- Proposed regulatory student, four -year exchange visas max.
- Media visas can shrink at 240 days or 90 days for Chinese nationals.
- About 1.6 million foreign students are currently in the United States on F visa.
The Trump administration aims to strengthen the duration of visas for students, visitors to cultural exchange and media members, according to a government regulations published on Wednesday, part of a broader repression of legal immigration.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, launched a large -scale immigration repression after taking office in January.
The latest decision would create new obstacles for international students, exchange workers and foreign journalists who should apply to extend their stay in the United States rather than maintaining a more flexible legal status.
The proposed regulations would create a fixed period of time for F Visas for international students, J visa which allow visitors to cultural exchange programs to work in the United States, and I visas for media members.
These visas are currently available for the duration of the American program or employment.
There were about 1.6 million international students on F visa in the United States in 2024, according to US government data.
The United States has granted visas to around 355,000 exchange visitors and 13,000 media members during the year 2024, which began on October 1, 2023.
The student and exchange visa periods would not exceed four years, according to the proposed regulations. The visa for journalists – which can currently last years – would be up to 240 days or, in the case of Chinese nationals, 90 days. Visas holders could request extensions, according to the proposal.
The Trump administration said in the proposed regulations that the change was necessary to better “monitor and supervise” visa holders while they were in the United States.
The public will have 30 days to comment on the measure, which reflects a proposal presented in 2020 at the end of Trump’s first term.
NAFSA, a non -profit organization representing international educators in more than 4,300 establishments around the world, opposed the 2020 proposal and called on the Trump administration to remove it.
The Democratic Administration of the President of the time, Joe Biden, withdrew it in 2021.
The Trump administration has increased legal immigration, revoining student visas and green cards for university students on their ideological opinions and stripping the legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants.
In a memo of August 22, the citizenship and immigration services of the United States said that it would resume long-term visits to the districts of citizenship candidates to verify what it called residence, moral nature and commitment to American ideals.
