The Trump administration moved on Thursday to tighten the duration of visas for foreign students, cultural exchange visitors and journalists.

The new final rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) creates a fixed time period for F visas for international students, J visas that allow visitors on cultural exchange programs to work in the US, and I visas for members of the media.

Those visas are currently available for the duration of the program or employment in the US. The effective date is 60 days from publication in the Federal Register, subject to congressional review.

US President Donald Trump, a Republican, kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office in January 2025. His administration has increased scrutiny of legal immigration, revoking student visas and green cards of university students over their ideological views and stripping legal status from hundreds of thousands of migrants.

The latest action would create new hurdles for international students, exchange workers and foreign journalists. Under the new regulations, the student and exchange visa periods would be no longer than four years.

The visa for journalists — which currently can last years — would be up to 240 days or, in the case of Chinese nationals, 90 days. The visa holders could apply for extensions, it said.

In August, China’s foreign ministry opposed the proposed new rule for Chinese journalists as being discriminatory. The Chinese Embassy did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.

Student stipulations

The regulations prohibit graduate students from changing their “educational objectives” at any point or from transferring to another school without authorisation. They halve the amount of time students have to leave the United States after completing their degree or training from 60 to 30 days.

“Most Americans understand the value of welcoming international students and getting rid of needless red tape,” said Doug Rand, a former DHS official. “This rule would do the opposite.”

David J Bier, immigration studies director at the Cato Institute, said there was no legal basis for the study and transfer restrictions in the new regulations.

“International students, many of whom will have spent years in the USA, will now have just 30 days to find an employer to sponsor them or immediately be turned into illegal immigrants. Have these people no understanding of how life works?” he asked.

The department cited a dramatic rise in such visas in the posting. It said there were more than 1.8 million student visa admissions in 2024, a more than 11 per cent increase over the previous year.

The US granted visas to more than 500,000 exchange visitors and 37,300 members of the media in fiscal year 2024, which began on October 1, 2023, it said.

The significant increase in the volume of such visitors “poses a challenge to DHS’s ability to monitor and oversee these non-immigrants while they are in the United States”, DHS said.

The department said it has many examples of students and exchange visitors staying for decades on their visas.

Visa holders who want to stay in the United States beyond their fixed period of admission will need to apply to DHS for an extension or gain readmission by travelling abroad and then re-entering the United States, DHS said.