Under the 2020 plan, most visas would expire after four years, even if the student needed more time to complete a degree; students born in several dozen countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa would be limited to two-year terms. Last year, more than 1.1 million students were in the U.S. on F visas, one of the categories that would have been affected by the proposed rule.
President Biden withdraws proposed rule that would have attached fixed time limits to certain student visas. Department of Homeland Security withdraws rule change proposed under Trump, citing widespread opposition. This is in continuation to the Biden administration’s push to reverse a range of immigration-related policies instituted by the Trump administration.
In September, the Trump administration proposed adding a fixed end-date to student visas when they are issued, which would have been a departure from the earlier practice of allowing the visas to remain valid as long as the international student is enrolled in school.
The Department of Homeland Security detailed its withdrawal of the proposal in the Federal Register on Tuesday.
Under the 2020 plan, most visas would expire after four years, even if the student needed more time to complete a degree; students born in several dozen countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa would be limited to two-year terms. Last year, more than 1.1 million students were in the U.S. on F visas, one of the categories that would have been affected by the proposed rule.
The Department of Homeland Security detailed its withdrawal of the proposal in the Federal Register on Tuesday. The agency said it received roughly 32,000 comments in the month after the rule was recommended, and more than 99% of those expressed opposition to the plan.
The commenters said the proposed rule was discriminatory and would put an unnecessary and costly burden on students and others affected by the time limits.
