Updated November 11, 2026

F-1 visa status: how to check your I-94, maintain D/S and stay in status

F-1 visa status is your legal standing inside the United States as an academic student. It is different from the visa foil in your passport, which only lets you ask for entry at the border. Under USCIS policy, you are admitted for duration of status (D/S), which lets you stay as long as you stay enrolled full-time and follow student rules, plus a 60-day grace period after your program or Optional Practical Training (OPT). You can check your admission record online on the CBP Form I-94 website or the CBP Link mobile app.

F-1 visa vs. F-1 status: what is the difference?

Many students treat the terms F-1 visa and F-1 status as interchangeable, but they serve different functions under immigration law. Your F-1 visa is the physical foil placed in your passport by a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. Its sole legal purpose is to allow you to travel to a U.S. port of entry and request permission to enter as a student, up to 30 days before the program start date on your Form I-20.

Your F-1 status begins once a CBP officer admits you into the United States, or when USCIS approves an application to change status on Form I-539. Your status is tracked in SEVIS through your Form I-20 and recorded electronically on your Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record.

Except for students attending public high schools, F-1 students are admitted for duration of status, marked as D/S on Form I-94. Duration of status means you may stay in the United States while pursuing a full course of study at an SEVP-certified institution or completing authorized practical training, without submitting an extension of stay application to USCIS.

F-1 visa stamp vs. F-1 student status compared (from USCIS Policy Manual Volume 2 Part F and CBP I-94 guidance)

How to check your F-1 visa status abroad, on Form I-94 and with USCIS

Checking your F-1 status depends on where you are in the process. Once you arrive in the United States, you verify your lawful admission class and duration of status on the CBP Form I-94 website or the CBP Link mobile app.

Each time you enter the United States, CBP generates an electronic Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record. Air, sea and land border travelers no longer receive paper cards or paper stubs. If you need a paper copy during border processing, CBP handles those requests in secondary inspection. Schools, employers and government agencies rely on your Form I-94 to verify legal presence and employment eligibility. Follow this checklist prepared by our team after every entry:

• Open the CBP I-94 website or the CBP Link mobile app and choose the option to get your most recent I-94.
• Check that your Class of Admission lists F-1, or F-2 for your qualifying spouse or unmarried child under age 21.
• Check that your Admit Until Date reads D/S for duration of status.
• Save or print a copy of your Form I-94 for your DSO, employer verification or Social Security Number application.
• If your Form I-94 shows an incorrect category or a fixed departure date instead of D/S, contact one of the more than 70 CBP Deferred Inspection Sites across the country to have your record corrected.
• If you entered with an electronic I-94 and leave by land without returning before the passport stamp date, keep proof of departure such as an entry stamp from Canadian or Mexican border authorities, travel tickets or receipts.

Full-time enrollment and online class limits

Maintaining F-1 status requires pursuing a full course of study at an SEVP-certified institution and making normal progress toward an educational credential. You cannot attend home schools, public elementary or middle schools (kindergarten through grade 8), or publicly funded adult education programs. Study at an SEVP-certified public high school (grades 9 through 12) is capped at a cumulative 12 months, and you must prove reimbursement to the local educational agency for the full, unsubsidized cost per student.

Concurrent enrollment at two SEVP-certified schools is permitted if your combined credits equal a full course of study. The institution granting your degree issues and manages your Form I-20.

Distance learning courses are strictly limited. The temporary COVID-19 online study flexibilities ended after the 2022 to 2023 academic year on May 11, 2023. Under standard DHS regulations, you may count at most one online or distance education class (or three credits) per academic term toward your full-time enrollment requirement. English language training programs permit zero online classes. If you need only one course in your final term to graduate, that course cannot be taken online and must require physical attendance.

Minimum full course of study and Reduced Course Load rules (from USCIS Policy Manual Volume 2, Part F, Chapter 3)

When can you drop below full-time? Authorized Reduced Course Load

Dropping below full-time enrollment without advance DSO permission violates your F-1 status immediately. Your DSO can authorize a Reduced Course Load (RCL) in SEVIS only for three reasons:

• Initial academic difficulties: Permitted once per program level due to early difficulties with English reading, unfamiliarity with U.S. teaching methods, or improper course placement. You must still take at least 6 credit hours (or half the required clock hours) and resume full-time study at the next term.
• Medical condition: Permitted for up to an aggregate of 12 months per degree level. You must provide documentation from a licensed medical doctor, psychiatrist, doctor of osteopathy, licensed psychologist or clinical psychologist. An earlier academic RCL does not block a medical RCL.
• Final term: Permitted when you need fewer courses to complete your degree. If you need only one class, it must require in-person attendance.

F-1 employment, CPT, OPT and STEM OPT rules

F-1 students must maintain sufficient financial resources to complete their program without unauthorized employment. Working without permission is a status violation that terminates your stay. During your first academic year, you cannot work off-campus, though on-campus work is allowed subject to federal limits. Nonimmigrants generally must hold DHS work permission to qualify for a Social Security Number.

After one full academic year of full-time enrollment at an SEVP-certified institution (excluding non-credit language study), you may qualify for practical training directly related to your major field. Study abroad time counts toward the one academic year if you completed at least one full academic term in the United States beforehand.

Pre-completion OPT reduces post-completion OPT at the same degree level. USCIS grants up to 12 months of standard OPT per education level. Part-time pre-completion OPT (20 hours or less per week) deducts at a 50 percent rate (2 months part-time deducts 1 month). Full-time pre-completion OPT deducts at 100 percent. Overtime and unemployment do not alter these calculations.

By our calculation from the USCIS Policy Manual rules, if you use 6 months of part-time pre-completion OPT (3 months deducted) and 2 months of full-time summer OPT (2 months deducted), you have used 5 months of your 12-month allotment and have 7 months of full-time post-completion OPT left for that degree level.

Graduates with qualifying degrees on the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List can apply for a 24-month STEM OPT extension if employed by an E-Verify employer with an approved Form I-983 training plan. Combining 12 months of post-completion OPT with the 24-month STEM extension provides up to 36 months of practical training, with an aggregate unemployment limit of 150 days (90 days during standard OPT plus 60 days during STEM OPT).

F-1 practical training and cap-gap rules (from USCIS Policy Manual Volume 2, Part F, Chapter 5)

Travel abroad, the 5-month absence rule and returning on OPT

If you had substantive changes, such as a new major or school transfer, you need an updated Form I-20.

If you remain outside the United States for more than 5 months and cannot maintain enrollment, you lose your continuing F-1 status. To return, you must obtain a new initial Form I-20 and seek readmission in initial status.

Travel while on approved post-completion OPT requires a valid F-1 visa, an unexpired EAD, and a Form I-20 endorsed for travel within the past 6 months. Time spent abroad while unemployed counts toward your 90-day (or 150-day STEM) unemployment limit. Traveling internationally while an H-1B change of status request or Form I-539 is pending abandons that change of status request.

Grace periods, I-20 extensions and reinstating lost status

Your departure window depends on how your program ended. If you need extra time to finish your degree for compelling academic or medical reasons, such as unexpected research delays or documented illness, you must request an extension from your DSO before your Form I-20 expires. Delays caused by academic probation or suspension do not qualify. When your DSO extends your Form I-20, qualifying F-2 dependents extend automatically.

If you let your Form I-20 expire without an extension or violate course load rules, you fall out of status. Under USCIS policy, students admitted for duration of status generally accrue unlawful presence starting the day after USCIS or an immigration judge formally determines a status violation. Accruing more than 180 days of unlawful presence triggers a 3-year reentry bar, while accruing 1 year triggers a 10-year bar.

To regain lawful status without leaving the country, you can submit Form I-539 to USCIS (using the 08/28/24 edition) with a Form I-20 endorsed for reinstatement by your DSO. Check required filing fees on the USCIS Form G-1055 Fee Schedule before filing, as incorrect fees lead to immediate rejection.

• 60-day grace period: Granted after finishing your degree or completing authorized post-completion OPT. You maintain status and may depart, transfer schools, change education levels, or apply for a change of status.
• 15-day grace period: Granted when your DSO authorizes an early withdrawal from classes. You have 15 days to depart.
• 1-day grace period: Dropping below full-time without DSO approval, failing to extend an expired Form I-20, or having an application denied for a status violation gives you zero grace period. You must leave immediately or seek reinstatement.
• Reinstatement rules on Form I-539: You must show that you filed within 5 months of losing status (or prove exceptional circumstances), have no record of repeated or willful violations, and are enrolled or will enroll full-time. You must also show that you never worked without authorization, are not deportable on any other ground, and that your status loss came from events beyond your control or an authorized course reduction where denial would cause extreme hardship.

Changing to F-1 status inside the United States

Nonimmigrants lawfully present in the United States in another valid category can apply to change status to F-1 without departing. You must gain admission to an SEVP-certified institution, receive an initial Form I-20 with Change of Status listed as the issue reason, pay the Form I-901 SEVIS fee, and file Form I-539 with USCIS before your current authorized stay expires. USCIS suggests filing at least 45 days in advance.

Certain categories cannot change to F-1 inside the country. Travelers admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (WT/WB), crewmembers (D), transit categories (C), fiances (K-1/K-2), informants (S), and vocational students (M-1) are barred from changing status to F-1. J-1 exchange visitors subject to the two-year home residency requirement cannot change status unless they obtain a waiver.

Under USCIS policy updated in July 2021, if your initial nonimmigrant status was unexpired when you filed Form I-539, you do not need to file bridge applications while waiting for approval. An approved change of status takes effect on the approval date. Review these specific category rules before registering for classes:

Rules for changing to F-1 status inside the U.S. on Form I-539 (from USCIS Policy Manual Volume 2, Part F, Chapter 8 and USCIS guidance)

Practice example

You plan to study in the United States for four years and then do OPT. How do I know you actually intend to leave when your F-1 status ends?

When an officer asks about your long-term stay, state your degree timeline and any planned post-completion OPT plainly, then point to your present residence abroad and your reason for departing when your authorized stay ends. Have three facts ready from your Form I-20 and DS-160: your exact program completion date, where you currently live in your home country (even if that residence is with your parents or guardians), and the career track or industry you plan to enter outside the United States after your studies and practical training conclude. If a relative or employer has filed an immigrant petition or permanent labor certification for you, disclose it honestly and explain that for this trip you intend to follow all F-1 rules and depart when your authorized student status and practical training end.

Under the USCIS Policy Manual (Volume 2, Part F, Chapter 2), officers evaluate a student's foreign residence requirement based on present intent to depart at the conclusion of approved studies and practical training, rather than requiring the established economic ties of older applicants or expecting a rigid multi-year plan. Even a student with a pending or approved immigrant petition can qualify if they demonstrate present intent to depart after their temporary stay.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.