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The Trump administration has unveiled a proposed regulation to restrict the duration of visas for international students, cultural exchange visitors, and members of the media, marking the latest step in its sweeping immigration crackdown.
The plan, announced on Wednesday, would impose fixed time limits on three visa categories: F visas for international students, J visas for cultural exchange participants, and I visas for foreign journalists. Currently, these visas remain valid for the duration of the holder’s study programme, exchange work, or media assignment.
Under the new proposal, student and exchange visas would be capped at four years, while journalist visas would be limited to 240 days—reduced further to 90 days for Chinese nationals. Holders would be required to apply for extensions if they wished to remain in the United States beyond those periods.
The administration argued that the change is necessary to strengthen oversight of visa holders.
The proposal said the rule would help “monitor and oversee” those entering under temporary programmes.
According to US government data, there were about 1.6 million international students on F visas in 2024. In the same fiscal year, roughly 355,000 exchange visitors and 13,000 foreign journalists were granted J and I visas respectively.
China has strongly criticised the move, particularly the shorter limits for Chinese reporters. Its foreign ministry denounced what it called “discriminatory practices adopted by the US against specific countries.”
The measure, which will be open to public comment for 30 days, revives a similar proposal first introduced in 2020 during Donald Trump’s first term but later withdrawn in 2021 by the Biden administration. At the time, NAFSA, a global association of international educators, opposed the plan, warning it would discourage cross-cultural exchange and weaken US universities’ global competitiveness.
The proposal follows a broader tightening of US immigration rules under Trump. His administration has already revoked student visas and green cards for some foreign nationals over ideological concerns, while also stripping legal status from hundreds of thousands of migrants. Earlier this month, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would resume neighbourhood visits to citizenship applicants to assess residency, moral character, and commitment to “American ideals.”
If adopted, the visa limits would significantly reshape the landscape for international education, journalism, and cultural exchange in the United States, potentially heightening tensions with foreign governments while testing the appeal of US institutions for global talent.
Melissa Enoch
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