July 20, 2026
Media Contact: info@haitianbridge.org; media@haitianbridge.org

SAN DIEGO, CA － Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) condemns the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s newly finalized rule ending the longstanding  “Duration of Status” policy for international students and replacing it with a fixed period of admission beginning September 15, 2026. Under the new rule, many F-1 student visa holders will be limited to four years of authorized stay and required to seek government approval to complete longer academic programs. The rule also shortens post-completion grace periods and imposes additional restrictions on academic flexibility.

This policy represents yet another unnecessary barrier to educational opportunity and international mobility. Rather than strengthening the United States, it creates uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of students who contribute to our universities, our innovation economy, and our communities.

International students are not a burden on the United States—they are one of its greatest competitive advantages. According to NAFSA, international students contributed roughly $50 billion annually to the U.S. economy during the 2023–2024 academic year while supporting more than 375,000 American jobs through tuition, housing, consumer spending, and local economic activity. Policies that discourage global talent from choosing the United States ultimately weaken American higher education, research, entrepreneurship, and long-term economic growth.

Students from Haiti and other developing nations often pursue graduate, doctoral, and professional programs that exceed four years. Requiring repeated immigration filings to complete their education introduces unnecessary financial costs, administrative burdens, and uncertainty that disproportionately affect students with fewer resources.

“The United States has long benefited from attracting the world’s brightest minds. This rule sends precisely the wrong message,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “International students strengthen our universities, fuel innovation, support local economies, and build lifelong ties with the United States. Instead of erecting new bureaucratic barriers, our nation should be expanding educational opportunity and reaffirming its commitment to academic excellence, global engagement and people-to-people diplomacy.”

Haitian Bridge Alliance calls on Congress to immediately use its oversight and legislative authority to address this disastrous policy that undermines America’s leadership in higher education.