What changed for international students

Newest first. Every item links to the rule or the docket itself. Last checked 2026-09-14.

14 September 2026Blocked by a court

A federal court stopped the end of duration of status.

Your I-94 still says D/S. The injunction is nationwide, and the government can appeal.

Presidents’ Alliance v. DHS · No. 1:26-cv-13799 · D. Mass.

11 September 2026Proposed · comments close 10 November

DHS wants to remove the 60-day grace period after you lose a job.

The classifications listed are E, H-1B, L-1, O-1 and TN — not F-1. It reaches you only after you move to a work visa. Comments are still open until 10 November, and 23,765 have been filed — more than any other rule on this page.

Proposed rule, 91 FR 57807 · RIN 1615-AD22 · comment count checked 27 September

The proposal →

25 August 2026Proposed · comments closed 24 September

DHS wants a $103,265 fee on every H-1B petition that goes through the cap.

Nothing has changed yet. The comment period closed on 24 September with 11,706 comments filed, and DHS has to answer the significant ones before it can issue a final rule. If it does: this is the route almost everyone takes after OPT, a US master’s degree does not escape it, and cap-exempt petitions — universities and their affiliated nonprofits — are not covered.

Proposed rule, 91 FR 54817 · RIN 1615-AD20 · comment count checked 27 September

The proposal →

11 August 2026In force · comments close 13 October

USCIS can now require certain forms to be filed online only.

Already in force. A waiver exists if you cannot file online. Watch it if you are filing Form I-765 for OPT — this is the rule on this page that touches you soonest, and it has drawn 61 comments. The H-1B fee drew 11,706.

Interim final rule, 91 FR 51924 · 8 CFR 103, 106 · comment count checked 27 September

The rule →

10 August 2026In force since 9 September

The $4,000 H-1B biometric fee now applies to every extension petition.

Your employer pays it, not you — but it raises the cost of keeping you. It now covers every extension, not only some.

Final rule, 91 FR 51360 · 8 CFR 106.2(c)(8)

The rule →

30 July 2026Proposed · J-1

The State Department wants to rewrite how J-1 program participation ends.

Termination, extension and reinstatement for exchange visitors. J-1 only.

Proposed rule, 91 FR 48021 · Department of State

The proposal →

The full dated list, with the fees →

Every international
student in New York.

There are 71,296 of them, from 199 countries, across 87 campuses.

The official site of the New York International Student Association
Published 17 August 2026 · Updated 1 September 2026
Sources: IPEDS Fall 2024, US Department of Education · SEVIS July 2026, US Department of Homeland Security

Top 10 countries, to scale Move across to read a country

Ranked 1–10, individuallyThe remaining 189, grouped

China India Ranks 3–10 The other 189

71,296international students in the five boroughs

87campuses with at least one

199countries of citizenship

57%are graduate students, not undergraduates

01 — What changed

A court just stopped
the biggest change.

Duration of status was to end on 15 September 2026 — F-1 students admitted only until the program end date on the I-20, capped at four years. One day before it was to start, a federal judge blocked the rule nationwide. D/S remains in place.

The rule is paused, not dead: a preliminary injunction is not a final judgment, and the government can appeal. The dated list tracks where the case stands, alongside every other change — the OPT carve-out for filings on or before 18 March 2027, the salary-weighted H-1B lottery, the cap-gap extension.

We keep a dated list of every change like this, and every entry links to the Federal Register or the Code of Federal Regulations rather than to somebody's summary of it. Where we could not trace a widely-quoted number to a primary source, we say so instead of repeating it.

Read what changed

02 — Who sponsors visas

Every H-1B sponsor
in New York City.

We pulled 26 quarterly files from the Department of Labor and built the list nobody had: 21,813 employers that sponsored an H-1B worker here since 2019, what they paid, and which ones can hire you without the lottery.

Roughly two in three H-1B registrations lose the March lottery. Universities and their affiliated non-profits skip it entirely — Columbia, NYU Grossman, Mount Sinai, Weill Cornell, Memorial Sloan Kettering, CUNY's research arm. They pay a median of $85,000 against $135,000 elsewhere.

Open the sponsor list

03 — What we do

Four areas
of work.

Open to anyone on an F-1 or J-1 visa at any college in the five boroughs. No fee.

Research and publication

Federal data compiled into registers that did not exist before — enrollment at all 87 campuses, every H-1B sponsor in the city since 2019, and every dated rule change. All free to read and reuse.
Guidance

Plain guides to what every international student hits, each sourced to the regulation. The first is opening a bank account without a Social Security number.
Connecting the campuses

A directory of the international student groups on all 87 campuses. None are currently in contact with each other.
Service in the city

Regular volunteering with churches and parishes across the five boroughs — food pantries, tutoring, translation, disaster relief. NYISA is not a religious organization; everything it runs is open to students of any faith and of none.

Founded in New York City in August 2026.

Join NYISA

04 — Leadership

Who answers
for NYISA.

A board of five directors answers for what NYISA publishes and does.

Five directors, one vote each. NYISA has no officer titles at present — the board decides together. We do not publish the directors’ names.

NYISA is the New York International Student Association — an independent student organization, not a government agency and not the New York International Screenplay Awards, which uses the same acronym. Something wrong on this site? info@nyisa.org.

05 — The campuses

Enrollment
by campus.

New York University enrolls 19,202 and Columbia 13,812. Ten schools account for 72% of the city total. The fifteen largest are shown below; the full table of 87 campuses is published separately.

International students by campus, New York City, Fall 2024
1	New York UniversityManhattan	19,202
2	Columbia UniversityManhattan	13,812
3	The New School / ParsonsManhattan	3,457
4	St. Francis CollegeBrooklyn	3,011
5	Pace UniversityManhattan	2,771
6	Monroe UniversityBronx	2,032
7	School of Visual ArtsManhattan	1,925
8	Fordham UniversityBronx	1,812
9	CUNY Baruch CollegeManhattan	1,736
10	Pratt InstituteBrooklyn	1,734
11	CUNY LaGuardia CCQueens	1,672
12	Teachers College, ColumbiaManhattan	1,507
13	CUNY BMCCManhattan	1,432
14	CUNY Graduate CenterManhattan	1,062
15	Fashion Institute of TechnologyManhattan	1,038

See all 87 campuses →

Undergraduate Graduate

A note on two rows. St. Francis College reported 361 international students three years ago and 3,011 now; Monroe University grew the same way. Both expanded online and hybrid master's programs, so fewer people are physically on those campuses than the count suggests.

06 — The register

Find yourself in it.

All 199 countries of citizenship recorded in New York State, in order. Search by country name in English or in the local spelling.

Search for a country

199 of 199 countries

Students by country of citizenship, New York State, July 2026
1	中国China	34,320
2	भारतIndia	32,589
3	Canada	5,991
4	한국South Korea	5,581
5	বাংলাদেশBangladesh	3,501
6	臺灣Taiwan	2,405
7	BrasilBrazil	2,352
8	नेपालNepal	2,250
9	TürkiyeTurkey	2,204
10	Colombia	2,132
11	PilipinasPhilippines	2,056
12	پاکستانPakistan	1,630
13	日本Japan	1,623
14	United Kingdom	1,586
15	Việt NamVietnam	1,445
16	France	1,416
17	ไทยThailand	1,330
18	MéxicoMexico	1,271
19	ItaliaItaly	1,184
20	ישראלIsrael	1,063
21	Nigeria	988
22	DeutschlandGermany	963
23	EspañaSpain	956
24	香港Hong Kong	907
25	Zimbabwe	854
26	РоссияRussia	852
27	ایرانIran	722
28	ҚазақстанKazakhstan	718
29	Australia	705
30	Indonesia	687
31	Singapore	639
32	PerúPeru	625
33	Ghana	604
34	Ecuador	602
35	السعوديةSaudi Arabia	556
36	Argentina	499
37	Jamaica	492
38	မြန်မာBurma	462
39	ΕλλάδαGreece	436
40	مصرEgypt	378
41	ShqipëriAlbania	359
42	PolskaPoland	354
43	Chile	320
44	الجزائرAlgeria	316
45	OʻzbekistonUzbekistan	306
46	УкраїнаUkraine	296
47	Kenya	281
48	საქართველოGeorgia	280
49	South Africa	261
50	ශ්‍රී ලංකාSri Lanka	259
51	المغربMorocco	258
52	NederlandNetherlands	253
53	Malaysia	250
54	SchweizSwitzerland	247
55	República DominicanaDominican Republic	242
56	SverigeSweden	230
57	TürkmenistanTurkmenistan	226
58	الأردنJordan	216
59	Trinidad and Tobago	207
60	ÉireIreland	196
61	BelgiëBelgium	190
62	AotearoaNew Zealand	188
63	ኢትዮጵያEthiopia	173
64	RomâniaRomania	172
65	الكويتKuwait	170
66	Portugal	166
67	NorgeNorway	159
68	Venezuela	159
69	The BahamasBahamas	152
70	МонголMongolia	150
71	AzərbaycanAzerbaijan	148
72	СрбијаSerbia	140
73	КыргызстанKyrgyzstan	137
74	ÖsterreichAustria	133
75	Guyana	133
76	MagyarországHungary	131
77	PanamáPanama	120
78	لبنانLebanon	117
79	Costa Rica	114
80	ČeskoCzech Republic	114
81	الإماراتUnited Arab Emirates	102
82	Honduras	101
83	Uganda	98
84	Rwanda	93
85	Tanzania	91
86	DanmarkDenmark	88
87	Bolivia	86
88	Guatemala	85
89	БългарияBulgaria	84
90	ΚύπροςCyprus	80
91	El Salvador	79
92	ТоҷикистонTajikistan	78
93	Côte d’Ivoire	77
94	SuomiFinland	69
95	БеларусьBelarus	65
96	CamerounCameroon	65
97	澳門Macau	64
98	Uruguay	63
99	افغانستانAfghanistan	62
100	HrvatskaCroatia	62
101	កម្ពុជាCambodia	61
102	تونسTunisia	61
103	Zambia	61
104	ՀայաստանArmenia	60
105	Dominica	57
106	Paraguay	56
107	SlovenskoSlovakia	55
108	LietuvaLithuania	51
109	Burkina Faso	49
110	Grenada	49
111	ÍslandIceland	47
112	KosovaKosovo	45
113	RD CongoCongo (kinshasa)	44
114	AyitiHaiti	44
115	Niger	44
116	Antigua and Barbuda	43
117	Saint Lucia	42
118	SénégalSenegal	42
119	LatvijaLatvia	40
120	BéninBenin	38
121	Saint Kitts and Nevis	38
122	Saint VincentSaint Vincent and the Grenadines	36
123	سورياSyria	34
124	Barbados	33
125	Malawi	33
126	Sierra Leone	33
127	འབྲུགBhutan	32
128	МакедонијаMacedonia	32
129	Crna GoraMontenegro	31
130	البحرينBahrain	30
131	Botswana	30
132	Mali	30
133	Nicaragua	30
134	Bosna i HercegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina	27
135	LëtzebuergLuxembourg	27
136	اليمنYemen	27
137	The GambiaGambia	25
138	MauriceMauritius	25
139	SlovenijaSlovenia	24
140	العراقIraq	23
141	Malta	23
142	West Bank	23
143	GuinéeGuinea	22
144	Belize	21
145	Bermuda	20
146	EswatiniSwaziland	19
147	Gabon	18
148	عُمانOman	18
149	EestiEstonia	17
150	Gaza Strip	17
151	Liberia	17
152	MadagasikaraMadagascar	17
153	MoçambiqueMozambique	17
154	قطرQatar	17
155	Moldova	16
156	السودانSudan	16
157	Angola	13
158	Togo	13
159	Suriname	12
160	ليبياLibya	11
161	South Sudan	11
162	CongoCongo (brazzaville)	9
163	Cayman Islands	8
164	SoomaaliyaSomalia	8
165	TchadChad	7
166	Namibia	7
167	Aruba	5
168	Burundi	5
169	CuraçaoCuracao	5
170	Guinea EcuatorialEquatorial Guinea	5
171	Lesotho	4
172	Monaco	4
173	Papua New Guinea	4
174	Sint Maarten	4
175	Turks and CaicosTurks and Caicos Islands	4
176	Cabo VerdeCape Verde	3
177	ދިވެހިރާއްޖެMaldives	3
178	Stateless	3
179	Timor-LesteTimor-leste	3
180	Andorra	2
181	Bassas da India	2
182	Brunei	2
183	CentrafriqueCentral African Republic	2
184	ኤርትራEritrea	2
185	Fiji	2
186	Guernsey	2
187	Guiné-BissauGuinea-bissau	2
188	Liechtenstein	2
189	Saint-MartinSaint Martin	2
190	Seychelles	2
191	Anguilla	1
192	Cuba	1
193	Gibraltar	1
194	Jersey	1
195	ລາວLaos	1
196	موريتانياMauritania	1
197	Montserrat	1
198	Solomon Islands	1
199	Vanuatu	1

133,558 active F and M student records, New York State, July 2026. Broader than the count above: it includes students on OPT, in language programs and at secondary schools. July falls outside term time and runs lower than the autumn figure. Country names are given as written locally where we could verify the spelling.

07 — Join

Be one of the first hundred.

No fee, no obligation. We will tell you when the sponsor list updates each quarter and when the next guide goes up.

Email: info@nyisa.org

What changed for international students

A federal court stopped the end of duration of status.

DHS wants to remove the 60-day grace period after you lose a job.

DHS wants a $103,265 fee on every H-1B petition that goes through the cap.

USCIS can now require certain forms to be filed online only.

The $4,000 H-1B biometric fee now applies to every extension petition.

The State Department wants to rewrite how J-1 program participation ends.

Every internationalstudent in New York.

A court just stoppedthe biggest change.

Every H-1B sponsorin New York City.

Four areasof work.

Research and publication

Guidance

Connecting the campuses

Service in the city

Who answersfor NYISA.

Enrollmentby campus.

Find yourself in it.

Be one of the first hundred.

You are on the list.

Every international
student in New York.

A court just stopped
the biggest change.

Every H-1B sponsor
in New York City.

Four areas
of work.

Who answers
for NYISA.

Enrollment
by campus.