US Court Halts Stricter Visa Duration Limits for Foreign Students and Journalists.
A US federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the implementation of a Trump administration policy that sought to introduce tighter limits on how long foreign students and journalists could study or work in the United States.
The preliminary injunction, issued by District Judge Dennis Saylor, came just one day before the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new visa regulations were due to take effect.
Under the proposed rules, foreign nationals holding student visas would be permitted to stay in the US for a maximum period of four years. Those needing additional time to complete their studies would then be required to apply for an extension.
Previously, international students were generally permitted to remain in the country for the duration of their academic programmes, rather than being subject to a fixed maximum period.
Under the proposed rules, foreign journalists would be allowed to remain in the United States for a maximum of 240 days, or roughly eight months. They could, however, apply for extensions granting them additional stays of a similar duration.
Until now, foreign journalists could remain in the United States for up to five years. Under the proposed changes, Chinese journalists would face even tighter restrictions, with stays limited to 90 days at a time and the option to apply for extensions of another 90 days.
Pushback against visa restrictions
The proposed visa restrictions have faced opposition from groups representing the education and media sectors. A coalition of unions representing universities, educators and journalists filed a lawsuit challenging the new rules, seeking to prevent the tighter limits from taking effect.
Saylor temporarily halted the implementation of the new DHS rules without making a final determination on the merits of the case. He scheduled a further hearing for October 2.
In an accompanying memorandum, however, the judge raised concerns about the proposed restrictions on international students and foreign journalists.
Saylor noted that the existing visa system has enabled tens of millions of international students to study in the United States, contributing to major advances in science, medicine and technology, while also supporting economic growth and delivering other benefits.
He questioned the decision to replace the existing framework rather than improve it, arguing that the proposed DHS system could significantly reduce the number of foreign students, researchers, professors and journalists allowed to remain in the country.
Saylor also raised concerns about how visa-extension decisions would be handled under the proposed rules, noting that DHS would have broad discretion to reject applications, with affected individuals having no avenue to appeal.
The judge warned that immigration officials, working with what he described as limited and unclear criteria, could effectively bring an international student’s academic programme or a foreign researcher’s or professor’s work to an early end without providing meaningful recourse.
Similar concerns would apply to foreign journalists seeking extensions. Saylor said reporters whose applications were rejected would have no formal mechanism to challenge the decision.
He further warned that such broad discretionary powers could potentially be misused, particularly against foreign journalists whose reporting is critical of the US government or DHS officials, raising concerns about fairness and press freedom.
‘Absurd’
DHS had justified the proposed visa restrictions on national security grounds. Saylor, however, strongly questioned that reasoning, describing the argument as bordering on “absurd” and saying it relied largely on only a handful of individual cases.
The proposed changes form part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, which includes stepped-up enforcement operations in major US cities as well as tighter restrictions affecting legal immigration and pathways to citizenship.
The United States remains the world’s leading destination for international students. More than 1.1 million foreign students studied in the country during the 2023-24 academic year, according to official figures.
