Court Postpones the Student and Exchange-Visitor Fixed-Period Rule; the New I-539 and I-765 Editions Are Not in Use

On Sept. 14, 2026 — one day before it was to take effect — a federal court postponed the effective date of the DHS final rule "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," 91 Fed. Reg. 44976 (July 17, 2026). That rule would have changed the admission period in the F, J, and I classifications from duration of status to admission for a fixed time period, with a separate extension-of-stay procedure. In Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, No. 1:26-cv-13799-FDS (D. Mass.), ECF Nos. 50 and 51, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV granted relief under section 705 of the Administrative Procedure Act, postponed the rule's effective date "pending further order of this court or resolution of this proceeding on the merits," and preliminarily enjoined DHS "from taking any further action to implement the Final Rule." The immediate practical consequence is a form-edition question, and it reaches well beyond students. USCIS had issued new editions of Form I-539 and Form I-765 dated 09/15/26 to carry the rule out. It is now not using them: USCIS states on its form pages that it "continues to accept the 08/28/24 edition of Form I-539 and 08/21/25 edition of Form I-765 and is not accepting the 09/15/26 edition of Forms I-539 and I-765," and that it "will proceed under the previous regulatory provisions" while the order stands. If you prepared a filing on a 09/15/26 edition, that is the wrong form today — anyone filing an I-765 for work authorization or an I-539 to extend or change nonimmigrant status is affected by which edition USCIS will accept, not only F, J, and I nonimmigrants. Three limits are worth stating plainly. The court denied the plaintiffs' request to vacate the rule outright, and denied summary judgment, both without prejudice to renewal — the rule remains on the books, postponed rather than undone. This is a preliminary order, so it can be appealed, modified, or dissolved, and DHS has said it "strongly disagrees with the court's order and if the order is lifted, will take measures to implement the final rule." And as of Sept. 16, 2026, no notice of appeal had been filed; the district court has set a status conference for Oct. 2, 2026. Because the accepted edition here could change again on short notice, check the edition date printed at the bottom of the form against uscis.gov immediately before you file, and ask us before sending anything you prepared earlier this month.