A new federal rule is set to change how long some international students can stay in the United States.

Anoushka Mitra is currently focused on finishing college, but the 21-year-old University of Texas Rio Grande Valley student says she can't help but worry about what the future will hold.

"For me, myself, and for them, it's a lot of planning, a lot of graduate planning, it's the risk of fear that, 'Oh my God I would have to maybe leave the country,'" Mitra said.

Mitra came to the U.S. from India on an F-1 student visa, which allows her to legally stay in the U.S. while she pursues her degree.

The biology major is on track to graduate in 2028; her goal is to become a doctor.

"We come here with a dream, we come here with a dream and the fear of not being able to reach that dream, it's a heartbreaking moment," Mitra said.

Mitra says it wasn't easy to get her student visa.

"Med school for an F-1 — we're looking at $500,000 for four years, and it's hard to get that amount of money from India, right?" Mitra said.

And now, she could face challenges in the future.

Under current F-1 student visa rules, students are allowed to stay in the U.S. as long as they're making progress toward finishing their studies.

Starting Sept. 15, that's changing.

New federal rules will replace the current "duration of status" system for foreign student visas with a fixed period of admission.

"There's a four-year cap, which means that you have four years to study that program or if your program is shorter than the shorter period," immigration attorney Carlos Moctezuma Garcia said. "If you're a student on an F-1 visa, you can't just change your major. For graduate students, you can't change it at all, your degree program, because that would necessitate you reapplying for your visa."

The new rules apply to new foreign student visa holders, including incoming freshmen and those entering graduate or medical programs.

Students who need additional time to complete their studies will have to apply through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for an extension of stay.

And there's another change for students entering or re-entering the U.S. under the new system. The grace period after completing their program will be reduced from 60 days to 30 days.

"If a person stays in violation of the policy, then they will start accruing unlawful status, which means that they could be subject to deportation or they could be subject to needing a waiver if they're eventually going to try to change their status," Garcia said.

Mitra said she is prepared to do so if necessary.

She said this isn't just about a change in immigration paperwork. It's about protecting a future she has been working toward since she left India.

"Try to get a job as much as we can. If not, my B plan is to get into a master's plan and get into probably more school debt," Mitra said.

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