The number of foreign students choosing the US as a study abroad destination is falling. In addition to tighter enforcement of immigration and visa laws, US authorities are likely to change current study visa regulations that affect foreign students’ desire to study in the US.
The termination of the Intent to Leave Rule may facilitate international students in obtaining US study visas; however, the introduction of fixed-period admissions could disrupt their plan to study in the US.
Intent to Leave Rule
Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar and Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, along with a group of twenty members, proposed the DIGNITY Act of 2025, which would eliminate the “Intent to Leave” Rule, which mandates that international students return to their home country after completing their studies.
During the interview procedure, international applicants for study visas must state that they intend to return home after their studies are over.
Currently, student visas require the applicant to demonstrate non-immigrant intent. This means international students have to say that they intend to leave the U.S. when they finish their courses and must prove that they have property in their home country to demonstrate evidence that they plan to return. This means that students are only granted an F-1 study visa if they intend to leave the United States after completing their education.
Although most students intend to return home anyway, visas are sometimes denied if a student cannot explicitly demonstrate that they plan to return to their home country after their studies.
This change will remove this roadblock. If the proposals go through, denial of a student visa may not be solely for the ‘intent to leave.’
However, this does not change the process for students who want to stay when they finish their studies. Any student who does wish to remain in the U.S. after their studies must still qualify on their merits for employment-based or other applicable visas.
Duration of Status Rule
DHS has also proposed to amend its regulations by changing the admission period of F, J, and I aliens from ‘duration of status’ to an admission for a ‘fixed time period’. Duration of status means you may remain in the United States so long as you maintain your non-immigrant student status. This new rule proposed by US authorities will force non-immigrants such as students holding an F-1 study visa to depart the country after a fixed period.
Meanwhile, the OPT program, which enables foreign students to gain work experience in US firms following their studies at US colleges, could be officially discontinued by US authorities or heavily amended to discourage US firms from employing foreign students.
Department of Homeland Security(DHS) listed the new OPT rule on the Unified Agenda, proposing that the new “rule will better align practical training to the goals and objectives of the program while providing more clarity to the public. The proposed rule will amend existing regulations to address fraud and national security concerns, protect U.S. workers from being displaced by foreign nationals, and enhance the Student and Exchange Visitor Program’s capacity to oversee the program.