What is Duration of Status?
F-1 international students and J-1 exchange visitors and their F-2 and J-2 dependent family members are admitted to the United States by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency at the port-of-entry. The CBP officer creates an electronic record of arrival – the I-94 record – that reflects the date of admission, class of admission (F-1, J-1), and how long the student or exchange visitor may remain in the U.S. (period of authorized stay).
Instead of a fixed period of admission and a date certain by which the student or exchange visitor must depart the U.S., the period of admission on the Form I-94 record of arrival is duration of status (D/S). Admission for duration of status is different from other nonimmigrant categories, where the beneficiary is admitted with a fixed date of expiration of lawful immigration status and must either depart the country by that date or file a timely request for extension or change of status with USCIS before the I-94 expiration date.
Admission for duration of status permits the student or exchange visitor to remain in the U.S. for the duration of the F-1 or J-1 program, so long as they are maintaining valid status and making normal progress towards completing their program's academic or research objectives, including F-1 post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT).