In a memorandum and order dated 14 September 2026, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts postponed the effective date of the Department of Homeland Security rule that would have replaced duration of status with a fixed period of admission for F-1 and J-1 nonimmigrants. The rule was due to take effect the following day, 15 September 2026. The court granted the relief under section 705 of the Administrative Procedure Act and applied it nationwide, writing that limiting relief to the parties represented would require maintaining parallel regulatory regimes. The case is Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. Department of Homeland Security, No. 1:26-cv-13799.
The order is narrower than a ruling striking the rule down. The court granted the plaintiffs' motion only to the extent it sought postponement under section 705; to the extent the plaintiffs sought vacatur of the rule, summary judgment, or other relief, the motion was denied without prejudice to renewal. The court wrote that vacatur may ultimately prove to be appropriate but took what it called the more cautious approach. The postponement runs pending final resolution of the case on the merits. The rule itself remains on the books: the Federal Register document, 2026-14439, is unchanged and still prints 15 September 2026 as its effective date.
For internationally trained dentists, the practical effect is that the open-ended duration-of-status framework continues while the postponement stands: an advanced-standing DDS or DMD program, or a J-1 hospital-based training post, is not subject to the fixed four-year admission ceiling the rule would have imposed. In the rule's response-to-comments section, DHS had declined a request to exempt professional programs including dentistry from that ceiling; that refusal is part of a rule that is not currently in force. NAFSA, one of the plaintiffs, states on its case page, last updated 16 September 2026, that the government can be expected to appeal.
Sources
Checked 20 September 2026- 1Memorandum and Order, Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. DHS, No. 1:26-cv-13799-FDS (D. Mass.), Document 50, filed 14 September 2026, 48 pagesnafsa.org
- 2Legal Challenge to the Final Rule Ending Duration of Status (D/S), page last updated 16 September 2026nafsa.org
- 3Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media, final rule, 17 July 2026, document 2026-14439 — Checked 16 September 2026federalregister.gov
