The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a major overhaul of its visa rules for international students, exchange visitors, and foreign journalists, replacing an arrangement that had allowed many to remain in the country indefinitely under their academic programme or employment status.
Published on July 16, 2026, the regulation scraps the long-standing “duration of status” system and imposes fixed admission periods on holders of F, J, and I visas.
It is scheduled to take effect 60 days later in September 2026, following a standard congressional review period.
This development comes as the President Donald Trump administration continues to tighten immigration policies following his return to office in January 2025.
The administration has already increased scrutiny of legal immigration by revoking student visas and green cards of some university students over their ideological views and ending the legal status of hundreds of thousands of migrants.
Under the proposed changes, F and J visa holders would be granted admission for no more than four years.
Foreign journalists on I visas, whose stays can currently last for years, would be limited to a maximum of 240 days.
Chinese journalists would face an even shorter limit of 90 days.
DHS said affected visa holders would still be able to apply for extensions.
The department said the changes were prompted by a sharp increase in the number of visa holders entering the United States.
According to DHS, there were more than 1.8 million student visa admissions in 2024, representing an 11% increase from the previous year.
During the 2024 fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2023, the US also issued visas to more than 500,000 exchange visitors and 37,300 members of the media.
Explaining the move, the department said the growing number of visitors “poses a challenge to DHS’ ability to monitor and oversee these non-immigrants while they are in the United States”.
DHS added that it has identified numerous cases of students and exchange visitors remaining in the country for decades under the existing rules.
Under the new regulation, anyone wishing to remain in the US beyond their approved period would have to apply for an extension through DHS or leave the country and seek readmission by re-entering the United States.
