J1 - organising it myself?

ghostdancer

so basically i'm wondering if it's worth my while arranging the J1 visa myself....i just picked SayIt as they're one of the ones with prices up on their site...although after reading around in different places, it seems like most of the companies end up costing more than advertised on their site, but anyway...

SayIt Standard Package:
Standard - €299
flights to SD (incl. free stopover) - €580
fuel charge - approx €160
US embassy fee - €85
Sevis Fee (?) - €35

total: €1159

doing it myself:
flights (incl. fuel charge) dublin - LA, NYC -Dublin - €500 (we don't need free return stopover)
travel from LAX to San Diego to accomodation - about €50
1 night accomodation max €40

total: €590

i already have travel insurance from the family's insurance cover (as do alot of people), so that's sorted, although it only costs €75 for international cover for 3 months from VHI.
we're driving across america for 3 weeks at the end of the summer, so the return stop off is of no use to us. (even if we were flying to NYC, it only costs €120)

now this leaves the cost of getting the J1 myself, and i really can't see that costing €569, especially seeing as the most basic package on the SayIt site is 240, and that includes SayIt's profits/admin costs. i'll say a reasonable guess, 170 for the Visa. , which leaves 399 that'd i'd have left if i do it myself...

so basically is it worth my while actually bothering to give all my money to SayIt, and have them take care of it, or do it myself and save somewhere around €400 ?
i know it's hassle doing it myself, but i'd still have to fill out forms and go for an interview in the embassy either way, and 400 quid is a lot of drinking money....

cooperguy

Your forgetting the cost of the Visa itself which is about €280 I think. Also wont you have to pay the US embassy fee aswell since that is part of getting the visa. Id actually be interested in finding out what people think about this aswell since im going about getting a J1 aswell.

Oh and USIT are doing an offer that if you put €100 deposit on a flight with them they will give you the J1 (worth €279) for free. I just saw it on their site

Faith

You'll also have to have an interview with the US Embassy, meaning you'll have to organise it all yourself (complicated) and pay that charge. You will have to pay the Sevis charge too, afaik.

prendy

trust me from experience its well worth the 200 or so.they organise everything for ya.
the us embassy are not the easiest to deal with either so their help with the forms/sponsors etc is all worth it.

Neamhshuntasach

it can be a lot of hassle doing it yourself. I went to college in San Diego and i had a friend who was applying for a j category visa to go to college with me as i had a green card. And he had to jump through a lot of hoops and cost him a fair bit in admin fees and hidden charges such as photographs, then having to get them retaken as they didn't show his ears or something. And you'll also have to prove you have sufficient funds to last you the duration at the interviews and they'll scrutinize it more than if you were doing it through an organization. Also as far as i remember my friend needed a sponsor and had to have some form signed and approved.

ITT-Pat

cooperguy wrote: »

Oh and USIT are doing an offer that if you put €100 deposit on a flight with them they will give you the J1 (worth €279) for free. I just saw it on their site

anyone know anything more about this??

Faith

That's the usual USIT offer, valid if you book before Dec. 11th or so.

ghostdancer

cooperguy wrote: »

Your forgetting the cost of the Visa itself which is about €280 I think. Also wont you have to pay the US embassy fee aswell since that is part of getting the visa. Id actually be interested in finding out what people think about this aswell since im going about getting a J1 aswell.

Oh and USIT are doing an offer that if you put €100 deposit on a flight with them they will give you the J1 (worth €279) for free. I just saw it on their site

i had factored in the cost of the VISA above, the embassy cost only seems to be about 80 quid, which would leave ~€320 left over. the VISA cost actually takes into account USIT/SayIt/etc's admin costs and their own charges to pay staff etc.

but yeah, saw the USIT offer last week, and it's probably the best option, taking that there isn't a huge saving really, and it's alot easier to just leave the cost of it to them for the savings made with their offer at the moment...

arcade1

your forgetting that you need someone to sponser your visa, if you dont have that you wont even get an interview.