Trump's fresh visa move: US may scrap ‘duration of status’ for international students; what does it mean?

What does it mean for international students?

Currently, international students are admitted under “duration of status”, allowing them to remain in the US as long as they maintain their full-time student status in approved programmes.

Rajiv S. Khanna, managing attorney at Immigration.com, told TOI the proposed change would require students to apply for visa extensions periodically, creating “unnecessary delays, financial burden and uncertainty”.

A similar move proposed under Trump’s previous term was not finalised.

According to TOI, the rule will be published in the Federal Register after OMB review, with a typical 30- or 60-day public comment window.

However, experts fear it could be issued as an interim final rule, taking immediate effect without public input.

Mitch Wexler, Senior Counsel at Fragomen, told TOI the proposed rule could also alter the accrual of unlawful presence, triggering three- or ten-year reentry bars if students overstay their authorised period.

Tightening visa norms under Trump

The development comes days after the United States asked applicants for F, M, or J non-immigrant visa to share their social media usernames or handles of each platform they have used in the last five years.

The US Embassy in India cautioned against "omitting" social media information as it could lead to "visa denial and ineligibility for future visas".

"Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit," the US Embassy posted the statement on X.

The communication continued, "Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas."

At the weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked to respond to the statement of the US authorities.

"Visa matters, immigration matters are matters which pertain to sovereign functions of any country, but having said that we have seen the guidelines issued by the US side, the US Embassy here, the US government, regarding providing details of social media identifiers, in visa applications," he said.

Jaiswal continued, "But, it is our belief that all visa applications of Indian nationals should be treated on the basis of merit. And, we remain engaged with the US side on all mobility issues and consular issues to ensure that the legitimate interests of Indian nationals are safeguarded."

F or M category is for student visas and J category for exchange visitor visa.