U.S. Slashes Visa Time Limits for Foreign Students, Chinese Journalists

(Washington) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that a new regulation shortening the permitted stays for international students and foreign media representatives will take effect Sept. 15.

The rule targets foreign nationals holding F visas for students, J visas for exchange scholars and I visas for foreign media representatives. It eliminates the decades-old duration-of-status framework, which allowed these individuals to remain in the U.S. indefinitely as long as their academic programs or employment continued.