US to Limit International Student Stay to Maximum Four Years

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced it will tighten restrictions on international students and exchange visitors by limiting their authorised period of stay to a maximum of four years, unless an extension is approved by the federal government.

“Non-immigrant students (F visa) and exchange visitors (J visa) will be admitted for the duration of their specific programme, not to exceed a maximum period of four years,” the department stated in a release on its website on Thursday (16/7).

According to the statement, the final rule “formally eliminates the ‘duration of status’ loophole” that allowed foreign students, exchange visitors, and others to remain in the US indefinitely and “without routine government oversight”. The Duration of Status provision permitted foreign nationals to stay in the US as long as they were actively pursuing the purpose of their visa, rather than setting a fixed date by which they must leave the country.

“For nearly half a century, the outdated duration of status system has jeopardised national security and created a fertile environment for immigration fraud,” said US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, accusing thousands of foreign students of abusing the US immigration system.

In a statement, Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA, a US-based association of international educators, described the DHS decision as “a misguided and unnecessary policy change that injects uncertainty, bureaucracy, and fear into a system that has long worked effectively.” She added, “It signals to the world’s best students and scholars that the United States’ welcome, predictability, and commitment have diminished.”