The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has changed the rules for issuing visas to foreign journalists, students, and people arriving under exchange programs, limiting their stay in the country to a fixed term. This is stated in a notice from the agency published in the Federal Register (the compilation of official documents of the U.S. government).

According to the document, the American authorities believe that the change in the rules will provide them with “additional protection and greater oversight,” and will also “allow closer monitoring of whether holders of these nonimmigrant visas maintain their status during the period of temporary stay in the United States.”

Foreign journalists, students, and people arriving under exchange programs receive visas in the I, F, and J categories, respectively. Under the previous rules, these documents allowed them to remain in the United States as long as the purposes and conditions of their arrival in the country were being met, for example, as long as a person continued to work for a foreign media outlet or study at an American university. Until now, such visas in most cases did not have a fixed validity period.

Under the new rule, foreign journalists will be able to enter the United States for work for no more than 240 days, and then extend that period if necessary. For Chinese citizens, the mentioned period is proposed to be limited to 90 days. Foreign students and people coming under exchange programs will be able to stay in the country for the duration of their studies or the exchange program, but no more than four years.