US Student visa program: New rules, same problems. Jackson, Mississippi: The State Department is publicly acknowledging that one of its most popular exchange programs leaves foreign college students vulnerable to exploitation, but it's unclear if new regulations the agency is pushing will do enough to stop the abuses. The revised rules aim to shift more responsibility onto the 5. J- 1 Summer Work Travel Program. Historically, many sponsors have farmed out those duties to third- party contractors, making the sponsors .
Yet the new regulations would require little or no direct oversight by State Department employees, leaving sponsors free to continue policing themselves and their partners. The changes are to take effect July 1. Students visiting under J- 1 visas make ideal victims since they are here temporarily and may not know how to seek help. An Associated Press investigation published six months ago found that many participants paid thousands of dollars to come to the US, only to learn the jobs they were promised didn't exist. Some had to share beds in crowded houses or apartments, charged so much for lodging and transportation that they took home no pay.
Others turned to the sex industry, while some sought help from homeless shelters. In posting the proposed new rules, State Department officials detailed problems that largely mirrored the AP's findings, then blamed lack of oversight by the sponsors, and expressed confidence the changes will help clean up the program. A review of the new regulations shows they have few teeth, however.
Student Visa Program Trendsource
While the changes spell out how sponsors are to vet third- party brokers and how often they are to touch base with visiting students, the rules are vague on how vigorously the State Department will check to verify those duties are done. The department will conduct a spot check of the biggest sponsors - - but the agency has a little more than a dozen employees who keep track of this and other foreign exchange programs, which handle more than 3. Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that plans to publish a report on the program. While the State Department acknowledged that housing and living conditions have been a problem, there's nothing in the new regulations that addresses oversight of those issues. The revised policies also contain no mention of penalties if sponsors are found lacking. State Department spokesman John Fleming said rules already on the books allow sanctions ranging from written reprimands to revocation of sponsors' designations.
But the department also acknowledged that no Summer Work Travel sponsor has ever been removed from the program for its treatment of students, despite years of complaints of exploitation and deplorable living and working conditions, according to documents obtained by the AP. And only a few sponsors have ever been reprimanded, according to the State Department. They're not worth the paper they're written on. It brought more than 1. United States last year alone.
Australia's migration trends 2011–12. Implementation of the recommendations from the Knight Review of Australia’s Student visa program started in November 2011. Joint Media Release with Chris Bowen MP Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and Senator Chris Evans Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations. Minister for Immigration and.
After outlining the legal framework for different forms of study in the section Student Visa Categories. International students in the United States on an F-1 visa are. Student and Exchange Visitor Program by the. WHAT IS THE STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM (SEVP)? The Student and Exchange Visitor Program. State-designated exchange visitor program sponsors and J-1 visa exchange visitor.
Student Visa Program Trends For 2016
Participation has increased dramatically over the last decade, but so have the problems. In one of the worst cases unearthed by the AP, at least two J- 1 students from Ukraine were beaten and forced to work in strip clubs in Detroit. One said she was raped by her captors.
Students have been used to launder money stolen from US banks, and women forced into the sex industry through the J- 1 program often come from Eastern Europe. The State Department, again shifting blame, said in the Federal Register that it wanted to publish the proposed rules changes sooner but waited after sponsors complained they had already signed contracts to provide workers this season to resorts and other employers. More recently, the AP obtained emails between several Thai students and their sponsoring organization, the International YMCA, based in New York. The emails said 1. Florida Panhandle in a mobile home infested with cockroaches and rodents. The Thai students complained to US Rep. Jeff Miller, R- Fla., saying they were afraid of a third- party labor broker, Ivan Lukin, who arranged for their housing and jobs.
- TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MOBILITY 3 World Education Services 2012 Executive Summary A new environment of budgetary cuts and increasing competition is forcing many institutions to become strategic and deliberate in their.
- Statistics released in the annual Student Visa Program Trends report show that student visa numbers have experienced a return to sustainable growth in the last two years. This is part of a broader trend during the past 10.
- The program was made even more attractive last year. International Student Mobility Trends 2015: An Economic Perspective.
- The Australian government has released the first comprehensive report on the student visa program providing an invaluable insight into emerging student visa trends, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, said.
- Start Application immediately. The F1 visa is for students attending a full-time degree or academic program at a school. Qualifications for F1 visa student status.
- Background to the student visa program - continued Ability to work Student visas include a visa condition that, once the course has commenced, allows most students to work for up to 40 hours per fortnight while their course is.
They said Lukin threatened them with deportation when they complained, and that the State Department and the International YMCA did little to help them. Lukin and fear for our personal safety, but the YMCA has dismissed our concerns, even after we have informed them of our fears. Yet Florida police warned the State Department as far back as 2.
Lukin was subjecting students to crowded living conditions in violation of housing codes, according to emails obtained by the AP. There also were concerns the students weren't being paid. Lukin declined to comment about the allegations.
He said he would only answer questions by email. The AP sent him questions, but he didn't respond. At first, the YMCA said.