PAA and APC writing to express concerns regarding a proposed rule recently issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), “Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media.”
The proposed rule would make sweeping, and we believe, unnecessary changes to the current methods of “duration of status” student visas by instituting a maximum period of admission of two to four years for individuals granted F and J visas, and 240 days for individuals granted I visas. The two-year limit would be imposed on individuals born in countries designated as state-sponsors of terrorism and citizens of countries with student and exchange visitor overstay rates over 10 percent.