Summer Work Travel J-1 Visa Regulations

Summary of Important Points from CCI: 

    All CCI Greenheart Work and Travel participants must review this PDF document summarizing important regulatory changes to the program. 

Department of State links: 

Interim Final Rule: The U.S. Department of State issued a new Interim Final Rule (IFR 2012) on May 11, 2012, which includes new program rules that program sponsors must comply with, as well as updates to existing program rules.

To review the Interim Final Rule, go to: http://j1visa.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2012-swt-ifr.pdf  

Welcome Letter and Brochure: The Department of State also provides a letter Welcome Letter and Brochure for Summer Work Travel participants.

Guidance Directives: 

Summer Work Travel Program: Purpose and Placements - February 20, 2013

Letter to Sponsors - February 6, 2013

Summer Work Travel: Program Exclusions - May 17, 2012

Summer Work Travel Program: A Cultural Experience - December 13, 2011

   Official Rule on the Federal Register 

In addition to jobs prohibited by the Department of State, CCI Greenheart prohibits participants from working: 

1. In positions in kiosks
2. In positions in moving companies
3. With third-party organizations.  The participant must be hired, paid, and directly supervised by the same company.
4. With lifeguard companies that have not first completed a CCI Greenheart questionnaire.
5. In positions that involve door-to-door or traveling sales.
6. In positions where manual labor is the primary focus.

*All SWT placements are subject to CCI Greenheart approval.  Jobs not listed herein may still be found inappropriate for the SWT program.  CCI Greenheart reserves the right to disallow any placement. 

The Department of State prohibits participants from working:  

1. **In positions with employers that fill non-seasonal or non-temporary job openings with participants with staggered vacation schedules;
2. In positions that could bring notoriety or disrepute to the Exchange Visitor Program;
3. In sales positions that require participants to purchase inventory that they must sell in order to support themselves;
4. In domestic help positions in private homes (e.g., child care, elder care, gardener, chauffeur);
5. As pedicab or rolling chair drivers or operators;
6. As operators or drivers of vehicles or vessels for which drivers’ licenses are required regardless of whether they carry passengers or not;
7. In positions related to clinical care that involves patient contact;
8. In any position in the adult entertainment industry (including, but not limited to jobs with escort services, adult book/video stores, and strip clubs);
9. In positions requiring any shift where hours will fall predominantly between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.;
10. In positions declared hazardous to youth by the Secretary of Labor at Subpart E of 29 CFR part 570;
11. In positions that require sustained physical contact with other people and/or adherence to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Universal Blood and Body Fluid Precautions guidelines (e.g., body piercing, tattooing, massage, manicure);
12. In positions that are substantially commission-based and thus do not guarantee that participants will be paid minimum wage in accordance with federal and state standards;
13. In positions involved in gaming and gambling that include direct participation in wagering and/or betting;
14. In positions in chemical pest control, warehousing, catalogue/online order distribution centers;
15. In positions with travelling fairs or itinerant concessionaires;
16. In positions for which there is another specific J category (e.g., camp counselor, intern, trainee); or
17. After November 1, 2012, in positions in the North American Industry Classification System’s (NAICS) Goods-Producing Industries occupational categories industry sectors 11, 21, 23, 31–33 numbers (set forth at http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag_index_naics.htm) 

        **The Department of State provides these definitions: 

                Seasonal: Employment is of a seasonal nature when the required service is tied to a certain time of year by an event or pattern and requires labor levels above and beyond existing worker levels.

                Temporary: Employment is of a temporary nature when an employer's need for the duties to be performed is a one-time occurance, a peak-load need, or an intermittent need.

Employers are required to notify the sponsor when their students arrive, do not arrive, leave before their DS2019 end date, there are any changes in the job conditions and about any emergency situation. Employers may report any of these things to CCI through their online account.  

1. Log in to your CCI Account at www.ccisevis.com 

2. Be sure the current season is selected in the upper right side

3. On your Home page, left side under Participants, click Hired. This will show all participants associated with your company for this season

4. Above the search options box, click the link Click here to report participant arrivals or report an issue with a participant.  

5. You can increase the page size up to 50, if needed

6. For each participant who has arrived to you, enter the date and then click Save All Changes Above. 

7. This is also where you can notify CCI if a participant has not arrived or report any issue or change to their job. 

8. If you have any questions, please contact your CCI contact, indicated in the upper right corner of your account.  

   

Participants must contact CCI immediately upon their arrival to the U.S. to confirm their arrival. This initial check-in must be no later than 7 days after the arrival date. In addition, participants are required to validate their programs upon arrival to their CCI approved employer, and no later than 7 days after the program start date.  Participants must also check-in with CCI every 30 days or  by the deadlines listed in their CCI Online accounts.  Failure to complete any of these communications may result in a negative SEVIS status, requiring the partiicpant to return home immediately. 

The Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) is affiliated with the Department of State and may be calling employers to confirm participant job offers. We ask that you follow these steps should you receive a call from the KCC:

1. Identify the caller. Only release information to the Department of State and the Kentucky Consular Center. (Participant information is private, so do not release their personal information to research or interest groups without their consent.)
2. Ask the caller to send you an email describing the information they are requesting. This email should come from a state.gov email address (not Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc).
3. Reply to the State Department email. Usually the KCC is verifying pay, number of participants hired and their names. Please follow up with them, as employers who did not respond to these calls in the past received participant visa denials. In other words, if they don’t hear back from you they think you didn’t really offer the jobs!
4. Let your CCI Contact know if you have any questions regarding the Kentucky Consular Center. If you don't know who your CCI Contact is, call us at our toll-free U.S. number: 1-866-684-9675 or email us at employer@cci-exchange.org.