US May Cap Stay for Foreign Students at Four Years Under Trump Proposal

The Trump administration has revived a controversial proposal to limit the stay of foreign students and media personnel in the United States, ending the decades-old “duration of status” system. Since 1978, F visa holders, primarily international students, have been admitted for an unspecified time, allowing them to remain in the country as long as they maintained academic enrolment. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now argues that this leniency has been misused, with some individuals remaining in the US indefinitely as “forever students,” which, according to officials, poses national security and financial risks.

Under the proposed rule, foreign students and exchange visitors would only be permitted to stay for the length of their academic programme, capped at four years. Any extension beyond that would require approval from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), ensuring periodic reviews. Similarly, foreign journalists working in the US under the I visa category, which currently allows a five-year stay, would face an initial 240-day admission, with possible extensions of equal duration depending on assignment length.

This proposal was first introduced by former President Donald Trump in 2020 but was rolled back by the Biden administration in 2021. Now, amid escalating trade tensions with India—exacerbated by Trump’s newly imposed 50% tariff on Indian imports of Russian oil—the administration is pushing for stricter immigration and trade measures. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also hinted at upcoming reforms to the H-1B visa programme and the Green Card process, labelling the current systems “terrible.”

If finalised, the policy could significantly impact Indian students, who make up one of the largest groups of international scholars in the US, as well as Indian professionals in media and technology sectors.