Major revisions to the J1 summer work visa

Major revisions to the J1 summer work visa Major revisions to the summer work and travel program for foreign college students (Summer Work and Travel Pr…

Major revisions to the J1 summer work visa Major revisions to the summer work and travel program for foreign college students (Summer Work and Travel Program), the State Department announced on the 4th that major revisions will be made to the J1 visa regulations of this program, aiming to strengthen the protection of foreign students, so that they can be treated appropriately, engage in jobs that interact with Americans, and are exposed to American culture, and must not be forced to do "slave labor." Some new regulations will take effect immediately, and other regulations will be implemented in November, including an important clause: foreign students participating in this program are prohibited from working in manufacturing, construction sites, agriculture and other fields, and foreign students are not allowed to work between 10 o'clock in the evening and 6 o'clock in the morning. Deputy Assistant Secretary Robin Lerner said in a statement: "The new reforms to the summer working travel program focus on strengthening the health, safety and welfare of participating students and returning the program to its main purpose: allowing international students to experience American culture." J1 visas bring in about 100,000 foreign students to live and work in the United States each summer, and they can stay for up to four months. The Associated Press investigation found that some foreign students actually work in strip clubs; some are forced to do jobs they do not want to do; and some foreign students work like slave labor. The J1 visa was created under the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961 and was well-intentioned, but the program has been abused and abused for years. After the Associated Press exposed it last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered a thorough review. The investigation found that the problem mainly lies in the lack of regulation of the third-party agencies responsible for dealing with students. The most serious abuse case was a girl who was told to work as a waitress in Virginia and was beaten and raped. He was later forced to perform striptease in Detroit; last August, dozens of students protested at the Hershey chocolate company's packaging plant in Pennsylvania, complaining that the work was too hard, rent was deducted from their salary, and they earned too little money.