US Tightens Visa Limits For Students And Foreign Journalists

The US President Donald Trump's administration took action on Thursday to strictly limit visa durations for international students, cultural exchange participants and foreign journalists, according to a Reuters report.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a final rule replacing the current open-ended duration of stay with fixed time limits. The new policy directly targets F visas for academic students, J visas for cultural exchange participants and I visas for media personnel.

This policy will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register. The move remains subject to congressional review before implementation. Trump began a broad crackdown on immigration after taking office in January 2025.

His administration rapidly intensified scrutiny of legal immigration channels. It previously revoked student visas and green cards held by university students based on their ideological views and stripped legal status from hundreds of thousands of migrants.

New Visa Limits

Student and exchange visa durations will face a strict maximum cap of four years under the updated regulations. Media visas, which currently can last for years, will face severe restrictions, limiting standard journalist stays to just 240 days.

The regulations single out Chinese nationals holding media visas, restricting their maximum stay to just 90 days. Individuals holding these visas must apply to the Department of Homeland Security for extensions to prolong their stay.

Alternatively, foreign nationals can seek readmission by travelling abroad and subsequently re-entering the country. China's foreign ministry strongly opposed the proposed media visa limits in August, labelling the policy discriminatory. The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Impact on Students

The new regulations strictly prohibit graduate students from altering their educational objectives at any point. Students cannot transfer to another academic institution without securing prior authorisation.

The rules also dramatically reduce the departure grace period, requiring students to leave the country within 30 days of completing their degree instead of the previous 60 days.

"Most Americans understand the value of welcoming international students and getting rid of needless red tape," Doug Rand, a former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official, said.

"This rule would do the opposite." David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, said the study and transfer restrictions lack any legal foundation.

"International students, many of whom will have spent years in the USA, will now have just 30 days to find an employer to sponsor them or immediately be turned into illegal immigrants. Have these people no understanding of how life works?" Bier added.

Rising Visitor Volumes

The Department of Homeland Security justified the restrictive measures by citing a significant rise in visitor numbers in the past year. The department recorded over 1.8 million student visa admissions in 2024. This figure marks an increase of more than 11% compared to the previous year.

The US government issued visas to more than 500,000 exchange visitors and 37,300 media personnel during the 2024 fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2023.

This rising volume "poses a challenge to DHS's ability to monitor and oversee these non-immigrants while they are in the United States," the department stated.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that it has multiple examples of students and exchange visitors remaining in the country for decades under their existing visa status.