Irish Immigrant Center Boston

saraocallaghan

Hey guys,

I'm looking at applying for a visa to work in Boston through the Irish Immigrant Center in Boston and I was wondering if anyone has any opinion on them, what they're like?

Has anyone dealt with them or is going with USIT or Go4Less better?

Thanks!

pretty please

hi Sara,

this reply is clearly coming too late for you but i just came upon your question & wanted to respond for anyone else who is similarly considering organising their 12 month work & travel visa to the u.s. through the iiic...

in short, my response is simply: don't go with them, go with one of the irish-based travel agencies. the iiic admittedly charge less over-all for the visa (esp considering you get to organise your own insurance & book your own flights both ways). but unless you are totally on the ball & land yourself a job which they deem to be appropriate within their set time frame, the money you will save will not be worth the additional stress & worry it may cause you.

the iiic are extremely strict and picky about what work you may take up - how many hours a week, the sort of work you will be doing, just one job at a time... & in many ways this is a really good thing because it makes you get up off your ass & not settle on working for the year in a restaurant/bar job. but getting kicked out of the country is also not fun! (they have been known to do this to candidates on the scheme in the past.)

the iiic stay in touch with you throughout your entire time in the states & treat you like a baby, which i found infuriating; one of the members of staff in particular i found to be very unprofessional, although ultimately well-meaning. i have heard from people who organised their visas through usit that they were barely contacted once they got to the u.s. & it was therefore easy to slip through the cracks so they had a far more hassle-free experience.

i am basing the above advise on the experiences of 5 individuals i personally know who went through the iiic, and also the general rep the boston crowd have amongst other people we have met while over in the states. i invite people who had positive experiences with the iiic to share them here. and i am not trying to advertise usit particularly - there is also go4less & sayit to consider.

an additional piece of advice for those heading over re job-hunting: don't under-sell yourself!!! do not admit to this visa being on an "intern" visa. there is no limit on how much you can earn while on your j visa & the word intern in america has dirty connotations of little-to-no pay. tell prospective employers that you have a full working visa for 12 months, with the possibility of getting another (h1b applications open in april if they want to sponsor you). once you secure your job, mention that you have a form to fill out, that it's simply red tape, and that you can do it yourself. they can then read over what you wrote & sign it before sending off. (just make sure if you're writing it yourself to use americanized spelling! and not to refer to yourself in the first person!) most employers prefer you filling out the form yourself & not having to waste their time dealing with it.

good luck!

neil.p.b

Could not agree more. Stay away from IIC. I went with them on my 1-year with some friends and regretted it instantly. They are the most incompetent bunch and not only do they not help you (which they are paid to do) they make your life extremely stressful for many of the reasons mentioned above, amongst others.

On one occasion they emailed my friend and told him they were cancelling his visa in two business days time if they didn't have his forms for his new job. This was after he had emailed them 6 weeks prior telling them about the new job and whether he should send them new forms. He did not receive any reply until that email! Had to pay for same day delivery to Boston to make sure it got there in time the next day. When we first arrived we actually met one of them one evening and they told another of my friends that he needed to comb his hair more if he wanted to get a job!! We still laugh about it to this day.

I had other friends over at the same time and they had done through go4less and the only time they heard from them was to check everything was going OK and that they hoped they were enjoying themselves. Spend the extra few hundred and go with an Irish company.

sleepyescapade

I went with IIC for my 12 month J1 visa and found them very helpful, in particular with resume stuff for a job interview I had (which I was successful in and am still employed by the company).

However, I do feel that they should have more information on hand regarding J1ers filing taxes.

lil_lisa

Can you describe the kind of hassle you had with them?

c08849200

Hi I'm currently on the program and my deadline for getting a job/internship is feb 3rd!

I have a couple of interviews this week so hopefully I get something but if I don't and I have to go home can I reapply for a 12 month visa with go4less or usit considering my current visa is meant to last until November 2013?

Also any advice on my options should I fail to find work this week would be greatly appreciated! I'm in NYC.

Thanks

Dave2k10

Hi, What did you study in College?

c08849200

Dave2k10 wrote: »

Hi, What did you study in College?

I studied product design in DIT

thesmalloak

Hello Everyone,
I previously had a longer post, but decided to edit as I felt I revealed too much information. I will update the thread with such information at a later date however to summarize I have had a rather negative experience with the IIIC and would not personally recommend them. I agree entirely with the above remarks and will update the thread with my personal experience next week when I have time to do so.

I wish everybody the best in their trips,

thesmalloak

c08849200 wrote: »

Hi I'm currently on the program and my deadline for getting a job/internship is feb 3rd!

I have a couple of interviews this week so hopefully I get something but if I don't and I have to go home can I reapply for a 12 month visa with go4less or usit considering my current visa is meant to last until November 2013?

Also any advice on my options should I fail to find work this week would be greatly appreciated! I'm in NYC.

Thanks

Hey, did you manage to find a job in the end? I'm curious to know what happens afterward if you don't? Either way I hope everything worked out for you...

daboru

I was wondering if the iiic check up on you during the year to check if your job is as you described it?

Polka Dots

TEMPLAR KNIGHT wrote: »

**POST DELETED BY USER**

Hi, I'm just wondering if you (or anyone else) know any specific reasons why people using the IIIC have been denied visa's. I am hopefully going to go to NYC, with 2 other girls, this September on the Visa and have been looking in to going with the IIIC.

Do you mind me asking what type of work you are doing and if you know how strict the IIIC are about the job having to be classified as an internship?
I am hoping to get a better job than an internship, in my area of study, as most internships don't seem to be paid.

Thanks for your help

TEMPLAR KNIGHT

Polka Dots wrote: »

Hi, I'm just wondering if you (or anyone else) know any specific reasons why people using the IIIC have been denied visa's. I am hopefully going to go to NYC, with 2 other girls, this September on the Visa and have been looking in to going with the IIIC.

Do you mind me asking what type of work you are doing and if you know how strict the IIIC are about the job having to be classified as an internship?
I am hoping to get a better job than an internship, in my area of study, as most internships don't seem to be paid.

Thanks for your help

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