The United States is aiming to shorten the duration of visas for foreign students and journalists, a government proposal showed Wednesday, as President Donald Trump further ramps up immigration enforcement across the country.
The Department of Homeland Security said it is seeking to tighten rules on F visas for international students, J visas for visitors allowed to participate in exchange programs and I visas for members of the media.
Under the plan, holders of the student and exchange visas would be restricted to a stay of up to four years, while journalist visas would not exceed 240 days, with Chinese nationals in the category limited to only 90 days on U.S. soil.
The department said the United States has for too long allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the country “virtually indefinitely,” asserting such a practice is “posing safety risks, costing untold amounts of taxpayer dollars and disadvantaging U.S. citizens.”
“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 U.S., easing the burden on the federal government to properly oversee foreign students and their history,” it said in a statement.
In the final months of Trump’s first term in 2020, the United States sought similar changes. But the initial proposal, which met strong opposition from higher education and many other institutions, was withdrawn the following year by the administration of then President Joe Biden.
The department said it will accept public comments on the latest proposal for 30 days. It remains unclear when the Trump administration wants to change the existing visa policy.
Holders of the student, exchange and journalist visas would be able to apply for extensions to their visa beyond the initial periods.
In addition to claiming the changes are necessary to improve public safety, the department said in the proposed rule that its ability to “monitor and oversee” temporary residents is facing a challenge due to an increase in the number of F, J and I visa holders.
The proposal said about 1.6 million F visa students were in the United States in 2024, up from 260,000 in the 1980-1981 school year.
Since the late 1970s, foreign students meeting F visa criteria have been admitted into the United States for an unspecified period of time, according to the department.
It said there were 523,000 J visa holders and 24,000 I visa holders living in the country last year.
In a related development, the U.S. State Department said last week that authorities were reviewing travel and other records of all the more than 55 million foreign nationals who hold valid visas, regardless of their nationality, for any possible deportable violations.
Since Trump’s second presidency began in January, an official said the United States has revoked more than twice as many visas as in the same period last year, including almost four times as many student visas.
