The Trump administration plans to shorten the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors, and media personnel, reports Reuters according to a proposed regulation released on Wednesday.
This move is part of a broader effort to restrict legal immigration.
Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has launched a wide-ranging immigration crackdown. The new proposal would require international students, exchange visitors, and foreign journalists to apply for extensions to stay in the US, instead of benefiting from a more flexible visa duration.
The regulation would set fixed time limits for F visas (for international students), J visas (for cultural exchange visitors), and I visas (for media members).
Currently, these visas are valid for the length of the program or employment in the US.
According to data from the US government, in 2024, about 1.6 million international students held F visas in the US. Approximately 355,000 exchange visitors and 13,000 media personnel received visas during the 2024 fiscal year, starting 1 October 2023.
Under the proposal, student and exchange visitor visas would be limited to a maximum of four years.
Media visas would be capped at 240 days, or 90 days for Chinese nationals. Visa holders would be able to apply for extensions.
The Trump administration stated that the changes are aimed at improving the ability to "monitor and oversee" visa holders while they are in the US.
The public will have 30 days to submit comments on the proposal, which is similar to one introduced in 2020 near the end of Trump's first term. NAFSA, a non-profit representing international educators at over 4,300 institutions, opposed the 2020 proposal and urged its withdrawal. President Joe Biden's Democratic administration rescinded it in 2021.
The Trump administration has also tightened legal immigration by revoking student visas and green cards based on ideological beliefs and removing legal status from hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Additionally, a memo from US Citizenship and Immigration Services dated August 22 stated that it would resume previously inactive visits to the neighbourhoods of citizenship applicants to verify residency, moral character, and commitment to American values.
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