J-Visa for the USA!

Gyladene

I never knew there were so many fees associated with getting to the US, though I guess with the way the system is, I shouldn't be surprised. I just applied for my work visa for Ireland (as I said earlier, I'm doing the same thing as you all, only I'm on the opposite end - America to Ireland). I applied directly to the Irish Embassy and the fee was $365. However, I did have to show adequate proof of funds, return ticket and all that jazz.

I'm glad everything is up and running! I figured we'd get something not too long after the new year.

partypiper

Ok lets cut to the chase i'm not eligble to get this visa i''m out of college over 4 years now with a degree.

What course could i sign up for now that would satisfy the 3rd level aspect of this visa and that will finish up quickly enough to get me over to the states this time next year.

Basically i need to be in the states for January 2010 to hook up with a gang i know goin out there.

Some of you guys must be thinkin the same thing i am basically what micky mouse course cert/diploma/plc/night course could be eligble and will basically finish up pretty quickly i.e 6-9months there must be some out there

silja

It only seems to say "3rd level", not specify what type of course, so maybe a post-grad diploma would be elligible? But even those are usually a year long and start in September so that would still take you till May 2010 or so. You could look into doing one of those and only doing the first semester (ie Christmas 2009), defering the second semester until you get home after your US trip. Or maybe an online college (Open University or similar) would satisfy the requirements? Probably best to ring the embassy and ask.

PeakOutput

was the whole point of the new visa so that people who didnt go to third level could go?

i remember reading that all you needed to apply for the new jvisa was a leaving cert

can anyone with more than 10 posts vouch for pan atlantic and their information?

partypiper

yeah tryin to find some quick 6-9 month course that would satisfy the requiemrnet

Corholio

Just a quick update. I emailed SAYIT about this visa and they replied back and said they were going to have absolutely nothing to do with it and wont be processing through them.

Dont know if this goes for USIT as well or what.

seanby

thought i'd share the results of an extensive trawl through the internets about this j visa:

1. our government's website is useless and the US embassy's is a mess of bureaucratic jargon with very little solid info.

2. pan atlantic, mentioned earlier by people who seem to work for pan atlantic, are not offering the 12 month work/travel visa that was announced in september.
they're offering another variation of the j1 (which was already around) for people looking to train in a specific field.

3. the only place i've found that is offering the 12 month work/travel visa is the Irish Immigration Centre in Boston.
I haven't spoken to them yet, but at the moment they may be the only approved sponsor in the US - although that's only happened in the last couple of weeks, so i reckon more will follow soon enough.

hope that helps clear the air a little.

SWalsh21

FYI seanby, the expanded j1 visa is called the intern work and travel visa as can be found on the us embassy website through this link http://dublin.usembassy.gov/general/twelve-month-intern-work-and-travel-pilot-program.html

You will see that it states that it became effective on the 31st Oct and was previously announced in September. If you click into the designated sponsor list there are hundreds of american sponsor companies.

I have contacted the embassy myself and they confirmed this is the new 1 year visa. I am currently in the process of completing my application with Pan Atlantic and find them very helpful and efficient.

PS I DO NOT WORK FOR PAN ATLANTIC!!! Just trying to inform others who are anxious about obtaining this visa!

Also if you read a previous post of mine showing the email I received from Pan Atlantic you will see that they do 3 different types of visas including the new 1 year visa.

Hope THAT helps clear the air a little! :cool:

gunsofbrixton

Yeah Panatlantic do do it by the looks of things but the

Irish Emigration Center has to be the first port of call for anyone looking for this Visa, they are non-profit organisation if i remember correctly and from my own experience in the states they are a great organisation and just looking at the fees they are charging compred to Pan-Atlantic its a no brainer really

To be honest as well Pan-Atlantic appear to be all over this thread look at the last two pages if i had euro for every time Pan-atlantic was mentioned i'd have millions well maybe 20 quid so they seem to be shilling for buisness

clarebearstare

Hi everyone

Yeah the Boston centre is the way to go...if you go on the Dept Foreign Affairs website they are the recommended parties to process it with. I'm going to get my application up and running with them tomorrow morning!

On the Sayit thing though I find that interesting as I spent ten minutes on the phone to one of their reps yesterday who gave me loads of accurate information on the requirements for the visa and said they hope to have it up and running next week. She even spoke to her manager about it while I was on the phone.

Pan Atlantic seem really expensive compared to the Boston set up by the way!

SWalsh21

Hey,

Just looked at that Irish Immigration Centre in Boston's website. They mention that you will need to get health insurance when you are in America thefore as far as I can see, health insurance is not included in their fees whereas health insurance is actually included in Pan Atlantic's fee.

Just something people should consider!

AARRRGH

I'm seriously considering applying for this. Can anyone help me with the following questions?

1. I finished my masters last year (in the summer.) I know you have to go within 12 months of graduation, so would that be last summer or after my actual graduation ceremony last October?
2. I'm 30, and will be 31 in April. Is there an age limit?
3. According the the Irish Immigration Centre FAQ, you only have 30 days (upon arrival) to find a job. What happens if you can't find a job?!

Thanks!

PS I'm talking about the new visa, not the old J1 visa.

Arcee

AARRRGH wrote: »

I'm seriously considering applying for this. Can anyone help me with the following questions?

1. I finished my masters last year (in the summer.) I know you have to go within 12 months of graduation, so would that be last summer or after my actual graduation ceremony last October?
2. I'm 30, and will be 31 in April. Is there an age limit?
3. According the the Irish Immigration Centre FAQ, you only have 30 days (upon arrival) to find a job. What happens if you can't find a job?!

Thanks!

PS I'm talking about the new visa, not the old J1 visa.

I'm in a similar situation to you. As far as I can tell the 12 months is from the date of graduation so that would be October in your case. I sent a mail to IIC with a few questions (including one about age limit) so I'll post here if they get back to me and let you know what information they provide. I'm very seriously considering this visa and after watching this thread closely and doing a bit more research, IIC looks like the sensible option.

Initially I checked the USIT site but they just have an area for you to send them your details for them to get in touch with you when they have the program details sorted. I signed up ages and ages ago and haven't heard anything back so far. To be honest, my suspicion is that once it becomes easily available through the standard channels (like USIT), the number of applications will be huge, leading to delays in processing etc. My plan would be to apply with IIC before it all kicks off. I've also asked the IIC if there's a limit on the number of visas available each year.

AARRRGH

Thanks for the reply. I e-mailed IIC as well. Here is my e-mail and their reply:

Thanks for you interest in the new J1 program. To answer your questions:

You will be eligible 12 months from October since that would be the date on your degree.
There is no age limit.
We are recommending the 30 day limit as a realistic time limit in which people would be able to support themselves before finding a job. We will probably be able to be flexible with people who have more resources.

What is your degree in? There is some question at this point about whether the job a person gets needs to be related to their field of study.

Peggy


On Wed, 4 Feb 2009 16:28:00 -0000
AARRRGH wrote:
> Hi Peggy
>
> I am considering applying for the new J-1 visa (the one launched at
>the end of 2008) for Irish people who want to spend up to 12 months
>working in the US.
>
> I have three questions if you don't mind:
>
> 1. I finished my masters degree last June, but
>graduated (i.e. attended the official graduation ceremony) in October.
>Does this mean the graduation date is June or October?
>
> 2. I am 30, and will be 31 in April. Is there an age limit?
>
> 3. I have read that you must find a job within 30
>days of arrival in the US. What happens if I can't find a job within 30 days?
> Note I have quite a bit of savings, so I could easily survive without work for a few months.
>
> Thank you for your assistance.

partypiper

anyone have any luck with maybe coming up with a course that could be done fairly quickly 6months perhaps that could qualify or would an open university do the job

Myapocalypse

AARRRGH wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I e-mailed IIC as well.

Sorry but who are the IIC?
What is their website address?

AARRRGH

partypiper wrote: »

anyone have any luck with maybe coming up with a course that could be done fairly quickly 6months perhaps that could qualify or would an open university do the job

I think it needs to be a degree or post grad.

Myapocalypse wrote: »

Sorry but who are the IIC?
What is their website address?

http://www.iicenter.org

Arcee

AARRRGH wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I e-mailed IIC as well. Here is my e-mail and their reply:

Thanks for that - it was Peggy who got in touch with me too. She's really helpful. I mailed her about the Intern visa a year ago but decided not to go ahead with it at that stage so was delighted to see this new visa being announced.

She told me the same thing about the age limit and also that there are 20,000 visas available.

*heads off to start drumming up some cash to pay for all this!*

AARRRGH

20,000 available. Hmmm. I wonder will there be a mad rush in May when fourth years finish college? I may have to go sooner than planned so.

Arcee

Hi AARRRGH, I saw in your mail from Peggy that she said the job might have to be related to your course. I mailed her to ask further about this and here's the reply

Originally we thought jobs did not need to be related to field of study. But just within the past couple of weeks, we heard from the State Dept. that they do need to be in your field of study. You are right that it will make it more difficult and might take longer, so you should start looking into possibilities right away

Hmmmm. That adds a complication....

gunsofbrixton

Well this truly is a joke of a visa its more or less back to being a trainee/internship visa the only difference between this and the other visa is you can head to the states for 30 days to find a job.

Which realistically you could have done before getting the trainee/internship visa on a little thing called a holiday visa so basically its a 30 day holiday visa which then may or may not turn into a trainee/internship visa.

BULLS**T

AARRRGH

Related field of study... as my degree/masters are computer science, does that mean I can do anything which involves technical skill...? And can I do it part-time?

Damn, my plan was to work part-time in a bar.

Arcee

AARRRGH wrote: »

Damn, my plan was to work part-time in a bar.

That was my plan too. I have a feeling that so long as the job is loosely related then it should be ok. I mean, if you got a nice employer who agreed to give you a job title that was somewhat relevant (even if the actual work was not) I'm sure that would do. I have a business studies degree - that can be applied to pretty much any area of work I would have thought. How are they going to determine what's not relevant in the vast, open field of Business Studies?

I wonder can you have two jobs at the same time? I assume so. Will check with IIC.

AARRRGH

Yeah, business studies, you're lucky. That really can be applied to anything!

I have quite a bit of savings so I just wanted something part-time. Might be hard to get a part-time IT job, although maybe there is some sort of tech support stuff I could do.

Another thing: what's with the 30 day limit on finding a job? What happens if you can't find a job but you can afford to keep living there? It's all so vague.

PeakOutput

so has anyone started the applicatin process with the iic then?

i hate to be so cynical but this place defo is the real deal and not just a scam to get you to send 600dollars via paypal?

i have a job lined up which is related to my course but at the same time i dont think the company vetting process for the internship visa would suit this company if you catch my drift so this new visa with apparently no vetting for the company is a way easier option as far as i can see. i plan on leaving in june so hopefully they will reply to my email quickly put my concerns to bed and i can get on with it

AARRRGH

PeakOutput wrote: »

...so this new visa with apparently no vetting for the company is a way easier option as far as i can see...

Is there really no vetting?

Myapocalypse

Feb 23 USIT programme starts

AARRRGH

Myapocalypse wrote: »

Feb 23 USIT programme starts

Any info on pricing or anything like that?

Myapocalypse

No sorry that's all it says. just saw it mentioned on www.usit.ie

PeakOutput

AARRRGH wrote: »

Is there really no vetting?

if its like the j1 then all you ahve to do is tell them who your working for and compared to the information on the internship visa the new j1 visa seems way way more straight forward

Feb 23 USIT programme starts

any link?