The Trump administration has proposed fixed visa terms for students, cultural exchange visitors, and foreign journalists, replacing open-ended stays with strict limits to increase oversight, reviving a measure first introduced in 2020.
The Trump administration has proposed new rules to restrict the duration of visas for international students, cultural exchange visitors, and foreign journalists, a move officials say is designed to tighten oversight and reduce misuse.
The proposed rule, announced Wednesday, would replace the current “duration of status” system – in place since 1978 – with fixed visa terms.
Currently, student (F visa) and exchange (J visa) holders are admitted for an open-ended period tied to their enrolment or program, allowing them to remain in the country indefinitely without fresh vetting.
Administration officials argue that this has enabled some to become “forever students”, perpetually extending their stays.
Under the new framework, student and exchange visas would be capped at four years, while foreign journalists (I visas) would be limited to 240 days, with options for extension. For Chinese nationals on journalist visas, the cap would be even stricter at 90 days.
Any visa holder seeking to remain beyond their initial term would need to apply for an extension with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), giving the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a greater opportunity for review.
“For too long, past administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the US virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amounts of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging US citizens,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“This new proposed rule would end that abuse once and for all by limiting the amount of time certain visa holders are allowed to remain in the US, easing the burden on the federal government to properly oversee foreign students and their history.”
According to government data, there were about 1.6 million F visa students in the US in 2024, along with 355,000 exchange visitors and 13,000 foreign journalists.
Officials argue that tighter controls are needed to ensure these groups are properly vetted. DHS says the fixed-term system would enhance monitoring through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), making oversight more effective.
The administration insists the change is necessary to “ease the burden” on federal agencies tasked with monitoring visa holders, but critics argue it risks discouraging international students and undermining America’s higher education system.
A similar proposal was floated in 2020 during Trump’s first term but was later scrapped by the Biden administration in 2021 following opposition from universities, international education groups, and business leaders.
The new plan adds to a string of Trump-era measures targeting even legal immigration programs. The administration has tightened scrutiny on student visas, revoked green cards on ideological grounds, stripped legal protections from hundreds of thousands of migrants, and recently ordered USCIS to resume neighbourhood checks on naturalisation applicants to verify residency and “commitment to American ideals.”
