It is not without hard work and determination that students get through college and go on to find a job. For most students, the deadline to find that job is infinite, however foreign graduates are given a much more limited deadline. Up until this past year, foreign graduates were given only 29 months to file an application for a visa.

Students were given 12 months to apply for a 17-month extension. This only allowed them to apply once, making the chances of getting accepted very slim. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services received 233,000 applications for the visa in 2015. Now, by extending the deadline to three years, graduates have a larger opportunity to apply, be denied and apply again.

“If my work visa gets denied this year, I still have two more opportunities to apply, and I can keep working within the country,” said Shruthi Aramandla, a New York University foreign graduate, in an interview for The New York Times.

The extension of the 2008 rule, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Optional Practical Training Program, will be taken into effect on May 10. The rule is seen as less of an extension of employment, but rather an extension of training. It, for the first time, requires the employers of the foreign graduates to allow for formal training opportunities.

“It’s not just regular employment. You see this with the institution of this new training plan, which emphasizes that the student and employer have to sit down together to say how are we going to use this job, how are they going to take the skills they learned in school and apply it to a work environment”, said Rachel Canty, the deputy director of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program at the United States Department of Homeland Security.

There is one common concern amongst critics and supporters of the new rule. American citizens are concerned that their jobs are being replaced by foreign graduates. In response, the rule makes sure that does not happen. However, some still speculate.

“The new rule is an ongoing assault on American workers. They are just trying to double down on what they’re doing before,” said John Miano, Washington Alliance of Technology Workers union lawyer. “OK, you didn’t like 29 months? We’ll make it 36 months.”

Miano, the lawyer who originally pushed for the reform of the previous rule, is still sceptical of the law. He is calling for an appeal in May, arguing the legality of the new rule. The hearing will take place in Washington, DC at the United States Court of Appeals.

The new rule was published on a public forum. More than 50,000 people commented on the forum, ranging from supporting international students to opposing American workers. Most of the opposers brought up the issue of foreigners taking Americans jobs.

“Here we go again, shoveling jobs out of reach for American workers and providing a leg up for foreigners,” said one commenter.

But the new rule has still received mostly positive feedback in the face of some retaliation, mainly because of the opportunities it allows for foreign graduates. Supporters of the new rule find that it opens up an opportunity for these graduates that they would not be able to find in their native countries.

Aramandla, for example, hopes she will be able to permanently stay in New York, since the opportunities in India are fewer. Foreign companies also do not respect their workers as much as American companies, according to Aramandla.

“These young people spend their youth to help build this country. They at the very least deserve a work visa,” said Allan Zhang, CEO of a Silicon Valley-based startup. “If they have to constantly worry about their visa status, how can they focus on the important things?”