The US Embassy in Dublin is advising qualified students who are interested in applying for the J-1 Summer Work Travel (SWT ) or Camp Counselor Programme 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 US Embassy and Department of State have worked with the Summer Work and Travel US 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 US 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 programme in Ireland, and ensures that students can start working as soon as they arrive in the United States.
It is recommended 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 organisations that recruit most of the J-1 participants from Ireland can be found at https://ie.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/j1/ .
The State Department, including the US Embassy in Dublin, is fully committed to the success of the J-1 programme in Ireland. It works with Irish Government representatives and US and Irish programme sponsors and agencies to ensure that Irish students continue to have the opportunity to fully benefit from the J-1 programme.
The J-1 programme in Ireland is more than 50 years old, with in excess of 160,000 past Irish participants in total, and plays an extremely important role in advancing people-to-people relations between the two countries.
For more information visit https://ie.usembassy.gov.
