U.S. Mulls Time Limit on Student Visas; Indian Students Likely to Face Major Impact
It appears that U.S. President Donald Trump is making decisions out of anger. Especially with regard to India, his attitude has been of this nature. Trump is now getting ready to throw another bomb on students studying in the United States. He is taking decisions quickly in this direction. If this comes into effect, it is estimated that around three and a half lakh Indian students currently studying in America could be severely affected. Already, several new regulations have been introduced under the name of vetting students’ social media accounts. Now, Trump is about to bring a new time limit related to the duration of stay for students going to study in America. New proposals have been brought in imposing a time limit on visas issued to students on student visas, exchange visitors, and media representatives. According to this, preparations are being made to ensure that students cannot stay in the United States beyond four years.
As per the current rules, they had the flexibility to stay and study there for as long as needed and also participate in internship programs. Along with students on F1 visas, even exchange visitors on J1 visas had flexibility with regard to time limits. If Trump’s new proposed regulations come into effect, these will no longer exist. That is why the Department of Homeland Security has prepared the ground to bring changes in this flexible visa policy. As part of this, now a time limit is going to be imposed on visas not only for student visas but also for those coming under exchange programs. According to the changes being made, from now on foreign students going to America will be permitted to stay for a maximum of four years. For F1 students, if they wish to change visas after completing their studies, the grace period has been reduced from sixty days to thirty days. Public opinion will be sought on these draft proposals, and then they will be notified. On the other hand, there are reports that even without all this, there is also a possibility of issuing an executive order to bring them into immediate effect.
