J1 Visa 2012

Highwaychild85

Hey all, im a 26 y/o mature student heading to the US for summer. I am looking for advice on accomodation and work regarding New York and possibly San Diego. Any thoughts or advice from people who were there last year or going this year welcome,
Thanks
Also did people use USIT for their visas,flights etc ???

starlight53

I am also a mature student interested in going to to the US summer 2012 (New York, San Diego, Hawaii... the list is endless really!) Anyway, I have yet to start the J1 process but have so many questions and also I don't want to go on my own... (my only other option is go with younger students which I would rather not do)
Are you in the same boat?

Highwaychild85

Hey, yeah im in the same boat pretty much. Im thinking of going to new york now for the majority of it and then maybe a bit of travelling towards the end(1 month-ish)
Im gonna look into Usit now and find out all they have, then shop around a bit aswell.
Are you looking to leave straight away after the summer exams , yeah?

starlight53

ya i have to check when my exams will be finished but ideally i would like to go as soon as i could! i will hopefully get to usit some time this week myself to check out prices and stuff. i wouldnt mind a month or so of travelling tho! new york would be good i have heard san francisco and chicago are supposed to be great too!

TEMPLAR KNIGHT

Hi I have a bit of info on this as my girlfriend went to new york 2011 on the j1 for 3 months and i went over to visit for 5 weeks (not working though).

Your better off booking a hostel and looking for accomadation when you are over there, rather than trying to organise before hand tis a nightmare because they want yo to transfer money before you travel and even see the apartment itself and your very open to scamming and new york has a "bed bug problem" so your better off seeing the apartment before commiting. we lived in queens for 2 weeks and harlem for 3 weeks....queens we had a lot of bugs called water bugs in harlem we had no bugs ( im not being racist or anything but we were also the only whites in that area of harlem and its best avoiding if that type of thing makes you uneasy, just saying) although both areas were nice i felt safer in queens as it was quiter at night and there is an irish presence there...to be honest work seemed pretty easy to find my gf found a job withing two days and her friends all found work relatively easy aswell to be honest but pay wasnt great either and neither was the time off they spent a lot of their time working just for accomadation really..in regards to usit my gf ended up coming home with me she was due to stay longer but she wanted to come home with me...usit were giving her a hard time about switching the flights and there was a of of closed offices and late replies so we ended up chnging flights with delta themselves usit werent very helpful with this...also mae sure you have insurance sorted out my gf got bit by a bug and had a reaction to the bugs saliva and had to go to hospital with it a lot of her friends got bitten aswell to be honest....i cant really think of anything else to be honest if i think of anything else ill post it best of luck...any questions just ask

starlight53

still have no idea where to start but your post was really helpful! thanks!!
im sure i will have many questions when i start the ball rolling with the actual organising im still in research phase right now!!! thanks though!!!

MaturePM

I am 27 y/o also and a mature student. I too have been looking into doing a J1 in New York (my first) in an attempt to find full time work in order to pay my way through college. If I do decide to go in the summer the upside is that I have a friend living in New York so I could stay there. I would be looking to gain full-time work in new york and earn and try and save some bit as I reckon I would have a better chance of earning more and obtaining a full-time job there rather than here in Ireland.

I have a degree already completed with a few years experience so I am hoping that will stand to me in an attempt to finding a decent job.

Does anyone have much insight to this?

Highwaychild85

Cheers for the post templar, a few things in there i havent thought of. im just finishin off my xmas exams on monday starlight so ill start looking into it immediately after that. yeah id be a bit dubious of USIT so will defo be looking at all the options before rushing into anything. will repost next week , hopefully with some worthwhile info!
sorry mature PM, not a notion on the work related aspects, ill just be goin to do bar work or something just to keep me there for the 3 months.

blackplum123

Hi , any one know what the sevis program number is....... when filling in the sevis information online.....thanks

TEMPLAR KNIGHT

Anybody heading to San Diego? I'm heading there on my own wouldn't mind trying to get to know a couple of people before I leave or even living with them??

lil_lisa

blackplum, your SEVIS number should be on the top right of your DS-2019. It should be in the format of something like N000XXXXX.

aqn29swlgbmiu4

hey lil lisa, do you have any idea what the 'program number' is?
I'm at the very end of filling out the form & I have no idea what it is?

lil_lisa

Which form exactly are you filling out? The SEVIS form?

aqn29swlgbmiu4

Its the DS-160 form, its the very last question on it?

lil_lisa

Without seeing it, I can't be sure, but it should be your SEVIS number also. Is there a section heading or an example/specific format for the number?

stester22

well folks, whats this SEVIS all about, is it for going to the US for studyin?
Has anyone used go4less this year or before when booking the J1, it seems to be a little cheaper than USIT

Highwaychild85

well folks, whats this sevis all about? is it for going to the US to study?
Also has anyone gone with go4less for a J1 visa either this year or before? they seem to be a little bit cheaper than USIT, any opinions or insights?