Global news organizations warn the US against new I visa limits for foreign journalists, saying reduced stays threaten press freedom, weaken coverage of American politics, and damage US global credibility.
By Imran Malik, Courtesy: WAN-IFRA – September 11, 2025
Dozens of leading global news outlets and journalist organizations are calling on the United States to withdraw a controversial visa proposal that would dramatically reduce the time foreign correspondents can live and work in the country.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed cutting the I visa duration for international journalists from five years to just 240 days. Media organizations warn that the plan would destabilize reporting, limit coverage of U.S. politics and culture, and weaken Washington’s global standing.
A joint statement coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and supported by WAN-IFRA carried 116 signatories, including the BBC, Reuters, AFP, The Guardian, Associated Press, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“Restricting journalists to short-term visas risks reducing international coverage of America to shallow, fragmented stories,” the statement warned. “This would create an information vacuum that adversaries could easily exploit with disinformation.”
Press freedom advocates argue the current framework already ensures accountability, tying each visa to a specific journalist and employer. They caution that the proposed rule would disrupt families, block long-term reporting, and harm U.S. interests in projecting strength, openness, and leadership.
This is not the first time DHS has floated such changes. A nearly identical 2021 proposal was scrapped after global backlash. Advocates say the stakes in 2025 are even higher, with the U.S. heading into elections, the Olympic Games, and heightened geopolitical rivalries.
The statement concluded: “The U.S. has always stood as a beacon of openness and free press. To restrict foreign media access would emulate regimes where press freedom is under threat, damaging America’s credibility.”
The coalition reaffirmed its readiness to engage in dialogue with U.S. authorities but urged the administration to preserve the five-year I visa framework.
Here is the list of signatories:
- 3Cat (Catalan Public Service Media)
- Agence France Presse (AFP): Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director
- Alianza Informative Latinoamericana: Juan Carlos Isaza, Executive Director
- Altinget: Veslemoy Ostrem, Editor-in-Chief
- Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU): Abdelrahim Suleiman, Director General
- ARTE: Heike Hempel, President
- Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU): Ahmed Nadeem, Secretary-General
- Association of Commercial Television and VOD Services in Europe (ACT)
- Association of European Radios (AER)
- Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA (AFPC-USA)
- Association of Independent Regional Press Publishers of Ukraine: Oksana Brovko, CEO
- Association of Norwegian Editors: Reidun Kjelling Nybø, Secretary General
- Association of Public Broadcasters in Germany (ARD): Katja Wildermuth, Director General, Bayerischer Rundfunk
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): Justin Stevens, Director of News
- Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) Roland Weissmann, Director General
- Bloomberg News
- Bell Media: Richard Gray, Vice-President, CTV News
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC): Tim Davie, Director General
- Bulgarian National Television (BNT) Emil Koshlukov, Director General
- Bundesverband Digitalpublisher und Zeitungsverleger: Dr. Jörg Eggers, CEO
- Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ): Brent Jolly, President
- Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU)
- CBC/Radio-Canada: Brodie Fenlon, General Manager and Editor-in-Chief, CBC News; Luce Julien, General Manager, News andCurrent Affairs, Radio Canada
- Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
- Corporación Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE): José Pablo López Sánchez, President
- Czech Publishers Association: Tomáš Tkačík, Chairman
- Czech Radio: René Zavoral, Director General
- Czech Television: Hynek Chudárek, Director General
- Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR): Bjarne Fog Corydon, Director General
- DeutschlandradioL Hynek Chudárek, Director General
- Die Zeit: Giovanni di Lorenzo and Jochen Wegner, Editors-in-Chief
- DW (Deutsche Welle): Peter Limbourg, Director General
- Eesti Rahvusringhääling (Estonian Television): Erik Roose, Chairman and CEO
- Estonian Association of News Media Enterprises: Väino Koorberg, CEO
- European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA)
- European Broadcasting Union (EBU): Delphine Ernotte Cunci, President, and Noel Curran, Director General
- European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
- European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) Ricardo Gutierrez, General Secretary
- European Magazine Media Association (EMMA)
- European News Exchange (ENEX) Adrian Wells, Managing Director
- European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA)
- European Publishers Council (EPC): Angela Mills Wade, Executive Director
- Feature Story News: Simon Marks, President
- Foreign Press Association (FPA): Ian Williams, President
- France Médias Monde: Marie-Christine Saragosse, CEO
- France Télévisions: Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO
- Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB): Tina Berdzenishvili, Director General
- Global News: Sonia Verma, Editor-in-Chief
- Hungarian Publishers’ Association: Tibor Kovacs, President
- Index on Censorship Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO
- Inter American Press Association
- International Federation of Journalists (IFJ): Anthony Bellanger, General Secretary
- International Press Institute (IPI): Scott Griffen, Executive Director
- International Publishers Association (IPA)
- ITV: Laura Wilshaw, Editor, ITV News
- Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association (NSK): Shiro Nakamura, Chair
- Journalists for Human Rights: Rachel Pulfer, President
- JP/Politikens Hus: Stig Kirk Ørskov, CEO
- Korean Association of Newspapers: Chai Chung, Lim, President
- La Presse: Francois Cardinal, VP-Deputy Publisher
- La Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF): Jean Paul Philippot, Director General
- Latvian Publishers Association: Maris Ancs, Chair of the Board
- Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT): Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, Director General
- Luxembourg Association of News Media (ALMI): Paul Peckels, President
- Media For Europe (MFE)
- Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Dr. Felix Graf, CEO, and Simon Jakob, Senior Legal Counsel
- News Media Canada: Paul Deegan, President and CEO
- News Media Europe: Wout van Wijk, Editor-in-Chief
- North American Broadcasters Association (NABA): Rebecca Hanson, Director General
- Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK): Vibeke Furst Haugen, Director General, and Sigurd Falkenberg Mikkelsen, Editor of Foreign Affairs
- Norwegian Union of Journalists: Dag Idar Tryggestad, President
- NOS (Dutch Public Broadcaster for News): Renate Eringa, General Manager
- NPO (Dutch Public Broadcaster): Lucien Brouwer, Board of Directors
- Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM): Martha Ramos, Chief Editorial Officer
- Pacific Media Network (PMN): Don Mann, CEO, Pacific Media Network
- Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG): David Tamakloe, President
- Project Kontinuum Branko Brkic, Leader
- Public Media Alliance (PMA)
- Public Television Company of Armenia
- Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP): Nicolau Santos, President
- Radio France: Sibyle Veil, President and Director General
- Radio New Zealand (RNZ)
- Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI): Giampaolo Rossi, CEO
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: Bruce D. Brown, President
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF): Thibaut Bruttin, Director General
- Reuters
- Ringier Hungary: Tibor Kovacs, CEO
- Ringier Media: Dmitry Shishkin, Strategic Editorial Advisor
- Rory Peck Trust: Jon Williams, Executive Director
- RTCG: Boris Raonić, Director General
- RTÉ: Kevin Bakhurst, Director General
- RTV Slovenia: Natalija Gorščak, President of the Management Board
- RÚV: Stefán Eiríksson, Director General
- Sky News: Tim Singleton, Head of International News
- SRG SSR: Susanne Wille, Director General
- Star Media Group: Esther Ng, Chief Content Officer
- Süddeutsche Zeitung: Wolfgang Krach, CEO
- Suspilne Ukraine: Mykola Chernotytskyi, Head of the Managing Board
- Sveriges Radio / Swedish Radio: Cilla Benkö, Director General
- SVT (Swedish Television): Anne Lagercrantz, CEO
- The Associated Press (AP): Paul Haven, VP Head of Global News Gathering
- The Financial Times: Brooke Masters, US Managing Editor
- The Globe and Mail: Andrew Saunders, CEO and President
- The Guardian: Katharine Viner, Editor-in-Chief
- The Irish Times: Deirdre Veldon, Group Managing Director
- Tidningsutgivarna, Swedish Newspaper Publishers Association: Johan Taubert, CEO
- Ukrainian Media Business Association: Oleksii Pogorelov, President
- United Daily News: George K. Shuang, Managing Director
- Utbildningsradion (UR): Kalle Sandhammar, CEO
- VAUNET – German Association of Private Media
- Verlegerverband Schweizer Medien (Swiss Publishers Association): Andrea Masüger, President
- Vocento: Fernando Belzunce, Executive Editorial Director
- World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA): Ladina Heimgartner, President, and Vincent Peyregne, CEO
- World Editors Forum: David Walmsley, President
- Yleisradio Oy (YLE): Merja Ylä-Anttila, CEO
- ZDF Norbert Himmler, Director General
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