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Intern Programme
As a current student or recent graduate at a British higher education institution, you are permitted to travel to the States to complete an internship. This will allow you to receive hands-on experience in American business practices in your chosen field to gain exposure to American culture. The internship placement does not have to be directly related to your degree course, but it must match your overall purpose of study. Internships may be paid or unpaid. An internship will provide you with an understanding not only of the long-term career opportunities in your field, but also of the day-to-day practice of the profession itself. Additionally, an internship in the USA will allow you to gain international work experience. According to a survey of 230 employers conducted by the Council for Industry and Higher Education in 2007, 65% of UK employers favoured applicants with overseas work experience.
Eligibility
In order to qualify for the Intern Programme, you must
- Be a student currently enrolled in a full-time course of study at an accredited post-secondary educational institution outside of the US or have graduated from such an institution no more than 12 months before beginning the programme
- Have secured an internship placement before entering the USA, either arranged on your own or through your visa sponsor
- Be sufficiently proficient in English
Programme Details
- Internships must fulfil educational objectives. The placement does not have to be directly related to your degree course, but it must match your overall purpose of study
- You may find that some internship positions are paid while others are unpaid. You may need to be prepared to work on a voluntary basis or for a small stipend, as an opportunity to build your CV.
- The maximum length of the programme is up to 12 months
- There are certain positions that you are not permitted to be placed in, including: unskilled or casual work, positions that require or involve medical patient care or contact, childcare or elder care or jobs that require more than 20 percent clerical or office support work
Programme Application, Visa and Sponsors
1. Decide on the length and timing of your internship: Most organisations prefer you work for a minimum of six to eight weeks. A summer, semester or even year-long internship could be a beneficial supplement to your degree studies in the UK. You could also obtain an internship in the months following graduation (within twelve months), prior to pursuing further study or entering the workforce.
Most organisations offering summer internships have application deadlines between January and March and start dates in May or June. Semester and year-long internships will likely have application deadlines three to six months in advance. This timeline is particularly true for larger companies with formal application processes. In some instances, especially if you want to intern with a smaller company or have personal contact, you may find that you can arrange an internship in a shorter amount of time.
Here are some general tips for researching internships.
2. Find a Sponsor: If you are travelling to the US for any purpose aside from personal travel, you will need to secure an appropriate visa. If you are travelling to the US on a work exchange placement, you will most likely apply for a J-1 Exchange Visitor visa.
To take part in J-1 Intern Programme, you will first need to locate and contact an approved visa sponsor. Only those organisations included on this list are approved to act as a J-1 sponsor. If you secure an internship individually, you will still need to contact one of the approved organisations to act as your visa sponsor. If your potential employer is not on this list but would like to sponsor your visa, they can apply to become a J-1 sponsor here. Please note that the Fulbright Commission is not a visa sponsor.
The designated sponsors supervise the application process and are the main point of contact throughout the exchange programme process. Contact the sponsors directly to take part in one of the exchange programmes.
We encourage students to do a full search of approved sponsors, but to get you started, here are a few examples:
- AIPT Intern USA programme
- Bunac’s Intern USA programme
- Parenthese's
3. Secure a Placement: This will most likely be done with the help of your sponsor. Only those organisations included on the designated sponsor list are approved to act as a J-1 sponsor. If you secure an internship individually, you will still need to contact one of the approved organisations to act as your visa sponsor. If your potential employer is not on this list but would like to sponsor your visa, they can apply to become a J-1 sponsor here.
If your visa sponsor does not arrange a placement for you, you may need to research internships individually. You may find general websites by using a keyword search such as “internship USA,” but be sure to carefully investigate the results.
Additionally, you may find this sample list of job placements a good starting point, as well as these placement search tips and internship application tips.
As you research internships, you will find that you must submit an American style resume (CV) and basic cover letter in order to apply. American resumes follow a specific format, and US employers may disregard applicants who do not follow this layout. The Alliance for International Education and Cultural Exchange has created a document with top tips for writing American resumes and cover letters.
4. Apply for a visa: The process of applying for a J-1 visa is generally straightforward. In fact, the US Department of State issued 715,093 student, exchange and vocational visas in the fiscal year 2010. This translates to a worldwide acceptance rate of over 87%.
Students are allowed to do unpaid internships on J-1 visas. Out of the several categories, there is a specific intern category in the J-1 visa: the “Exchange Visitor Category” on the DS-2019 should read “Intern.”
We encourage you to read our page with general information on applying for visas to the States to familiarise yourself with the process. If at any point you have enquiries about your visa application, your sponsor should be the first point of contact.
Please note that our staff are not trained to handle specific enquires related to visas in the USA. For such enquiries, you may visit the US Embassy website or call the US Embassy at 09042 450100 (Operator Assisted £1.20/minute) between the hours of 8am - 8pm Monday - Friday, and 10am - 4pm on Saturday.
5. Prepare to depart for the USA: Make sure you set aside plenty of time to prepare to go to States through the information provided by your visa sponsor and our pre-departure section.