The U.S. government announced on Thursday, July 16, that it will further tighten visa regulations for international students, cultural exchange visitors, and foreign journalists. Under the new rules, visas for Chinese journalists will be valid for no more than 90 days.
According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a final rule establishing fixed periods of authorized stay for international students holding F visas, cultural exchange visitors holding J visas, and foreign media representatives holding I visas.
Currently, these visa holders are generally permitted to remain in the United States for the duration of their academic programs or employment, without a fixed expiration date.
The new rule will take effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register, although it will remain subject to congressional review.
Students and exchange visitors limited to four years, journalists to 240 days
Under the new regulations, student and cultural exchange visas will be limited to a maximum stay of four years.
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Foreign journalists will be permitted to remain for up to 240 days, while Chinese citizens holding journalist visas will be limited to a maximum of 90 days.
Visa holders will still be able to apply to the U.S. government for extensions.
The new regulations also impose additional restrictions on international students.
Graduate students will not be permitted to change their “educational objectives” during their studies or transfer to another school without prior approval.
In addition, the grace period allowing international students to remain in the United States after completing their studies or training will be reduced from 60 days to 30 days.
Those wishing to remain in the United States must apply to the Department of Homeland Security for an extension or leave the country and re-enter to obtain a new period of lawful stay.
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Trump administration continues tightening immigration policies
President Donald Trump has continued to strengthen immigration enforcement and expand scrutiny of legal immigration since taking office.
The U.S. government has previously revoked student visas and green cards over the ideological positions of some university students and terminated the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
Analysts said the latest regulations will create additional obstacles for international students, cultural exchange visitors, and foreign journalists seeking to enter or remain in the United States.
According to Department of Homeland Security data, more than 1.8 million people entered the United States on student visas in 2024, an increase of more than 11 percent from the previous year.
During the 2024 fiscal year, the United States also issued visas to more than 500,000 cultural exchange visitors and 37,300 foreign media representatives.
The Department of Homeland Security said the continued growth in these nonimmigrant categories has created challenges for government oversight and administration.
The department also said it had identified numerous cases in which students and exchange visitors had remained in the United States on these visas for several decades.
