US visa shake-up: No more ‘duration of status’; plans fixed stay limits for foreign college students, exchange visitors

Department of homeland safety (X@dhsgov)

The United States division of homeland safety (DHS) has proposed new rules to get rid of the present “duration of status” framework for sure nonimmigrant classes and substitute it with fixed admission durations, ANI reported.The adjustments would apply to educational college students (F), exchange visitors (J), and representatives of foreign media (I), in response to a discover of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) printed by US immigration and customs enforcement (ICE).The DHS mentioned that the present system – which allows these visa holders to stay within the US indefinitely so long as they adjust to the phrases of their standing – doesn’t present immigration officers with “enough predetermined opportunities to directly verify that aliens are engaging only in authorised activities.”If carried out, the proposed rule would require these nonimmigrants to use for an extension of stay (EOS) with DHS in the event that they want to stay within the US past their accredited admission date.The proposed adjustments comply with rising issues about visa oversight and nationwide safety, with DHS citing a excessive quantity of admissions: over 1.6 million F-1 college students, more than 500,000 J visa holders, and over 32,000 I visa holders in 2023 alone.

Key proposed adjustments embrace:

According to the NPRM, “greater oversight would deter fraud and abuse and strengthen the integrity of these nonimmigrant classifications.”The DHS mentioned these adjustments would align these visa classes with different nonimmigrant classifications that already function underneath fixed admission durations and permit officers to “periodically and directly assess whether nonimmigrants are complying with the conditions of their classifications and US immigration laws.”