J-Visa for the USA!

Hogie

Hi lads and ladies

Long time reader( of this thread!!! ) first post.

Im planning on going out to New York on this new visa, my degree is transport related.
From what Peggy has said to me as long as the job i get is within the field of transport/distribution etc she thinks that should be enough to satisfy the state dept. As long as it loosely based around that area of my degree it should be fine. But she also said she doesnt know how strict the state department are going to be. So swings and roundabouts.

I also asked her if you could have a second job not related to you degree, for example cleaning or as many people here i guess are planning bar work. She didnt answer that queston Im guessing because she may not know at the moment.

Shes sound,I think if anyone has any question just e mail her, she got back to me really quickly.

Arcee

Hogie wrote: »

I also asked her if you could have a second job not related to you degree, for example cleaning or as many people here i guess are planning bar work. She didnt answer that queston Im guessing because she may not know at the moment.

Yeah I've also asked her about a second job and am awaiting a reply - she must be checking it out.

sakura77

Ive been following this thread for ages. I've been looking at every possible visa available to the USA. I might as well be an immigration expert.
I even met the Irish DFA guys (coincidence) at a function.

I believe this visa is kind of bull*. Its not fair. recent graduates from ireland get to 'go to the USA'..yay! and the previously thought freedom and flexibility have turned out to be false. Find an INTERNSHIP?! travel around the USA? have 30 days to find a job? related to your field of study?! who is going to hire someone (say, you've been searching for a month or more) for less than a year (unless its bar work, etc etc) ?! are you kidding me?! These 20,000 irish kids will either a) come crying home, broke b) end up working under the table, contributing further to the US illegal irish 'problem'...the very problem they sought to fix WITH this agreement!

The current economic climate makes this process insanely difficult. Recent grads dont usually have the MEANS to support themselves in the USA for that long.

The 'reciprocal' agreement- is not reciprocal. US citizens can go to Ireland easily enough and find a job (although that is probably very difficult NOW in Ireland, almost more than anywhere else) and do whatever they want.

THe US Dept. of State, as per usual, is not only charging a bucket for visas, but applying unrealistic and stressful conditions to it that, in my opinion, is not a very 'friendly' agreement.

They should just make it a straight-forward working holiday like we have in Japan, Australia, Canada, Ireland etc etc etc.

If anyone hears any more news from the IIC (Ive been in touch with them too) or anyone else- any updates as to conditions (by the way , are people even applying for this right now? please share your experience if so. I personally don't want to sign up yet unless everything is cleared up)

please let us know!

murfie

Hogie wrote: »

I also asked her if you could have a second job not related to you degree, for example cleaning or as many people here i guess are planning bar work. She didnt answer that queston Im guessing because she may not know at the moment.
.

When I was on my 18 month internship J1 (2006-2007) I know I was not allowed work for anyone else but the company my J1 was issued for. If this new scheme is the same then no you will be reliant on the one company.

But do as i did and work on the side anyway, if you find the right employer that wont have to add you as an employee. I just did contract engineer projects for a company and they paid me cash/cheque. God knows there are enough mexicans doin it! :rolleyes:

Hogie

Iv a good friend out there who knows quite a few people so I’m hoping she may be able to get me something, she said she'd ask round this week. The reason I want to know about the second job is i could look to do a bit of bar work just to bring up the wages a bit. Iv loads of bar experience but that’s not going to cut it as a job for the state department. Allow's me to be flexible with regard to what i can do if i cant get full time work in my own sector, for example I could do 3day a week within my own sector and 2 or 3 nights in a bar.

I’m sure lots are thinking of getting bar work with 'job titles' and what not but not everyone is going to do that for you. Be grand if you done hospitality or business but anything else, arts, law eng of any sort etc it wont cut much ice with them I think

AARRRGH

I think I'm lucky in that I finished my degree 10 years ago, have worked in IT since then, and last year did a masters. So I'm fairly employable.

Unfortunately I was hoping I could work in a bar or something for the year. You know, sort of have a year long holiday. I have a lot of savings so I was even hoping I could just work part-time...

If I have to get an IT job, within 30 days... well, that's just unrealistic.

I wonder can you get a holiday visa for the first 90 days, and then continue with the work visa after that?

PeakOutput

murfie wrote: »

I just did contract engineer projects for a company and they paid me cash/cheque. God knows there are enough mexicans doin it! :rolleyes:

i did contract work last summer and got paid by cheque to my 'company'

did you file your taxes or how did yu go about doing that? i jsut got a notice from my employer stating how much they paid me as a subcontractor over the summer and that it is my responsibility to sort out the taxes owed(which i knew but had forgotten about) any ideas?

AARRRGH

Is it my imagination or has this now been changed to an internship visa?

http://dublin.usembassy.gov/general/twelve-month-intern-work-and-travel-pilot-program.html

Arcee

AARRRGH wrote: »

Is it my imagination or has this now been changed to an internship visa?

http://dublin.usembassy.gov/general/twelve-month-intern-work-and-travel-pilot-program.html

Looks that way. Damnit. So it's essentially exactly the same as the old program except you don't need to have a job before you go. That seems to be the only difference. What's the point of it then? Surely they should have just changed the rules of the old internship visa.....

partypiper

gunsofbrixton wrote: »

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

Second that Bulls**t, Bulls**t

AARRRGH

Arcee wrote: »

Looks that way. Damnit. So it's essentially exactly the same as the old program except you don't need to have a job before you go. That seems to be the only difference. What's the point of it then? Surely they should have just changed the rules of the old internship visa.....

By "internship" do they mean you have to work for free?

Or just within your area of expertise?

Arcee

AARRRGH wrote: »

By "internship" do they mean you have to work for free?

Or just within your area of expertise?

No, you don't have to work for free. The problem is, given the time frame of the visa, an internship is the most likely job you'll get. The issue with internships is that in the US, most of them are unpaid or kids do them for college credit.

Corholio

AARRRGH wrote: »

Is it my imagination or has this now been changed to an internship visa?

http://dublin.usembassy.gov/general/twelve-month-intern-work-and-travel-pilot-program.html

As confusing as this visa has been, to be fair it has said intern work and travel visa on that site since before christmas. It's a pity its worked out like that though, hopefully theres some way around it.

AARRRGH

I wish they'd just be more clear about it. Everything I've read so far is vague.

What happens if you can't find a job within 30 days?
Can you work part-time?
Etc.

Hogie

Good news bad news all the time on here lads

Well my friend had a chat with someone this week and she thinks he can get me a job within a transport firm. Nothing solid like, may fall through yet.

So if I can get that I could be testing out this visa soon enough. Im not putting down the guts of 1500 on the off chance of getting something within 4 weeks thou

From what Peggy said in her e mail no one has used this visa yet so she doesnt know what is acceptable job wise.

Obviously this visa is never going to be like the Oz or Canada one and anyone hoping for that,well i dont think i have to tell you....

Darren1o1

Hogie wrote: »

Good news bad news all the time on here lads

Well my friend had a chat with someone this week and she thinks he can get me a job within a transport firm. Nothing solid like, may fall through yet.

So if I can get that I could be testing out this visa soon enough. Im not putting down the guts of 1500 on the off chance of getting something within 4 weeks thou

From what Peggy said in her e mail no one has used this visa yet so she doesnt know what is acceptable job wise.

Obviously this visa is never going to be like the Oz or Canada one and anyone hoping for that,well i dont think i have to tell you....

As I am aware you will get the cash back if you do not get it...

Arcee

Darren1o1 wrote: »

As I am aware you will get the cash back if you do not get it...

I'm not entirely sure but I think you get the processing fee back (whatever you pay to the sponsor company who is handling your application) but not the US state department fees so you could lose around 300 euros (roughly) if your application doesn't go through

Hogie

When i said 1500 I meant all being well i get through the visa process, go out there and cant get a job, well I assume that's the moneys gone plus what ever Iv spend out there.

Its a big gamble to take, especially in the current climate. More in my line to have something lined up before i go.

I wonder what is the story with an unpaid internship and this visa, on the iic website it said paid employment

AARRRGH

Does anyone know what happens if you can't get a job within 30 days? I have a lot of savings so could happily spend a few months there. But if I can't get a job within 30 days, am I kicked out of the country?

I asked Peggy this already and she gave me a vague, non-committal answer.

PeakOutput

well iw as going to get moving with the immigration center but i heard a few stories of people using foreign agents advertising these visas and that they were jsut scams so im gonna wait till the 23rd with usit and apply that way it will proabbly be more expensive but at least i know usit is a fairly reputable company

anyone applying with the place in boston keep us updated please

was in usit office today and roughly flights to boston going in june coming back in january would be around 600. insurance would be around 410 including winter/extreme sports cover. embassy and sevis fees would be around 250 so adding them onto the 600 on the website for the programme fee it will cost just under 2K which is still going to be way cheaper than the internship visa and therefore worth while

she said in usit it will take around 10 weeks to process, you ahve 30 days to find a job related to your course of study and you must check in via internet with the state department every two months

edit; more details have just been put up on the usit website, fee is 999 including 12 months insurance(im not going for full 12 months so im gonna try and find out if i can downgrade the insurance )

Arcee

Just some info for those who might be wary about the IIC centre in Boston. I have no experience with them except for the few emails (in which I've found them to be very helpful) but I reckon they must be legit based on this link http://www.foreignaffairs.gov.ie/home/index.aspx?id=73713

buccsboyo

http://usit.ie/travel/12_month_usa_working_holiday_visa.html
USIT just sent me a mail about this and it has been updated on their site.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

clarebearstare

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to contribute my experience (so far) with the immigration centre in Boston. I paid my deposit and sent off my documents about 2 weeks ago and had my phone interview with them on Friday. My DS2019 is now in the post and once I receive it I can make my embassy appointment which they told me the current waiting time is 5-7 working days. So in total it should take me 4-5 weeks to get the visa as opposed to USITS ten weeks.

They also said you pay the 500 dollar balance when you get your visa so they don't charge you if you fail to get it.

About the work thing, they told me the State Dept are being strict on your employment being related to your field of study. Working in a bar etc just won't cut it. But they put down my degree as being Business/Finance/Management/Other when it's much more specific than that so they're trying to be as broad as possible for people I suppose to give them a better range of jobs to go for.

Also they said they have 4 people who have gotten the visa so far and had no bother with the embassy interview etc.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress and any other info I get from them!:)

Arcee

Thanks for the update clarebearstare. Would you mind posting details of you embassy interview when you go for it? Would be interested to see what they ask you/how long it takes etc.

PeakOutput

clarebearstare wrote: »

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to contribute my experience (so far) with the immigration centre in Boston. I paid my deposit and sent off my documents about 2 weeks ago and had my phone interview with them on Friday. My DS2019 is now in the post and once I receive it I can make my embassy appointment which they told me the current waiting time is 5-7 working days. So in total it should take me 4-5 weeks to get the visa as opposed to USITS ten weeks.

They also said you pay the 500 dollar balance when you get your visa so they don't charge you if you fail to get it.

About the work thing, they told me the State Dept are being strict on your employment being related to your field of study. Working in a bar etc just won't cut it. But they put down my degree as being Business/Finance/Management/Other when it's much more specific than that so they're trying to be as broad as possible for people I suppose to give them a better range of jobs to go for.

Also they said they have 4 people who have gotten the visa so far and had no bother with the embassy interview etc.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress and any other info I get from them!:)

have you found somewhere to get insurance yet because as far as i know iic dosnt provide insurance or if it does its not included in that 600dollars so just wondering what price you have found it at?

AARRRGH

That's great Clare. Please keep us posted!

AARRRGH

Might be useful for some people. I asked USIT about the 30-days-to-find-a-job thing.

Hi AARRRGH

Thank you for your email. There isn't a time limit on the length of time you have to find a position in the US. The regulations state that you must contact CIEE (your US Sponsor) within 10 days of arrival in the US to register your accommodation details and that you've commenced your employment search. After that, you are required to keep the line of contact open between yourself and CIEE to update them on your progress.
But, as yet we have not been given an exact time frame in which you must find your placement.

Kind regards,
12 Month Intern Work Travel (IWT) Team,
Programmes Department,
USIT Ireland Ltd,
19/21 Aston Quay,
O' Connell Bridge,
Dublin 2.

Tel: +353 1 602 1667
Fax: +353 1 602 1709
Email: iwt@usit.ie

Website: http://usit.ie/travel/12_month_usa_working_holiday_visa.html


AARRRGH wrote:
>
> Hello
>
> I am considering applying for this programme. I graduated with a MSc
> in Computing last November.
>
> Could you please tell me what would happen if I can’t find a job
> within 30 days? I have a lot of savings, so financially this would not
> be a problem for me, but would I have to return to Ireland or anything
> like that?
>
> Thanks

PS AARRRGH is my real name, like Pele or Madonna.

watna

Is the fee for the visa really €999? That seems very high - like they just want to make money out of it.

My residency (which is for life) in NZ only cost $700NZD (about €300). It's about 400GBP to apply from Irealnd. How can they justify €999 for a 1 year visa?

PeakOutput

watna wrote: »

Is the fee for the visa really €999? That seems very high - like they just want to make money out of it.

My residency (which is for life) in NZ only cost $700NZD (about €300). It's about 400GBP to apply from Irealnd. How can they justify €999 for a 1 year visa?

300 of that is 12 months insurance the rest is the programme fee which covers usits cost + a nice profit for them im sure