United States President Donald Trump’s administration has announced sweeping changes to America’s visa system, introducing strict time limits for fore
United States President Donald Trump’s administration has announced sweeping changes to America’s visa system, introducing strict time limits for foreign students, exchange visitors and journalists in what officials describe as a major effort to strengthen immigration oversight and national security.
The new regulation, issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ends a decades-old policy that allowed many international students and exchange visitors to remain in the United States for as long as they maintained their academic or professional status.
Under the revised rules, most foreign students and exchange visitors will now be granted visas valid for a maximum of four years, while foreign journalists will be admitted for up to 240 days at a time. Chinese journalists will face an even shorter admission period of just 90 days.
Once the authorised period expires, affected visa holders will be required either to apply for an extension or leave the United States and seek a new visa before returning.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the regulation will take effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register, subject to congressional review. The timing means the policy could affect thousands of international students expected to begin university programmes in August and September this year.
The move represents the latest immigration measure introduced by President Trump since returning to the White House in January 2025, as his administration continues to tighten both legal and illegal immigration policies.
In explaining the decision, the Department of Homeland Security argued that previous administrations had allowed foreign students and other temporary visa holders to remain in the United States for excessively long periods without sufficient oversight.
“For too long, past administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely,” the Department said, arguing that such arrangements created security concerns, imposed costs on taxpayers and disadvantaged American citizens.
The Department said the new system would make it easier for immigration authorities to monitor compliance with visa conditions and identify individuals who overstay or continuously extend their stay.
According to DHS data, officials identified more than 2,100 individuals who initially entered the United States as students between 2000 and 2010 but were still maintaining student status as of April 2026 by enrolling in additional academic programmes, transferring institutions or repeatedly extending their programme dates.
Beyond imposing time limits, the new regulation also introduces tighter controls on students seeking to transfer between educational institutions or change academic programmes, particularly at graduate level.
Government figures show that the United States recorded more than 1.8 million student visa admissions during 2024, representing an increase of over 11 percent compared to the previous year.
During the same fiscal year, the country admitted more than 500,000 exchange visitors and approximately 37,300 foreign journalists.
The Department argued that the growing number of temporary visitors has placed increasing pressure on immigration authorities responsible for monitoring compliance with visa conditions.
The latest measures follow a series of immigration enforcement actions introduced under President Trump’s second administration.
In June this year, the U.S. Department of State disclosed that it had revoked more than 100,000 visas since President Trump returned to office, including approximately 8,000 student visas.
Many of those revocations reportedly involved international students linked to political activism.
The administration maintains that the new visa rules are intended to improve accountability, strengthen immigration enforcement and enhance national security.
However, the policy has drawn criticism from universities, immigration advocates and international education groups, who argue that the restrictions could discourage talented students, researchers and academics from choosing the United States for higher education and research.
Critics also warn that the requirement to frequently renew visas could increase financial costs, create uncertainty for long-term academic programmes and reduce America’s competitiveness as a global destination for education and scientific research.
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