Stricter visa rules could bar international students from returning to US

"The message is clear: These nonimmigrants cannot overstay their periods of admission or violate the terms of admission and stay illegally in the U.S. anymore," said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna, in a news release issued earlier this month.

The policy change is focused on F-1, J-1 and M-2 visa holders, who are primarily international students, scholars and their children. Starting Aug. 9, anyone who violates the terms of that status will automatically begin accruing what's called "unlawful presence." Prior to this policy change, unlawful presence only began to accrue after a ruling from an immigration judge or during a visa application review. 

Anyone who accrues between 180 and 365 days of unlawful presence can be barred from returning to the U.S. for three years after they leave. People who accrue more than one year could be barred from returning to the U.S. for a decade.

The problem with this policy change is that people don't always know when they've violated the terms of their visas, said Christie Popp, an immigration lawyer in Bloomington.

"There are lots of ways people can violate the rules," she said. "It's not all people who are intentionally overstaying."