Trump Limits Length of Visas for Students, Exchange Visitors, Journalists

• President Donald Trump’s administration has introduced fixed time limits on student, exchange and journalist visas.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has introduced new limits on the duration of visas for foreign students, exchange visitors and journalists, ending a decades-old system that allowed many to remain in the United States for as long as they stayed in school or on assignment.

Under a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule released on Thursday, international students and exchange visitors will generally be limited to four years, while foreign journalists will be admitted for up to 240 days per entry, or 90 days for Chinese nationals.

Anyone wishing to remain in the US beyond the approved period will have to apply for an extension or leave the country and seek readmission.

The regulation is set to take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, pending congressional review, and could affect admissions for college programmes beginning in August and September.

According to DHS, the changes are intended to strengthen oversight of non-immigrant visa holders.

“For too long, past Administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amount of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging U.S. citizens,” the department said.

DHS also stated:

“DHS has many examples of students and exchange visitors staying for decades in their student or exchange visitor status.”

The department said it identified more than 2,100 people who first entered the US as students between 2000 and 2010 and still held student status as of April 2026 by enrolling in new programmes, transferring schools or extending their studies.

The new rule also tightens restrictions on international students transferring schools or changing academic programmes, particularly at the graduate level.

According to DHS, the US recorded more than 1.8 million student visa admissions in 2024, an increase of over 11% from the previous year. It also admitted more than 500,000 exchange visitors and about 37,300 foreign journalists during the 2024 fiscal year.

The department added:

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

The policy is the latest step in Trump’s broader immigration crackdown since returning to office in January 2025. In June, the US State Department said it had revoked more than 100,000 visas, including 8,000 student visas, with many linked to political activism.