Trump Tightens Visa Rules, Foreign Students and Journalists Face Uncertainty
The administration of United States President Donald Trump is once again tightening immigration policy. The country is changing the rules on the validity period of visas for foreign students, cultural exchange programme participants, and foreign journalists by limiting the duration of their stay in the US and tightening various requirements.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule on Thursday (17/7/2026) establishing fixed validity periods for F student visas, J cultural exchange visas, and I journalist visas. Previously, these visas remained valid as long as the holder was still participating in an educational programme, cultural exchange, or working as a journalist in the US. The new rule will take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, pending a review process by Congress.
This step is part of the strict immigration policy pursued by Trump since returning to office in January 2025. Since then, the Trump administration has increased scrutiny of legal immigration pathways, including revoking student visas and green cards of university students for their ideological views and cancelling the legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Under the new rule, student and exchange programme participant visas will only be valid for a maximum of four years. Meanwhile, visas for foreign journalists, which previously could be valid for years, are now limited to a maximum of 240 days. For Chinese nationals, the validity period for journalist visas has been shortened even further to just 90 days. However, the US government stated that visa holders can still apply for an extension of stay.
Last August, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its opposition to the planned visa restrictions for Chinese journalists, deeming them discriminatory.
In addition to limiting visa validity periods, the DHS is also implementing several new rules for international students. Postgraduate students are no longer permitted to change their ‘educational objective’ during their studies or transfer universities without obtaining official permission. The US government has also reduced the time given to students to leave the US after completing their studies or training. Previously, graduates had 60 days before being required to depart; this deadline has now been shortened to just 30 days.
Former DHS official Doug Rand criticised the policy. ‘Most Americans understand the importance of welcoming international students and eliminating unnecessary red tape. This rule does the exact opposite,’ he said.
David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, questioned the legal basis of the policy, arguing there is no clear legal foundation for restricting campus transfers or changes in study objectives. ‘International students, many of whom have spent years in the United States, now have only 30 days to find a company willing to sponsor them or immediately fall into illegal immigrant status. Do these people have no understanding whatsoever of how life works?’ he said.
In its explanation, DHS stated the rule change was made because the number of student and exchange visitor visa holders continues to increase significantly. The department recorded more than 1.8 million student visa admissions throughout 2024, an increase of over 11% compared to the previous year. Additionally, the US issued visas for more than 500,000 exchange programme participants and 37,300 foreign journalists in fiscal year 2024, which began on 1 October 2023. DHS said the surge in visa holders presents challenges for the government in conducting oversight. ‘The significant increase in the number of these visitors poses challenges to DHS’s ability to monitor and oversee these non-immigrants while they are in the United States,’ the department wrote. DHS also stated it has numerous examples of students and exchange programme participants who have remained in the US for decades using these visas. Going forward, any visa holder wishing to remain in the US after their visa expires will be required to apply for an extension with DHS or leave the country first before re-entering with a new permit.