US President Donald Trump is making a second attempt to cut the terms of student visas. In his first term, in 2020, he and the US Department of Homeland Security have already tried to change the current flexible visa extension system: then they proposed to limit the maximum validity of the F-1 visa to four years, and to issue it to citizens of certain countries only for 2 years. Today, the new administration of the President of the United States began similar conversations.
Foreign students in America can now safely study and intern for the entire required academic period, they can move from one academic level to another without additional bureaucracy, if they comply with all the rules of stay in the country. But Trump's initiative may force students to reapply for visas even within the same course of study if it lasts longer than four years.
In this case, additional permission will also be required for professional internships.
Last time, the initiative almost reached final approval and adoption, but after the change of presidents, the new composition of the Department of Homeland Security under Joe Biden rejected the project in 2021. Today's attempt to change the current rules for migrant students is less radical: it is presented as a proposal for discussion, rather than a final decision by the president. The text of the draft is not yet in the public domain, but it should appear in order to further promote the initiative (although experts suggest that the 2025 version is not much different from the 2020 version). Now the old-new idea is again being considered in the Ministry.
