The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule on 16 July 2026 that eliminates the decades-old “duration of status” framework for foreign students, exchange visitors and journalists, replacing it with fixed admission periods. Under the regulation, F-1 and J-1 visa holders will be admitted for the length of their academic or exchange programme up to a maximum of four years, while I-visa journalists will be limited to 240 days per entry, with Chinese nationals restricted to 90 days. The rule is scheduled to take effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register, subject to a congressional review that is expected to be a formality given Republican majorities in both chambers.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin justified the change by arguing that the previous open-ended system, in place since the late 1970s, had “compromised national security” and allowed thousands of foreign nationals to remain indefinitely as “forever students” by perpetually enrolling in courses. The department cited a sharp increase in visa admissions — more than 1.8 million student entries in fiscal year 2024, an 11 per cent rise on the previous year — and claimed the volume of arrivals had undermined its ability to monitor visa holders. The final text was adopted largely unchanged despite nearly 22,000 public comments submitted after the proposal was unveiled in August 2025.

Higher education associations in the United States, including NAFSA: Association of International Educators and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, denounced the rule as a “misguided and unnecessary policy shift” that injects uncertainty and bureaucracy into a system that had functioned effectively. They warn that the fixed four-year cap, combined with a reduction of the post-completion grace period from 60 to 30 days and new restrictions on changing academic programmes or transferring institutions, will deter talented international students, particularly those in doctoral and medical programmes that routinely exceed four years. Universities have already reported declining international enrolments following earlier Trump administration measures, including the revocation of thousands of student visas and the suspension of billions of dollars in federal research funding. Press freedom organisations, including Reporters Without Borders, described the journalist visa limits as a “direct violation” of press freedom, arguing that the relentless cycle of renewals will make it extremely difficult for international media to operate in the United States and could chill critical reporting. The Chinese foreign ministry had previously labelled the proposed 90-day cap for its nationals as discriminatory.

The rule forms part of a broader immigration enforcement drive that President Donald Trump has pursued since returning to office in January 2025, encompassing mass deportation operations, the termination of legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants, and the revocation of visas and green cards over ideological grounds. A similar attempt to end duration of status was launched during Trump’s first term but was withdrawn by the Biden administration in 2021. The regulation is expected to be published in the Federal Register in the coming days, with an effective date in mid-September 2026, barring an unlikely congressional veto.