The Trump administration has suggested new rules that would cap the length of visas for foreign students, cultural exchange visitors, and journalists, marking the latest step in a sweeping attempt to crack down on legal immigration.
For the foreign students and cultural exchange participants, F visas and J visas would be limited to four years under the proposal. While I visas for journalists, previously extended for several years, would be reduced to 240 days, there would be an added limit of 90 days for passport holders from mainland China and Hong Kong. Renewals would be allowed, but applicants would need to reapply actively in order to remain in the country.
The government contends the reforms are needed to more closely track visa holders and help avoid non-compliance with US law.
About 1.6 million foreign students maintained F visas in 2024, in addition to about 355,000 exchange visitors and 13,000 journalists. Critics say the new regulations may interfere with education, cultural events, and journalism in the US.
NAFSA, an international non-profit association of international educators at over 4,300 institutions, opposed an equivalent proposal in 2020, which President Joe Biden withdrew in 2021. The association has urged the Trump administration to drop the new policy, claiming that it would unfairly burden students, employees, and reporters, and harm US worldwide influence in education and media.
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The suggested visa caps are one component of a broader bid by the Trump administration to increase control over legal immigration. The recent policies have involved rescinding visas and green cards on the basis of ideological beliefs and resuming long-abandoned neighborhood checks to ensure residency, moral character, and devotion to American values of citizenship applicants.
Public comment will be accepted for 30 days after the announcement. Many analysts observe that these rules may redefine the US's position as a place of international talent, especially in higher education, research, and journalism.
The action is part of the administration's overall vision of more stringent immigration control, aimed at preserving what it terms security, compliance, and "American ideals." But critics caution that it has the potential to push away students and reporters who are crucial to the nation's cultural and intellectual landscape.
