• Proposed regulation caps student, exchange visas at four years max.
• Media visas may shrink to 240 days or 90 days for Chinese nationals.
• About 1.6 million foreign students are currently in the US on F visas.

The Trump administration aims to tighten the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors and members of the media, according to a proposed government regulation issued on Wednesday, part of a broader crackdown on legal immigration.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after taking office in January. 

The latest move would create new hurdles for international students, exchange workers and foreign journalists who would have to apply to extend their stay in the US rather than maintain a more flexible legal status.

The proposed regulation would create a fixed time period for F visas for international students, J visas that allow visitors on cultural exchange programs to work in the US, and I visas for members of the media. 

Those visas are currently available for the duration of the program or US-based employment.

There were about 1.6 million international students on F visas in the US in 2024, according to US government data. 

The US granted visas to about 355,000 exchange visitors and 13,000 members of the media in fiscal year 2024, which began on October 1, 2023.

The student and exchange visa periods would be no longer than four years, the proposed regulation said. The visa for journalists – which currently can last years – would be up to 240 days or, in the case of Chinese nationals, 90 days. The visa holders could apply for extensions, the proposal said.

The Trump administration said in the proposed regulation that the change was needed to better “monitor and oversee” the visa holders while they were in the United States.

The public will have 30 days to comment on the measure, which mirrors a proposal put forward in 2020 at the end of Trump’s first term in office.

NAFSA, a non-profit organisation representing international educators at more than 4,300 institutions worldwide, opposed the 2020 proposal and called on the Trump administration to scrap it. 

The Democratic administration of then-President Joe Biden withdrew it in 2021.

The Trump administration has increased scrutiny of legal immigration, revoking student visas and green cards of university students over their ideological views and stripping legal status from hundreds of thousands of migrants.

In an August 22 memo, US Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would resume long-dormant visits to citizenship applicants’ neighbourhoods to check what it termed residency, moral character and commitment to American ideals.

Meghan Markle is branded confused for trying to hold onto her Royal status.

The Duchess of Sussex, who is currently toy enjoying the success of her lifestyle show titled ‘With Love, Meghan,’ is accused of using her Royal ties to gain fame.

Royal author Ingrid Seward tells The Sun: “What she’s trying to do, I feel, is divorce herself from who she is for this particular show, and yet at the same time, she’s using who she is, because otherwise no one would be remotely interested in watching it, and Netflix wouldn’t have made it. She’s trying to have it both ways… and she can’t.”

This comes as Meghan admitted the importance of her presence on social media.

Meghan told Bloomberg Originals: “And I’m really intentional in using it as a platform to share joy and to have fun as well. So I get to play and explore – I play in public.”

“I waffle with some of my choices before I make them,” Meghan continued. “I’m generally very decisive, but social media is a great barometer for me, because putting out a video of myself, nine months pregnant, was a really big choice.

YouTube TV subscribers could be set to lose access to content from media company Fox, including college football, unless the sides strike a new carriage deal.

With the current agreement between the sides nearing a renewal deadline, YouTube TV could pull Fox sports, business and news channels from its platform by 5 p.m. EST on Wednesday. 

In a blog post, Google-owned YouTube said Fox was “asking for payments that are far higher than what partners with comparable content offerings receive.” The company added that it hoped to reach a deal that’s “fair for both sides” without “passing on additional costs to our subscribers.”

If Fox content becomes unavailable on YouTube TV “for an extended period of time,” YouTube also noted it would provide members with a $10 credit. YouTube TV’s base plan, which currently boasts access to over 100 live channels, costs $82.99 a month.

A spokesperson for Google did not have any additional comments when reached Wednesday by The Associated Press.

Fox said Wednesday that it was “disappointed that Google continually exploits its outsized influence by proposing terms that are out of step with the marketplace.” The broadcast giant added that it remained committed to reaching an agreement, but was alerting viewers that they could potentially lose access to Fox programming on YouTube TV “unless Google engages in a meaningful way soon.”

Fox directed subscribers to keepfox.com — a site noting that, in addition to Fox Sports, Business and News, YouTube TV may no longer carry FS1 and the Big Ten Network, which is majority-owned by Fox, if a deal isn’t reached.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has also chimed in on the dispute, urging Google to “get a deal done” in a social media post on Tuesday.

“Google removing Fox channels from YouTube TV would be a terrible outcome,” Carr wrote on X. “Millions of Americans are relying on YouTube to resolve this dispute so they can keep watching the news and sports they want — including this week’s Big Game: Texas @ Ohio State.”

Contractual disputes over carriage fees — the money that streaming, cable and satellite TV providers pay for platforms to carry their content — are common between TV networks and carriers like YouTube. Negotiations often go down to the wire and sometimes lead carriers to remove a broadcaster from their lineup if the sides fail to reach agreement. Channels are typically restored once a new carriage deal is struck. 

In February, for example, YouTube TV clashed with Paramount Global over the terms of carrying the entertainment and media company’s content (Paramount Skydance owns CBS News.) The companies reached a deal in February. 

YouTube TV is the largest streaming provider as measured by total time watched, according to Nielsen.