The US Department of Homeland Security released a proposed government regulation on Wednesday (August 27th), planning to shorten the fixed visa duration for students on F visas, cultural exchange visiting scholars on J visas, and media personnel on I visas. This is part of the Trump administration’s further efforts to enhance immigration scrutiny.
The proposed regulation stipulates that the validity period of F visas for international students and J visas for visiting scholars shall not exceed four years. The maximum validity period for I visas for foreign journalists will be 240 days, with Chinese journalists being granted a stay of up to 90 days. The proposal states that visa holders can apply for extensions.
In the past, the validity period for these visas was typically tied to the duration of the program or the period of work within the US.
This proposed measure could introduce new obstacles for international students, visiting scholars, and foreign journalists, as it implies that they would have to apply for extensions to stay in the US rather than retaining a more flexible legal status.
According to US government data, in 2024, there were approximately 1.6 million international students holding F visas in the US. Starting from the 2024 fiscal year (beginning on October 1, 2023), the US had issued visas to about 355,000 exchange visiting scholars and 13,000 media personnel.
The Trump administration stated in the proposed regulation that this reform aims to better “supervise and regulate” the behavior of visa holders during their stay in the US.
The regulation also cites various instances of visa holders in the aforementioned categories violating the law while in the US and posing threats to US security.
The public will have 30 days to comment on this regulation.
Reuters reported that the proposed measure closely resembles a proposal put forward by Trump at the end of his first term in 2020.
The non-profit organization NAFSA: Association of International Educators opposes this proposal from the Trump administration. The Democratic government led by President Joe Biden withdrew the proposal in 2021. NAFSA represents international education professionals from over 4,300 institutions globally.