The Trump administration announced new measures on Thursday to significantly shorten the duration of visas for foreign students, cultural exchange visitors, and journalists, according to a government notice.
The Department of Homeland Security’s new final rule establishes fixed time periods for F visas for international students, J visas for cultural exchange program participants working in the U.S., and I visas for media professionals.
These visas currently allow stays for the entire duration of a program or U.S.-based employment.
Under the new regulation, student and exchange visa periods will be capped at four years.
Journalists’ visas, which can currently last for years, will be limited to 240 days, or 90 days for Chinese nationals.
Visa holders will retain the option to apply for extensions.
The changes will take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, pending congressional review.
This latest action, part of a wide-ranging immigration crackdown initiated by President Donald Trump in January 2025, will create new obstacles for international students, exchange workers, and foreign journalists.
The administration has intensified its scrutiny of legal immigration, including revoking student visas and green cards based on ideological views and stripping legal status from hundreds of thousands of migrants.
The department justified the changes by citing a “dramatic rise” in these visa categories.
It reported over 1.8 million student visa admissions in 2024, an 11% increase from the previous year.
Additionally, the U.S. issued visas to more than 500,000 exchange visitors and 37,300 media members in fiscal year 2024, which commenced on October 1, 2023.
DHS stated that the substantial increase in visitors “poses a challenge to DHS’s ability to monitor and oversee these nonimmigrants while they are in the United States,” the agency noting numerous instances of individuals remaining for decades on their visas.
Those wishing to extend their stay beyond the fixed period must apply to DHS for an extension or re-enter the U.S. after traveling abroad.
