Immigration | Can I remain and adjust my status after I finish my studies?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington:

Hope you’re all doing well. I saw a few of your articles in The Gleaner and I find them interesting. I have a situation at hand. I’m an F1 student whose mom is a US citizen. She recently filed a petition for me in July. I have one more year of studies. As I’m not an immediate relative (because I’m over 21 years old), do I have to go back home, or can I file adjustment of status?

Thanks, looking forward to your response.

– LJ

Dear LJ

An F1 visa is also referred to as a student visa, and it allows foreign students to go to the United States of America to study. Previously when a student entered the United States, their passport would be stamped as D/S – duration of study, indicating they were lawful to remain if they continued to pursue their course of study. However, on September 15, 2026, the current US policy will change and now persons with F1 visas will be admitted to the US for a maximum of four years or the period of study on their I20 – whichever is shorter.

Likewise, once a student completes their course of study, they are now required to depart the United States within 30 days or begin to accrue unlawful presence. If you are the immediate relative of an American citizen (spouse, parent or minor child of a US citizen), the law permits you to adjust your status from your non-immigrant visa to that of a permanent resident – even if you are currently out of status.

Earlier in 2026, the US administration also issued new guidelines for how they handle adjustment of status, indicating that it is a discretionary policy – which it is; but the policy goes further to question why an applicant did not return to their home and consular process rather than remain in America and adjust their status. That policy is being implemented in some jurisdictions where the USCIS officers are asking those questions. Any applicant for adjustment of status must be prepared to answer those questions at an interview.

If you are not an immediate relative, e.g. the over 21-year-old unmarried son/daughter of an American citizen, you are unable to adjust your status and should return home at the end of your studies or OPT (work authorisation after studies) and not accrue unlawful presence in America.

Persons who accrue unlawful presence and are not eligible to adjust their status will require a provisional waiver of that unlawful presence before leaving for the immigrant visa interview outside the United States. If a person who accrues unlawful presence leaves without the provisional waiver, they will face a mandatory three- or 10-year bar to return to the US. They can apply for a waiver of that mandatory bar but they will have to wait in their home country while the waiver is being processed.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com