U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has agreed to rescind a proposed rule that would have required international students on F-1 and M-1 visas to either attend in-person classes at U.S. colleges and universities or face having to leave the United States. Under the proposed rule, students enrolled in universities offering online-only courses would have been required to transfer to a school offering in-person classes or leave the country. The proposed rule met immediate opposition and sparked a number of lawsuits by states and universities across the country.

Moving Forward

Following a short hearing in a case filed by several prominent universities, ICE agreed to abandon the proposed rule and to continue to honor its prior guidance, issued in March 2020, which allows students in F-1 and M-1 status to take more than the regulatory limit of one online course while remaining inside the United States.