up-to-60-day grace period after employment ends, before the end of their authorised stay. DHS describes it as restoring a "previous and long-standing policy" and a direct relationship between employment and status.
This is a proposal. Nothing has changed. The date that matters is the comment deadline.
Optional Practical Training fees — comments close 9 November 2026
Proposed rule 2026-20660 was published 8 October 2026 — yesterday, as this is written. It proposes new fees for each F-1 student engaging in OPT through an SEVP-certified school, which DHS frames as combating fraud and protecting US workers.
Also a proposal, also not yet in force, also with a deadline inside a month.
Why this pattern is the actual problem for a DSO
Look at the sequence. A final rule took effect in September. A proposal landed in September with a November deadline. Another landed in October with a November deadline. Two of the three arrived after most of the explainer coverage of the first one had been written and filed away.
That is the failure mode: the rule that gets attention is the one with a dramatic deadline, and the proposals that follow it — the ones you can still respond to — arrive quietly into an inbox that has stopped looking. By the time the next final rule is published, the window to say anything about it has closed.
A deadline that has passed is not the end of a story. It is usually the middle of one.
How to check any of this yourself in two minutes
Every claim above has a document number, and the Federal Register exposes a free API that needs no account. Fetch `https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2026-18631.json` and read `publication_date`, `effective_on` and `comments_close_on` directly. Do the same for 2026-20660 and 2026-14439. If a vendor tells you a rule is in effect, those three fields settle it.
One practical note from doing this today: the Federal Register's **HTML pages block automated access, while the JSON API does not**. If a script of yours appears to find nothing, check which one it is calling before concluding the document is missing.
What we do with this
AUD Watch tracks admit-until dates for F-1 and J-1 populations against the transition rules in 8 CFR 214.1(m)(1). It is in development and not available to purchase — the live dashboard runs over a simulated population, and every person in it is clearly labelled as simulated. What is real on that page is the regulatory record: the rule, its effective date, and the two open comment periods, each linked to its primary source and stamped with the date we last checked.