Programs

Internship

Internship programs are designed to allow foreign College and University students or recent graduates to come to the United States to gain exposure to U.S. culture and to receive hands-on experience in U.S. business practices in their chosen occupational field of which they have studied.

Objectives

Students who are currently enrolled in and pursuing studies at a degree level at a University or College outside of the United States.
Students who have recently graduated from a University or College no more than 24 months prior to their exchange visitor program start date.

Internships are offered in the following occupational categories:

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
Arts and Culture
Construction and Building Trades
Education, Social Sciences, Library Science, Counseling and Social Services
Health Related Occupations
Hospitality and Tourism
Information Media and Communications
Management, Business, Commerce and Finance
Public Administration and Law
The Sciences, Engineering, Architecture, Mathematics and Industrial Occupations

Benefits of Internship

The experience gained by a participant on the program bridges the gap between formal education and practical work experience.

Limitations/Exceptions for Internship Work Environment

Interns cannot work in unskilled or casual labor positions, in positions that require or involve childcare or elder care or in any kind of position that involves medical patient care or contact. Also, interns cannot work in positions that require more than 20 percent clerical or office support work.

Summer Work Travel

The Summer Work Travel program is specifically for University/College students’ enrolled full time and pursuing studies at an accredited tertiary level academic institution located outside of the United States. This program is designed for these students to come to the United States to work and travel during their summer vacation.

Summer Work Travel Students Must Be:

Sufficiently proficient in English to successfully interact in an English speaking environment.
A tertiary level student enrolled in and actively pursuing a degree or other full-time course of study at an accredited tertiary level academic institution outside of the United States.
Successful in completion of at least one semester or equivalent of tertiary level academic study.

Benefits of Summer Work Travel

The Summer Work Travel program provides foreign students with an opportunity to live and work in the United States during their summer vacation from College or University to experience and to be exposed to the people and way of life in the United States.

Readmittance, Program Length, and Returning Home
Readmittance: Participants can be admitted to the program more than once.
Program Length: The maximum length of the program is four months.
Returning Home: Students must return to their home country prior to the start date of their University or College.

Program Exclusions

Participants cannot be placed:

Sponsors must not place participants:

In positions that could bring notoriety or disrepute to the Exchange Visitor Program;
In sales positions that require participants to purchase inventory that they must sell in order to support themselves;
In domestic help positions in private homes (e.g., child care, elder care, gardener, chauffeur);
As pedicab or rolling chair drivers or operators;
As operators or drivers of vehicles or vessels for which drivers’ licenses are required regardless of whether they carry passengers or not;
In positions related to clinical care that involves patient contact;
In any position in the adult entertainment industry (including, but not limited to jobs with escort services, adult book/video stores, and strip clubs);
In positions requiring work hours that fall predominantly between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am;
In positions declared hazardous to youth by the Secretary of Labor at Subpart E of 29 CFR part 570;
In positions that require sustained physical contact with other people and/or adherence to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Universal Blood and Body Fluid Precautions guidelines (e.g., body piercing, tattooing, massage, manicure);
In positions that are substantially commission-based and thus do not guarantee that participants will be paid minimum wage in accordance with federal and state standards;
In positions involved in gaming and gambling that include direct participation in wagering and/or betting;
In positions in chemical pest control, warehousing, catalogue/online order distribution centers;
In positions with traveling fairs or itinerant concessionaires;
In jobs that do not allow participants to work alongside U.S. citizens and interact regularly with U.S. citizens and to experience U.S. culture during the workday portion of their Summer Work Travel programs;
With employers that fill non-seasonal or non-temporary job openings with exchange visitors with staggered vacation schedules;
In positions that require licensing;
In positions for which there is another specific J visa category (e.g., Camp Counselor, Trainee, Intern);

In positions with staffing agencies, unless the placements meet the following three criteria:

Participants must be employees of and paid by the staffing agencies
Staffing agencies must provide full-time, primary, on-site supervision of the participants
Staffing agencies must effectively control the work sites, e.g., have hands-on management responsibility for the participants
After November 1, 2012, in positions in the North American Industry Classification System’s (NAICS) Goods-Producing Industries occupational categories industry sectors 11, 21, 23, 31-33 numbers (set forth at http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag_index_naics.htm

Sponsors must also:

Use extra caution when placing students in positions at employers in lines of business that are frequently associated with trafficking persons (e.g., modeling agencies, housekeeping, janitorial services);
Consider the availability of suitable, affordable housing (e.g., that meets local codes and ordinances) and reliable, affordable, and convenient transportation to and from work when making job placements;
Actively and immediately assist participants with arranging appropriate housing and transportation, if employers do not provide or arrange housing and/or transportation, or if participants decline employer-provided housing or transportation;

Confirm at the beginning of each placement season:

The number of job placements available with host employers
That host employers will not displace domestic U.S. workers at worksites where they will place program participants
That host employers have not experienced layoffs in the past 120 days and do not have workers on lockout or on strike

Sponsors may place participants only in jobs that:

Are seasonal or temporary;
Provide opportunities for regular communication and interaction with U.S. citizens and allow participants to experience U.S. culture.

Camp Counselor

Through the Camp Counselor program, foreign tertiary level education students, youth workers engage with American youth at U.S. summer camps.

Camp Counselors must be

Sufficiently proficient in the English language to supervise and interact with American youth.
A foreign tertiary level education student, youth worker, teacher or individual with specialized skills.
At least 18 years of age.

Benefits

Housing and meals are provided free of charge at the camps.
Participants receive pay and benefits commensurate with those offered to their American counterparts at the camps.

Expectations of Camp Counselors

Camp Counselors will occasionally have to:
Perform non-counseling duties as part of camp life, but do not serve as “staff”
Must not act as office works, cooks or menial laborers such as dishwashers or janitors.