J1 costs; planning...

jaymcg91 wrote: »

Nope have to be a registered full time student.

Ok thanks, is there anything similar to a J1 that's not for students
that doesn't cost an arm and leg? Have uncle living there so saving a little on accommodation

Im working with travel bug limited.
the cost for a j1 visa with us is 539 euros.
This includes:
SEVIS Fee
DS-2019
Insurance
Preparation for Visa Application and Embassy Interview
Pre-Arrival Orientation
Support of your sponsor while in the USA
Assistance with job approval by the sponsor.

Our motto is buy your own flights, This can save on average €250 per applicant!
PM me for more details.

Thats right, the embassy fee is seperate

Booked accommodation for our (rather large) group in Newport RI. We need to have it organised before we head out as we only need the lease for 2 months and with the size of our group it is rather unlikely that we would sort it out on arrival! Does take a huge amount of stress out of the whole affair though! At this stage costs for us are looking at €455 for SAYIT & embassy related charges, €621 for flights in and out of Boston, and around $1000 for accommodation including deposit

Rachel23 wrote: »

So myself and another girl are thinking of going on a J1 this year, I'll be 21 & she'll be 24. We were thinking of going to the west coast, maybe San Diego/San Fran. Becasue NY is way to expensive for rent and that ~ well so i heard!
We havent really looked into it too well, it will be our first time on a j1, and have no idea what to expect!

is it really hard to find a job, is it expensive?
oh, and if anyone would be upto it..we'd like to stay with other people to get the rent down & meet new people etc. D

were 3 21 yr old lads from galway looking to share accom in san diego. interested?

Pete123456 wrote: »

Speaking of costs...how many dollars have people bought? I got 1.20'a few weeks back but it was 1.08 today! If it goes to parity it'll be great for coming back but screw us all going over

I'd hold off on buying at the moment, even though it may still go down of everything goes tits up in Greece, but the likelyhood is that it'll reach a better price at some point between now and when you head off, right after the Greek elections and the ECB announcing quantative easing is going to be a particular through!

Pete123456 wrote: »

I spose if it's gone down so quick it could in theory go back up but I can't see it back at 1.20 before we head off. Especially seen as the big German banks are saying it'll go to parity. I guess if it came back up 5 or 6 cents it would be better than nothing! Fairly sickening to think it's come down so much in as little as a few months!

Well of course you could always buy an option on dollars if you were real finance nerd :pac:

NeilK_94 wrote: »

Hey,

Myself and a friend are planning on going on the J1 to Myrtle beach for the Summer and I was wondering if any of you could give me a heads up of how much all of this will cost by the time I get out there.

I've been looking at applying through the USIT website but it seems like they charge a lot extra just for the sake of it. How did you get out there and how much had you spent by the time you had gotten your feet on the ground.

Is it easy get jobs there and are there many Irish students there?

I'm basically wondering if I should go through the USIT system and pay all the fees or should I just apply for a work visa and go from there.

Thanks.

Hey, me and two of my friends just booked today to go to myrtle beach for the summer! We went through USIT and its working out at 977 euro flying into new york and you must book an additional connecting flight to myrtle beach which is about 180-200 euro on top of the 977. Also the embassy fee of 160, so altogether its about 1300euro for myrtle beach. Were flying out on the 21st of may and coming back the 20th of August. There are plenty of jobs there, the USIT lady said about 4000 jobs each summer for J1 students around the boardwalk in shops, restaurants etc. A major reason we chose myrtle beach was the weather! It's really hot and sunny which was exactly what we wanted! Hope this helps! If you end up deciding to go, PM me with any details you find out! No harm to have a few contacts over there!

Hi,

This is a bit of a grey area but with regards to working on the J1 (in the U.S.) can you mainly just get shop/bar/restaurant work? A lot of employment websites advertise internships but someone said a regular J1 would not allow for such a job. They said the same would apply for summer camps as it would be related to teaching...

Has anyone any experience with this?

Thanks!

thelad95 wrote: »

Looking for people with experience of having done a J1. Do you actually end up making money or do you break even/make a loss considering travelling and living expenses?

It seems to be hard to know, most people say you "break even" but some include programme fee and flights and all that in it while others don't. I suppose it also depends on whether or not you get a job that pays/tips well, how expensive your accommodation is and whether you go travelling at the end.

From my experience (NY and Chicago) you work to live on a J1. I've never come home with anything substantial as I usually work for 2 months and save up for travelling on the third. I came home from New York with $17 haha. Going to be the same for me this year in California.

Does anyone have any information on the Berkeley Student Co-op's? I may be heading over alone so I think that this would be the best option for me, rent is not too expensive & it seems pretty easy to apply etc! Has anybody else looked into this? Or stayed in one of the Co-op's before? Any info/advice on them would be greatly appreciated!


Cheers!