Trump faces fresh setback as judge blocks stricter foreign student visa rule

The rule would have ended the decades-old system under which many foreign students could remain in the country for the “duration of status” of their academic programme.Saylor ruled in favour of a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups that challenged the policy. He said DHS had adopted the rule based on “exceptionally weak” rationales, rejecting the agency’s arguments that the changes were necessary to combat visa fraud and strengthen national security.Under the rule, F visas for international students and J visas for cultural exchange visitors would have been capped at four years. I visas for foreign journalists, which can currently remain valid for years, would have been limited to 240 days.Students would also have faced tighter restrictions on changing programmes or transferring between universities. "The judge also warned that major research universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, could face hundreds of millions of dollars in costs and declining enrolment. "The damage to the higher education system and to the economy of the United States is likely to be catastrophic," Saylor wrote.

Source: Times of India September 15, 2026 03:54 UTC