Step by Step to your J1 Work Travel Visa in the USA
We welcome you to choose Intrax as the sponsor organization for your J1 visa. We are ready to issue the DS-2019 form for you. Just follow the 8 simple steps below to enable us to confirm your compliance with J1 visa requirements. If you are looking for more details, please check the full description of each step below.
Register for the Intrax J1 Visa Service
Start your J1 Work and Travel Visa application on MyIntraxPortal.
Documents
You can proceed sending us your documents via email (worktravel@intrax.de).
Webcam Interview and Program Fees
We will conduct an interview to answer any last questions and confirm that you meet the English requirement. We will then invoice the program fees and your registration becomes binding.
Validation Call and DS-2019 Document
In a validation call with your J1 host company, Intrax will confirm all placement details and the eligibility of the position. The DS-2019 will be issued soon after the call.
Pre-Departure Orientation and J1 Visa Interview
The Intrax Pre-Departure Orientation is conducted online. We will provide you with all necessary documents concerning the interview at the U.S. Consulate or Embassy.
J1 Visa and Flight
After approx. 5 - 7 business days, you will receive your passport including your visa, DS-2019 and DS-7002. Your flight should only be booked at this point. Your J1 visa will get activated upon entry.
Start Your Program
The Intrax program manual is available for you in your MyIntrax Profile. Enjoy your stay, learn a lot, and keep in touch! We appreciate feedback, impressions and notes from the road.
Step 1: Register for the Intrax J1 Visa Service
Your MyIntrax profile contains your personal data as in the passport. Since the DS-2019 form is issued on this basis, the registration must be correct and complete. In addition, your profile includes information about your field of study, potentially prior work experience, hobbies, skills, and your J1 host company, so that Intrax can contact your supervisor and confirm your position.
You can stop the registration at any time and continue later or change information. Your MyIntrax profile serves as a communication base throughout your program.
Apply Now for Your J1 Visa
Ready for Step 1? Would you like to apply right now for our J1 Visa Service? If you are a student who has found a summer job at a U.S. company, we welcome you to apply with us for a J1 Work Travel Visa.
Step 2: Send us Your Documents
These are the documents we need from you:
Copy of your passport: Page with personal data only. If you are a citizen of a member of the “six-month club“, your passport only needs to be valid as long as you stay in the USA. For all others, it needs to be valid for six months beyond the program end date.
English test results: For non-native speakers: ONLINE English Test Level 2. The test only takes approximately 35 minutes and is free of charge. Alternatively, a TOEFL test no older than two years. Please forward your results to worktravel@intrax.de
Participant Eligibility Form: Please do not fill in the field "Intrax ID". Please print, sign with a pen, scan and send via email.
Certificate of Enrollment/University Letter including an informal English translation.
Job Placement Agreement: You can use this form to collect the employer information which you need to know to complete your MyIntraxProfile. (We do not need the form itself.)
Workers Compensation Policy: Please collect from your host company
Business License: Please collect from your host company
Contract Work Travel USA J1 Visa: Please sign.
For your attention: Intrax Terms and Conditions (You will sign these online)
Step 3: Interview and Program Fees
Once we have verified that your documents and the host company’s documents are complete and meet the J1 visa guidelines, we arrange an interview with you. This serves to answer any last questions you might have and to confirm that you fulfill the English language requirement. We need to verify that your English skills are advanced enough for communication with supervisors, employees and customers.
After the interview, we will invoice you the J1 program fees. Only at this point does your registration become binding, meaning that a cancelation would, from then, entail fees.
Step 4: Validation Call and DS-2019 Document
Upon receipt of your payment, Intrax as J1 visa sponsor will conduct the final evaluation of all documents. Intrax will contact your host company to confirm the eligibility of your position. After the validation call, your DS-2019 will be issued.
Step 5: Pre-Departure Orientation and J1 Visa Interview
Intrax headquarters will now notify you to login into your MyIntrax profile…
… to conduct the Intrax Online Pre-Departure Orientation.
… enter the visa interview date at the U.S. Consulate.
… indicate the date when you received the J1 visa.
… specify your flight details.
We send you…
… your SEVIS ID number (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) so that you can arrange an appointment with the US Consulate.
... guidelines on how to fill in the visa application form (DS-160) for the U.S. Consulate.
... information concerning the embassy interviews and the payment of the consulate fee.
... Information on how to print the SEVIS payment receipt (Intrax paid the $35 for you at this time).
... Information about the program on site: check-in, contact person, social security card, travel, change of address etc.
On the website of the US Embassy you can also read which documents you should bring to the meeting at the U.S. Consulate. Please check the wait times for the J1 visa interview at the U.S. Consulates close to you.
Step 6: J1 Visa and Flight
The interview at the US Consulate takes place in English and usually only takes a few minutes. Please bring the following documents for the visa application:
Signed DS-2019
Confirmation form of the online application form DS-160
Copy of J1 visa interview appointment containing the proof of payment of the consular fee
Proof of payment of the SEVIS fee
passport photo
passport
Your home ties and your future career plans in your home country might be addressed during the interview. The J1 visa program is not an immigration visa and you will be expected to return to your home country once your program ends.
After approx. 5 - 7 business days, you will receive your passport including your visa, DS-2019 and training plan DS-7002.
Flight ticket
Please note that the U.S. Embassy advises to book the flight only at this point. No one is liable for delaying the issuance of the visa and for fees related to a flight change.
Housing
Many host companies for work & travel students offer staff housing (basic, usually shared rooms) for relatively low costs. If not, they will surely help you with tips and direct you to housing websites relevant for the area.
Step 7: Start Your Work and Travel Program
The Intrax program manual is available for you in your MyIntrax Profile. Please use it as a resource for important information about your time during your J1 summer job or work travel job.
When entering the USA, you need your passport with the visa and the attached DS-2019. You must also provide your first address in the USA. Your J1 visa will get activated upon entry.
It is very important that you do the check-in in the MyIntrax portal within three days since Intrax needs to update your whereabouts in the SEVIS database of the U.S. government. Please also react to the feedback notifications every month so that Intrax can fulfill the monitoring tasks as a J1 sponsor.
Social Security Card
You need a Social Security Card. You can apply for this card approximately 4-5 days after your check-in in the USA. For further information on the Social Security Card (SSC), please refer to the Intrax program manual. For the Social Security Card application, you need the DS-2019, the I-94 number, and your passport. If you have already applied for a Social Security Card in the US you do not have to apply for a new one, just make sure you know your SSC number. The Social Security number is valid for a lifetime!
Another general note: The Social Security Card and the Social Security number noted on it is often used in the USA as a form of identification. You might need to provide this number, for example, if you want to open a bank account or purchase a mobile phone contract.
Enjoy your stay, learn a lot, keep in touch and perhaps add a link to us when writing a blog. We appreciate feedback, impressions and notes from the road.