In a move that could deal yet another blow to international students in the US, the Donald Trump administration has proposed a rule that can limit the amount of time that foreign students can remain in the country without being subjected to additional screening.The draft rule, proposed this week by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has been made public for comments.Current policyInternational students in the US are largely on an F-1 visa.Holders of F (academic student visa) and J (exchange visitor visa; used for educational exchange programmes) category visas are admitted to the US for an unspecified period known as the “duration of status”. This means that their records don’t set a specific date up to which they can stay in the country.Rather, students can remain in the US for as long as they maintain their student status. If they need more time to complete a program, they can request school officials to extend the duration of their stay. Universities can postpone the end date of students’ programs by updating their records.After this end date, F category visa-holders have up to 60 days to leave the US. They can extend their stay by maintaining their student status, either by transferring to another school or going for another level of study.Proposed ruleStory continues below this adThe DHS has now sought to limit the time that student visa holders can stay in the US to a maximum of four years, or the duration of their course, whichever is shorter. To extend their stay beyond this period, student visa holders will have to apply directly to the DHS for an extension of stay (EOS).Moreover, the proposed rule gives F category visa holders only 30 days to leave the US after the end date of their program, half of the current 60 days. It also prohibits students on F-1 visas at the graduate level (master’s degree) from changing their programs at any point during the course of study and seeks to prevent students from transferring to another school or “changing their educational objectives” unless they have completed the first academic year of a program of study.The proposed rule says that an F-1 visa holder who has completed a program can only pursue another programme at a higher educational level. It justifies this on the grounds that students change to lower educational levels like language training programmes to remain in the US for “lengthy periods” on F-1 status.The DHS claims that the proposed rule will curb “visa abuse” by requiring regular vetting of a visa-holder wanting to remain in the US for a longer period of time.Story continues below this adThe proposed rule states that the “duration of stay” framework posed a challenge to the ability of the DHS to “efficiently monitor and oversee these nonimmigrants” to assess whether they are complying with the terms and conditions of their status “and whether they present national security concerns.”Also Read | Explained: The H-1B visa debate in the USIt also states that “these nonimmigrants are not required to have direct interaction with DHS, except for limited instances,” while applying for employment authorisation or reinstatement if they fail to maintain status. DHS has “many examples” of students and exchange visitors “staying for decades” in their student status, the draft rule claims.Since “duration of status” framework was first introduced in 1978 for F category visa holders, and in 1985 for J and I category holders, the number of these nonimmigrants admitted to the US has increased — 1.6 million admissions in the F status in 2023, compared to around 260,000 admissions in 1980-81, the DHS said.Bigger pictureStory continues below this adApart from F and J category visa holders, the proposed rule will affect those of the I category (representatives of foreign media). It proposes to set the initial admission period for foreign media representatives to 240 days, with an extension period of up to 240 days, but no longer than the length of their assignment. I category visa admissions are currently also for“duration of status”.Also Read | Fund cuts, visa scrutiny: What is happening in US varsities, how Indian students are affected“This proposed rule was first proposed under President Trump in 2020 but was withdrawn by the Biden Administration in 2021 much to the detriment of U.S. citizens and taxpayers,” the DHS said.From increased screening and social media vetting to student visa terminations, the Trump administration has dealt a heavy blow to international students this year.Story continues below this adGoing by Open Doors data for 2023-24, there were around 11.27 lakh international students in the US, comprising around 6% of the total enrolment in higher education institutions. With 3.31 lakh people from India studying in the US, Indians constitute the largest cohort of international students in the country.