Tourist & Student Visa Plan : Summer Work Travel Program
J1 Summer Work Travel Program visa
The J1 is a non-immigrant visa issued to a person participating in a United States Exchange Visitor Program, or EVP. The Summer Work Travel program is one of the 15 categories of the EVP.
The EVP is among the most diverse visas for going to the United States and is designed to enable non-Americans to travel within the United States and study or work there as a sponsored exchange visitor while immersing themselves in the local culture. The visionary EVP was created to foster greater understanding between the United States and other countries through educational and cultural exchanges. If you visit the US under the Summer Work Travel Program you will be expected to return to your home country before your next study semester begins.
Over 550,000 persons representing 200 countries and territories visited the United States under the aegis of the J1 Exchange Visitor Program every year before the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently California hosts the largest number of exchange visitors, followed by New York and Florida. Internationally, China, Great Britain and Germany are the top three countries from where J1 visa holders come.
The Summer Work Travel Program (SWTP) has been described as “a cornerstone of U.S. public diplomacy efforts for nearly 50 years”. Of the 8.3 million people who have received J-1 exchange visitor visas since 1987, more than 2.3 million have been students availing of the SWTP. In 2008, 152,726 students went to the US under this visa, the highest ever. Three years later, the State Department introduced a limit of 109,000, which also remains the current limit. The average in recent years has been about 105,000.
In 2020, the number plummeted to 4,952, a drop of 95%, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SWTP also has the unfortunate distinction of being a visa that received some highly negative publicity after reports of abuse and malpractice emerged. Although the State Department, which administers the EVP program, has stepped up its vigilance for preventing such abuse, this visa guide includes background information and certain basic precautions that you can take to ensure that your visit is enjoyable and productive.
How the SWTP became controversial
In 2011, the American Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a damning report titled Cheap Labor as Cultural Exchange: The $100 Million Work Travel Industry, based on five months of reporting by CIS senior research fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning former journalist Jerry Kammer.
The report exposed abuse and malpractice with the SWTP that had made it a multi-million-dollar international business focused on recruiting cheap labor from poor countries for American corporations looking for seasonal workers. Though the program had originally been conceived as an inter-cultural diplomatic initiative, it had turned into a scam, trapping students eager to visit the USA at any cost and putting them in jeopardy in minimum-wage jobs and poor work environments with little or no opportunity for cultural interaction.
The report criticized the SWTP for leaving program administration in the hands of the 55 or so approved sponsors, who in turn had outsourced the vetting and recruitment of students to third party agencies abroad. Meanwhile, the sponsors had discovered that bringing students to the US for summer break was immensely profitable. Students pay an average of about $1,100 in fees to their sponsor agencies, generating well over $100 million for them. Visa fees and travel expenses to and from the US account for many million dollars more.
More information on the CIS report and the report itself is available here.
What is the J1 Summer Work Travel Program visa?
With the J1 Summer Work Travel Program visa, students enrolled in college and university academic programs outside the US can visit the United States during their summer breaks to experience American culture and life while taking advantage of temporary work and travel opportunities. The SWTP visa is a great way for a student to spend a summer vacation immersed in the American way of life and work.
Like all programs in the EVP, this visa requires acceptance by an approved sponsor agency or company. It also requires a prior confirmation of employment with a US company. The sponsoring agency normally helps secure this.
With a J1 SWTP visa, you will work and earn at least a minimum-wage income working in an American organization while experiencing American culture and customs and making friends with Americans and also other program participants from all over the world.
Who is eligible for a J1 Summer Work Travel Program visa?
To be eligible for a J1 SWTP visa, you should —
- Be aged between 18 and 28;
- Be a student enrolled in and actively pursuing a degree or other full-time course of study at a college or university outside the United States.
- Have successfully completed at least one semester or equivalent of your college or university course of academic study.
- Be able to demonstrate sufficient funding to cover your travel and living expenses.
- Have a prior job placement in the United States, unless your country is part of the United States Visa Waiver Program. Typically, your sponsor will help you search for available jobs with approved employers and apply for them.
- Have sufficient English skills to be able to work and interact socially in an English speaking environment.
- Have no intention of changing your visa status while in the USA; and
- Agree to apply for the J-1 SWTP Visa in your home country.
What kind of jobs are you allowed to take with a JI SWTP visa?
Jobs must be of a seasonal nature and can include entry-level jobs such as cashiers, housekeepers, kitchen help, resort workers, casino workers, ski lift operators, lifeguards, sales help, and more. Acceptable types of host employers include hotels, resorts, casinos, ski resorts, national parks, amusement parks, retail stores, restaurants, and more.
Please be aware that in the past there have been controversies and complaints, as well as public protests by SWTP participants regarding the harsh conditions of employment where they claimed they were underpaid and overworked with no opportunities or time for experiencing American culture at all.
This situation may have improved since the publication of the report.
How long can you stay in the US with a J1 Summer Work Travel visa?
You can stay in the United States for a maximum of 4 months or the duration of your summer break, under the J1 SWTP. Students are required to return to their home countries before the start date of their colleges or universities of enrolment.
One of the attractive features of this visa is that a student may avail of it more than once as long as he or she meets the qualifying conditions.
How do you apply for a J1 Summer Work Travel visa?
1. Find an approved sponsor: The first step in applying for the J1 Summer Work Travel visa is finding a designated sponsor. To see a list of 38 designated and approved Summer Work Travel sponsor organizations, click here
2. Apply for the sponsor’s SWTP: After researching different sponsors, select one and apply to take part in their Summer Work Travel Program. Once you are accepted, the sponsor will start a thorough and extensive process that can last several months and require over a dozen documents. The sponsor will guide you through the application process and in meeting all the requirements and be your main single-point contact throughout your time in the United States.
3. Secure a summer job in the United States: The sponsoring agency will also help you secure summer employment with a pre-approved employer. Participants mostly work in unskilled service positions at resorts, hotels, restaurants, and amusement parks and so on. However, they may also work at other types of organizations, such as architectural firms, legal offices, scientific research organizations, advertising agencies, graphic art/publishing and other media communication businesses, and computer software and electronics firms.
4. Get a DS-2019 Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status: The actual application and selection process may vary from sponsor to sponsor but all of them include a Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status issued by the program sponsor, attesting that you are eligible and have been selected to participate. This certificate, known as Form DS-2019, is a document vital to your visa application.
5. Pay the program fees: This amount, payable to the sponsoring agency, is normally about $1,100 and covers program administration costs, health and travel insurance and the charges for entering your details in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database, which is normally about $220. The entire sum will be refunded to you if you should change your mind for any reason.
6. Apply for a J1 non-immigrant visa: This is a nonimmigrant visa application form that can be completed online here.
7. Book an interview appointment with the US consulate.
What documents are required for a J1 visa application?
The following is a minimum list of documents that you must carry to the interview.
- Passport: Valid for at least 6 months after the end date of your program.
- Proof of Student Status: A letter from your college or university confirming that you are enrolled in and actively pursuing a degree or a full-time course of study
- Job Offer: A completed Employment Offer on the prescribed form.
- Form DS-2019 (Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status). This will be issued by your program sponsor once you have been accepted into an exchange program.
- Form DS-160.
- Fee receipt for the payment of $160 for the visa application.
- Photograph. A complete description of the format requirements is here.
- Consulate appointment confirmation
- SEVIS fee payment confirmation. This is normally $220. The sponsor may require you to pay this or pay it themselves and share the confirmation document with you.
Please note that you may need to furnish other documents to the sponsor as part of their selection process. These requirements may vary from sponsor to sponsor and from country to country.
How much does a J1 Summer Work Travel visa cost?
There can be up to three parts to the fee for getting a J1 SWTP visa —
Program fees: This is a sum, usually about $1,100, that is paid to the sponsoring agency to cover program administration costs, health and travel insurance and the charges for entering your details in the SEVIS database.
Non-Immigrant Visa Application processing fee: This is currently US$ 160 but may be subject change. Check with the local US Embassy or Consulate for up-to-date fees.
Visa Issuance fee: In some countries, an additional Visa Issuance fee may be charged when the visa is issued. Check with the local US Embassy or Consulate for up-to-date fees.
Applying for a J1 SWTP visa is not an intense process but it may require patience and attention to detail. Once you have found a suitable sponsor and been accepted into the exchange program, you will receive all the guidance and support you need from your sponsor in securing your J1 SWTP visa.
Things to watch out for
To ensure that you are not scammed by a third-party recruitment agency and placed in a shoddy work environment, and to ensure that you truly get a cultural experience, be aware that according to the US law, you cannot be placed in any of the following jobs,
- Any position in the adult entertainment industry
- Sales positions that require you to invest your own money for purchasing inventory, such as door-to-door sales
- In domestic help positions in private homes (e.g., childcare, elder care, gardener, and chauffeur)
- As a pedicab or rolling chair driver or operator
- As an operator of vehicles or vessels that carry passengers for hire or for which commercial driver’s licenses are required
- In any position related to clinical care that involves patient contact
- In positions that are substantially commission-based and thus do not guarantee a minimum wage for your hours worked
Need more help?
If you still feel that you would like to have professional help in making your application or would like to consult a lawyer who specializes in immigration and visa matters, click here to see some of your options, including how to access our exclusive list of professional immigration lawyers.
If you have questions or would like clarifications, please us an email and we’ll do our best to get back to you within 24 hours with an answer.
The proclamation, which suspended entry into the United States of any alien with a J1 visa under a Summer Work Travel Program, among several others, became effective from June 24, 2020. The proclamation expired on March 31, 2021 and has been neither renewed nor replaced by the Biden administration. Visa applicants who were previously refused visas due to the restrictions of Presidential Proclamation 10052 are asked to reapply by submitting a new application including a new fee
Please check with your nearest US Embassy or Consulate for up-to-date information