The U.S. Embassy in Dublin advises students who are interested in applying for the J-1 Summer Work Travel (SWT) or Camp Counselor program in 2018 to be proactive and begin the application process as soon as possible.
Because of the popularity of the program among Irish students, the U.S. Embassy and Department of State have worked with the Summer Work & Travel U.S. sponsor agencies to secure an additional 2,600 J-1 Summer Work Travel slots, which means there will be the same number available as were allocated to Ireland last year.
For 2018, Ireland has approximately 7,000 total J-1 SWT slots allocated.
The global job pre-placement policy, introduced in Ireland in 2016 by two major U.S. sponsors for Irish students, requires prospective Irish J-1 SWT participants to secure a job prior to visa issuance and travel to the United States.
This policy has been a great improvement to the J-1 SWT program in Ireland, and ensures that students can start working as soon as they arrive in the United States.
The Embassy recommends that both SWT and Camp Counselor prospects begin to research their options early and select a J-1 Irish Partner Agency which will best suit their needs.
A list of organizations that recruit most of the J-1 participants from Ireland can be found at: https://ie.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/j1/
A spokesperson for the US Embassy says: “The State Department, including the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, is fully committed to the success of the J-1 program in Ireland.
“We work with Irish government representatives and U.S. and Irish program sponsors and agencies to ensure that Irish students continue to have the opportunity to fully benefit from the J-1 Exchange Program.
“The J-1 program in Ireland is more than 50 years old, with over 160,000 past Irish participants in total, and plays an extremely important role in advancing people-to-people relations between our two countries.”
The 1-year Graduate Visa is still “under review” however.
For more information please visit the U.S. Embassy’s website at https://ie.usembassy.gov
