Trump administration moves to tighten duration of visas for students and media

The Trump administration aims to tighten the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors and members of the media, according to a proposed government regulation issued on Wednesday, part of a broader crackdown on legal immigration.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office in January. The latest move would create new hurdles for international students, exchange workers and foreign journalists who would have to apply to extend their stay in the US rather than maintain a more flexible legal status.

The proposed regulation would create 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 US-based employment.

There were about 1.6 million international students on F visas in the US in 2024, according to US government data.

The US granted visas to about 355,000 exchange visitors and 13,000 members of the media in fiscal year 2024, which began on October 1, 2023.

The Trump administration said in the proposed regulation that the change was needed to better "monitor and oversee" the visa holders while they were in the US.

The public will have 30 days to comment on the measure, which mirrors a proposal put forward in 2020 at the end of Trump's first term in office.