NEW DELHI: In a move toward reinstating tougher immigration controls, the Trump administration has revived a controversial proposal to impose strict time limits on visas for foreign students, cultural exchange visitors, and international media personnel. The proposed rule, originally floated in 2020 but withdrawn under President Biden, marks a return to the administration's broader effort to curb what it terms as systemic visa abuse and lax enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it intends to eliminate the long-standing "duration of status" policy, which has allowed F visa holders, primarily international students, to remain in the United States for the length of their academic programs without a fixed end date, so long as they maintained their course of study.
"This administration is committed to closing loopholes that have for too long allowed foreign nationals to remain in the country virtually indefinitely, at the expense of national security and taxpayer dollars," a DHS spokesperson said in a press statement. "The new rule would ensure tighter oversight of non-immigrant visa holders."
Under the revived rule, student (F) and exchange visitor (J) visas would be valid only for the standard length of the academic or cultural program, capped at four years, with extensions requiring a formal application to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and additional scrutiny. Media professionals holding I visas would also face new restrictions. Currently granted five-year stays with options for renewal, I visa holders would instead be subject to an initial 240-day limit, with a single extension of another 240 days contingent on assignment duration.
The administration argues that these changes will address what officials describe as abuses of the system, such as "forever students" who remain enrolled for years to extend their legal stay.
Accompanying the proposal is the newly issued policy guidance from USCIS, instructing officers to more aggressively scrutinise student visa applicants based on conduct, immigration history, familial ties, and ideological leanings. The manual warns that any expression of anti-American sentiment, antisemitism, or support for terrorist organisations could result in visa denial or revocation.
Visa officers are now explicitly encouraged to conduct a "discretionary analysis" that weighs both positive and negative factors in determining an applicant's eligibility—a shift that grants wide latitude to individual adjudicators and potentially opens the door to politically influenced decision-making.
USCIS has also reinitiated neighborhood visits for applicants pursuing US citizenship, aiming to verify moral character, residential legitimacy, and "commitment to American ideals."
The proposed regulation could affect hundreds of thousands of legal non-immigrants. As of fiscal year 2024, there were approximately 1.6 million F visa holders in the US, alongside 355,000 cultural exchange visitors and 13,000 foreign media professionals. The proposal is now open for a 30-day public comment period.
Education and press freedom advocacy groups are expected to mobilize quickly in opposition. NAFSA, a major international education organization that opposed the initial 2020 rule, has already signaled resistance, warning that the move will disrupt academic institutions and damage international goodwill.
The Biden administration withdrew the rule in 2021, arguing that existing enforcement mechanisms were sufficient and that fixed visa durations would impose burdens on both students and the federal system. The renewed proposal is part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration to increase scrutiny not only of illegal immigration, but also of legal immigrants and temporary visa holders.
