Trump cracks down on international student work visas

President Donald Trump's administration has issued a memo for universities that seeks to restrict issuance of certain internship work authorisations for international students as the federal government warned that colleges not complying with the regulations may lose certification to enroll foreign students.

The federal memo dated August 24 said the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which is part of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, has "observed a rise in Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorisations that appear to violate regulatory requirements which permit CPT only where the training is an integral part of an established curriculum."

"Failure to comply with SEVP regulations may result in an institution losing certification to enroll foreign students," the memo said.

It resulted in some schools, including the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley, pausing certain applications for work authorisations for international students.

"UCLA has paused certain Curricular Practical Training authorisations while it reviews recent federal guidance and determines next steps," a UCLA spokesperson said.

UC Berkeley's international office said the August 24 memo was "more narrow in focus, more direct, and includes content that is more restrictive in nature." The federal government had also issued an earlier memo in mid-August.

UC Berkeley's international office said it is unlikely that it will process certain work authorization applications "in the near future" and urged those international students to plan accordingly.

It said it will continue processing "degree-requirement" CPT as normal and would resume processing "Doctoral Dissertation and Master's Thesis Research CPT." The office said it would consult legal experts to develop new processes aligning with new federal requirements.