Would you go on a J1 visa now?

My mother was super keen on the idea of me going on a J1 to New York and getting a job as a barman/cocktail waiter. This was about 20 years ago. Unfortunately, reality set in, and a: I'd need 2k in cash + 1k for the tickets, and b: at that age I'd have no hope of being a barman because I was younger than 21. If 20 years ago, you'd need the guts of 3k going, I wouldnt like to think what you would need now, although flights have gone down in price since then.

To the poster I was replying to, why save up 3K+ to go to the US, when you can get a Ryanair flight to Madrid for 50 quid, and if anything happens or you get homesick, you can be home in 3 hours. I can see why a european erasmus type trip would be more attractive.

I never went on a J1 but I'd much rather have gone back then than go these days. It's really not worth it.

Completely agree.

God forbid you think of people on visas abiding by the countries rules they require of you. Imagine if our country did the same, it would be a lot better.

Homeland Security change the rules every 5 minutes.No regulation is set in stone anymore.A bit of da auld oirish charm will probably get you deported or locked up for a spell in current conditions,if HS have any reason to doubt your creditionals,attitude.Myself returning(not in a trump era) to America was once accused of bringing my entire family to America when I presented my green card at Dublin airport.The official didn't even ask for their passports/visas before making an assumption.We were going to a relative's wedding.I had been on holiday in Ireland at the time.Imagine what would happen today-they might even wait until landing in the US to stir it.

Absolutely not and I've forbidden our 19 year old from doing so just a few weeks ago.

While I'm sure that, on balance, the USA is still a relatively safe place for a white, middle-class kid from Ireland, I'd see it as being on par with holidaying in the UAE, Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar or the like: financial and tacit moral support for an evil regime, particularly if you're planning on working there.

It's one thing to be forced to visit such places as a condition of your employment, it's quite another to choose to visit such places to watch a sporting competition, buy over-priced clothing in an air-conditioned mall in the dessert or relax on the beach.

We have freedom of movement to 27 other countries on our doorstep in Europe. Flights can be had for under €100 or you can get a ferry to France with your bike for around €200. There are countless work-stay programmes, hundreds (if not thousands) of "Irish" bars only delighted to hire someone with an Irish accent, well run campsites with great facilities, diverse cultures with thousands of years of history to explore, vastly superior food and breathtaking scenery all over the place. Why would anyone with a working moral compass choose to spend a summer in a country that's effectively declared a trade war against us instead of supporting our allies in that war instead?

So he stole it? Did he intentionally do it on the 4th of July to try maximise the offence he was trying to cause or was he just stupid.

It's clear that you love America and I understand that considering you've lived there.

However the rose tinted look on the USA that is portrayed on tv shows isn't what the younger generations see it as these days. it's no longer seen as the "land of the free" and somewhere where you can make your fortune through the "American dream".

They've elected for the 2nd time a lunatic sex offender, mass shootings continue to increase, they are actively supporting genocide in Gaza along with now basically allying with Putin.

I enjoyed my 2 holiday's to Florida when I was younger but I've have little to no interest in ever returning to America.

“However I did end up being arrested for having music too loud”

Shirley you weren’t arrested for playing Thelonius Monk’s music, no matter how loud ? 😀

it was the summer of when everyone played that californication record incessantly, every track is seared into my brain now forever much like the david gray album that was out at the same time

I don't think so, most of them have done oz/nz backtracking as tourists, they're just more interested in language immersion.

Different times we're in.

I'm actually not so sure about us being closer to the US. Eg I'm closer to my cousins in the US who are left leaning but I equally have a cousin who holds some pretty extreme and radical views by European standards, I'd have no desire to visit him and my American mother is as horrified by his politics as I am. Meanwhile I've traveled to the likes of Belgium and Germany because I have friends there, there's far less difference socially and politically speaking than I would have with many Americans including my own cousin. Similarly I have at least one cousin who has moved to Europe because he simply feels like he's far more at home in Europe.

I find that the majority of the bleedin' hearts giving out about this are attention seekers who can't not draw attention on themselves with their online presence, and thus can have no complaints if they had trouble getting a J1.

Maybe ease off on the 'opinions' if your so hell-bent on spending a summer in that hell-hole.

I think the whole Irish people being closer to Boston is disappearing. We were close for years when emigration to America was very high from Ireland. America was full of Irish people and people of Irish descent. My own family saw the majority emigrate to the US, and when I left school in the 90s, loads of friends and relatives emigrated there. Things have changed in the last 20 odd years. We are not so much like Americans, the younger generations are going to different places and just don't have the same interests as sitting in Irish bars, listening to Irish music etc