(Excerpts from Inside Higher Ed News)

• The Biden administration formally withdrew a rule proposed by the Trump administration that would have required international students to reapply for student visas after fixed terms of up to four years.
• The rule would have eliminated the long-standing “duration of status” policy, which allows international students to stay in the U.S. indefinitely without reapplying for a visa as long as they remain enrolled in college and otherwise in compliance with the requirements governing their visa status.
• The proposed rule, which was not finalized before former president Trump left office and was never enacted, also would have limited the initial visa term for some students to just two years based on their country of origin. Students from Africa and parts of Asia would have been disproportionately affected by the proposal to restrict students to a two-year initial visa term if they came from countries with high visa overstay rates.
• Higher education groups were alarmed by the plan to change the policy, which, they argued, would create uncertainty and confusion for students who would have to navigate a burdensome and costly new reapplication process in order to continue their studies in the U.S.
• Esther D. Brimmer, the executive director of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said in a written statement that NAFSA is pleased that the Biden administration withdrew the proposed rule. The association had submitted a comment last October urging withdrawal of the proposed rule, arguing it "would replace a proven, flexible policy that has served the nation, international students, and exchange visitors for decades with a policy that is duplicative, burdensome and creates uncertainty."