General Information About This Visa Status Category
The J-1 Student Intern category--different from the J-1 Student and the J-1 Scholar categories--was created by the Department of State (DOS) in order to provide students from other countries the opportunity to participate in an internship abroad while studying at a degree-seeking post-secondary accredited institution that fulfills the student's educational objective in his/her home country. It was created to help promote mutual understanding by fostering the exchange of ideas between foreign students and their American counterparts. This category is intended for undergraduate students only who are currently enrolled in a degree program and will visit the U.S. for up to one year to participate as an intern.
The duration of the internship may consist of a minimum of 32 hours per week, up to 12 months for each major/degree and extensions past 12 months are not possible.
To make a request for the Student Intern to be accepted to the ¹ÏÉñÍø Exchange Visitor Program please use this link.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the student intern category, the student must meet all of these conditions:
- Be currently enrolled in and pursuing a degree at an accredited postsecondary academic institution outside the U.S.
- Be engaging in an internship that will "fulfill the educational objectives for his/her current degree program at his/her home institution"
- Have "verifiable English language skills sufficient to function on a day-to-day basis in the internship environment" which must be verified "by a sponsored-conducted interview, by a recognized English language test, or by signed documentation from a U.S. academic institution or English language school"
- Be primarily in the U.S. to engage in a student internship program rather than to engage in employment or provide services to an employer
- Be accepted into the internship at the postsecondary accredited academic institution listed on the form DS-2019
- Be in good academic standing at home institution outside the U.S.
- The student must return to his or her academic program outside the U.S. and "fulfill and obtain a degree from such acadmeic institution after completion of the student internship program."
- Have "sufficient finances to support himself or herself and dependents for their entire stay in the U.S., including housing and living expenses"
Internships cannot be placed in the following areas:
- Unskilled or casual labor
- Child care or elder care
- Aviation
- "Clinical positions or engaging in any other kind of work that involves patient care or contact, including any work that would require student interns to provide therapy, medication or other clinical or medical care."
- In any "position, occupation or business that could bring the Exchange Visitor Program or the Department of State into notoriety or disrepute."
- In a position that is meant fill a labor need; the internship must be in a work-based learning environment and not involved with a staffing or employment agency
- Any position that would displace American workers (including full or part-time, temporary or permanent); in addition, the internship must meet all requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Sponsor Responsibilities
The sponsor must "ensure the objectives of the program regulations and adhere to exchange visitor program regulations and policies and must agree to complete program evaluations at the end of each program or at midway if the program is longer than 6 months." The intern must have the opportunity to review the program and state if educational objectives are being met.