State Department Proposes New J-1 Rules on Termination, Extensions, and Reinstatement

August 2026 | By Parikh & Prasad, PC

On July 30, 2026, the State Department proposed the first substantial rewrite in more than twenty-five years of the rules governing how J-1 exchange visitor programs are terminated, extended, and reinstated. The proposal would give the Department its own authority to end an exchange visitor's program, impose a hard deadline on extension requests with no exceptions, and rebuild reinstatement around SEVIS. Comments are open for 60 days.

Who This Affects, and Why Now

The Exchange Visitor Program lives at 22 CFR part 62 and is run by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It covers everyone in J-1 status — research scholars, professors, physicians, students, interns, trainees, teachers, camp counselors, au pairs — plus J-2 spouses and dependents, whose status mirrors the J-1's. The Department tracks all of them through SEVIS, the DHS-administered Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. The proposal, published at 91 FR 48021, also reaches the roughly 1,400 designated sponsors that operate these programs.

Why now? Because Subpart C of part 62 was last modified in 1999, when the former U.S. Information Agency issued an interim final rule (64 FR 44123, Aug. 13, 1999). Those rules were written for paper files. SEVIS did not exist yet.

The electronic system arrived later. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 directed the creation of a system to track F, M, and J nonimmigrants; section 416 of the USA PATRIOT Act mandated its expansion in 2001; DHS and the State Department launched SEVIS in January 2003. The Department frames this proposal as finally aligning the regulations with how the system actually works, citing Executive Order 14219 on streamlining obsolete regulatory provisions.

A New Mandatory Ground for Termination

Sponsors already have to terminate program participation in certain situations. The proposal adds one more: when an exchange visitor falsifies or fails to provide a full and truthful response, information, or documents — either in the exchange visitor application or during the ongoing program.

The Department gives examples of what it has in mind: proof of a U.S. address, educational qualifications, attendance at the site of activity. Its reasoning is that sponsors and the Department need accurate information to judge whether visitors still meet the conditions of their status.

The Department Could Terminate Your Program Directly

This is the change that matters most to individual exchange visitors. Today, termination runs through your sponsor. The proposal would expand the circumstances in which the Department itself can end your program participation.

Two new bases would apply. First, the Department could terminate when it or DHS has revoked or cancelled a visa with immediate effect. The rule is blunt about the consequence: the individual must immediately leave the country or risk removal. Second, the Department could terminate for the same falsification or failure to provide truthful information that triggers mandatory sponsor termination.

For a sense of scale, the Department reports that more than 1,700 exchange visitor records were terminated in 2024. The leading reasons were breaking sponsor rules or regulations (975), failure to continue program activities (300), disciplinary reasons or criminal convictions (90), and unauthorized employment (30), with 450 recorded as “other.”

A Narrow Right to Respond — and 10 Business Days to Use It

The proposal creates a procedure that does not exist today. If the Department terminates you for unauthorized employment or for falsifying information or documentation, you may challenge that decision by submitting a statement in opposition within 10 business days of the Department's written notice.

Two limits matter here. The window is short. And the grounds are narrow: the rule states that exchange visitors may not appeal on the basis of hardship or other equitable considerations. An argument that termination would be unfair, or would wreck a degree, a research position, or a family's plans, is not what this process is built to hear. Your response has to go to whether the conduct actually happened.

Extensions: A Three-Month Deadline With No Exceptions

Sponsors can already extend programs up to the maximum duration allowed for a category on their own authority. Going past that maximum requires Department approval, and that is where the proposal tightens the screws.

After the electronic extension application goes into SEVIS, the Department must receive the supporting documentation no later than three months before the new extension period. The rule then adds five words worth underlining: there will be no exceptions for late submissions.

These are not rare filings. Based on 2022 through 2024 data, the Department processed an average of about 14,563 “Program Extension beyond Maximum Duration” requests a year, at a fee of $367 per application under 22 CFR 62.17(b)(2).

Au Pairs Lose Their Separate Extension Rule

The proposal removes 22 CFR 62.31(o), the au pair-specific extension provision. Today that rule requires applications for six-, nine-, or twelve-month extensions to reach the Department not less than 30 calendar days before the initial authorized stay expires.

Under the proposal, au pair extensions would follow the general rule in the proposed 22 CFR 62.43 — submission 90 days before the program end date. For au pairs and host families, that is a jump from a 30-day runway to a 90-day one. Put it on a calendar now.

Reinstatement Is Being Rebuilt Around SEVIS

Current regulations sort record problems into three buckets: minor or technical infractions, substantive violations, and non-reinstatable violations. The proposal deletes the first distinction outright.

Instead, for everything except non-reinstatable violations, sponsors get 30 days from the date a record went into the wrong status to use the “Correct SEVIS Status” action — no application, no fee. That replaces the current 120-day deadline for minor infractions. The action updates the record immediately. A J-2 record updates automatically if it changed alongside the J-1; if not, it has to be corrected separately.

Correct SEVIS Status is meant for records mistakenly moved to Active, Inactive, Terminated, Transferred, Invalid, or No Show through administrative error, neglect, circumstances beyond the sponsor's control, or system changes. It also covers records showing the wrong status because an exchange visitor did not request a timely transfer or extension, or because a student failed to maintain a full course of study without first consulting the sponsor and academic advisor. There is no time limit for moving records from Invalid or Active back to Initial if the visitor never entered the United States.

Miss the 30-day window and the sponsor has to file a formal reinstatement application. On that front the proposal is actually more forgiving than current practice. The Department currently will not consider requests made after 270 days. Under the proposal, it would evaluate requests to restore Active status as long as the visitor has not been out of status longer than the period DHS has set — currently five months. Past that, the sponsor must show the failure to file was due to exceptional circumstances and that the request came as promptly as possible. There is no time limit for reinstatement to Inactive status.

Reinstatement applications start in SEVIS, with supporting documentation due within ten days, plus a non-refundable $367 fee and a written statement on official letterhead covering the visitor's continued pursuit of the original program objective, that the lapse was due to oversight, inadvertence, or factors beyond control, that denial would impose unusual hardship, that no unauthorized employment occurred, and the accurate program end date.

When Reinstatement Is Not Available at All

Sponsors could not use Correct SEVIS Status or reinstatement to return a record to Active status if the exchange visitor:

• Did not maintain the original program objective identified under their category in 22 CFR part 62 subpart B;
• Failed to maintain the insurance coverage required by 22 CFR 62.14;
• Was involuntarily suspended or terminated by the sponsor or host organization;
• Received a favorable waiver recommendation under INA section 212(e);
• Received DHS approval for a change of status to a different nonimmigrant classification; or
• Failed to pay the fee mandated by Public Law 104-208.

Watch the insurance item. It is easy to overlook and impossible to undo. A lapse in the coverage required by 22 CFR 62.14 would put a record beyond reinstatement no matter how fast anyone caught it.

Two New Definitions That Carry Real Weight

The proposal adds “Valid Program Status” to 22 CFR 62.2 — the current and accurate status of an exchange visitor's SEVIS record from the time a sponsor issues the Form DS-2019 through active participation and the final status on completion, cessation, graduation, termination, or other conclusion. It reaches every SEVIS status: Initial, Active, Inactive, Terminated, Transferred, Invalid, and No Show.

It also adds a definition of “Unauthorized Employment,” lifted from the USCIS Policy Manual at 7 USCIS-PM B.6(A)(1): any service or labor performed for an employer in the United States by someone not authorized to accept employment, or who exceeds the scope or period of their employment authorization. The proposed regulatory text extends that expressly to J-2 spouses and dependents who work without prior DHS authorization — a useful reminder that J-2 employment needs its own authorization.

There is a carve-out. Activities normally approvable and appropriate for the visitor's category are not unauthorized employment; the Department offers honoraria for scholars giving lectures or consultations as its example.

This Is a Proposal, and Comments Are Open

None of this is law yet. The Department has historically treated Exchange Visitor Program rulemakings as exempt from notice and comment under the foreign affairs function exception at 5 U.S.C. 553(a), but it chose to ask for public comment here, and says it will respond in a final rule if it decides to finalize all or part of the proposal.

Comments are accepted for 60 days from July 30, 2026. You can submit at regulations.gov under Docket ID DOS-2026-0859, where a plain-language summary is also posted, or by email with “RIN 1400-AF23” in the subject line. Include your name, your organization if you have one, and a mailing address.

What to Do Now

If your J-1 program may need an extension beyond the maximum duration, start now. Supporting documents must reach the Department three months ahead, and the proposal allows no exceptions.

Au pairs and host families should plan on 90 days, not 30. The dedicated au pair timeline would disappear.

Verify your SEVIS record is accurate. Ask your sponsor to confirm your record status; a 30-day correction window is far shorter than the current 120 days for technical problems.

Confirm your insurance has never lapsed. A gap in required coverage would put your record beyond reinstatement.

Answer sponsor and Department requests completely and accurately. Incomplete or inaccurate responses would become an independent ground for termination.

J-2 spouses should not work without authorization. The new definition names J-2 dependents specifically.

File a comment if you have views on the proposal. Sponsors, universities, hospitals, and exchange visitors all have reason to be heard.

If you or your organization sponsors exchange visitors, or if you are in J-1 status and facing an extension, a status correction, or a termination notice, the deadlines in this proposal leave little room for error. At Parikh & Prasad, PC, our attorneys follow these developments closely and can help you assess how they would apply to your situation. Contact us to schedule a consultation.

This post is attorney advertising and is provided for general information only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law changes rapidly; consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific situation.

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