Work & Travel USA updates archive
our goal is to provIde transparent communication to our host employers.
concerned you missed an email? check here for an archive of recent communication and updates
winter 2021 - 2022DECEMBER 2021: eMAIL
Greetings from CIEE, We hope this email finds you well and can only imagine how busy you are as we head into what we all hope to be a busy and successful winter season. For your CIEE Work & Travel USA participants that have already arrived, we hope that they are settling in and know they are so excited to participate in this program (and what we hope to be a life changing experience for them!). With the holidays approaching we are reaching out today to share our schedule and provide guidance to you and your participants. CIEE will be closed December 23 through January 2 for the holiday break.
If you have any questions on the above, please let us know. We are so appreciative for your partnership and all that you do in supporting cultural exchange opportunities for youth around the globe. NOVEMBER 2021: EMAIL
Greetings from CIEE! We hope this email finds you well. As we near the beginning of the Winter 2021-2022 CIEE Work & Travel USA program we are sharing updates on sending countries and other important program reminders below! Please keep in mind that this information continues to evolve as visa appointments are scheduled and completed daily. Therefore, as always, we encourage you to stay in touch with your hires as they will be your best resource on their individual status. Argentina – The visa situation is positive and improving in Argentina as 80% (and climbing) of CIEE hires have been scheduled for visa appointments. Most of our participants have a World Health Organization (WHO) approved vaccine, but there may be a small number of cancellations for those who received a non-WHO approved vaccine. Brazil – Visa appointment scheduling started very recently in Brazil. To date over 70% of CIEE hires have reported appointments. Chile – Scheduling for visa appointments started late August. We anticipate that by this week all CIEE participants will have secured a visa appointment. There may be some delays in arrivals, and we ask that you remain flexible with participants who were unable to secure appointments before early December. Costa Rica – The Embassy shared in late September that they would not be moving forward with visa processing. Where possible, we have worked with you to pivot by hiring participants from other sending countries into open positions. At this point we are not anticipating any participants from Costa Rica to travel this coming winter. Malaysia – While this is a very small sending country for the winter season, all participants have received visa appointments. Paraguay – Visa appointments continue to be scheduled. At this stage over half of CIEE hires have reported visa appointments and there are no barriers to scheduling appointments. Peru – In early September it was announced that there would be 5,700 appointments available for Peru. To date, Embassy Lima has been slower to schedule visa appointments, and CIEE is continuing to engage elected representatives in advocacy efforts to secure additional appointments. Like Chile, there may be some arrival delays, and we ask that you are flexible with participants who were unable to secure appointments before early December. As you prepare for winter, please keep in mind the following: Notifications of Visa Issuance - CIEE is sending weekly email updates as participants move to Visa Approved in our system. Once a participant has been reported to you via email, they will be removed from subsequent lists so that you only receive new updates. Changes to Dates/Host Employer Site of Activity – We have reached a stage in the hiring season where changes to a host employer site of activity or work dates will only be made in extreme circumstances. These changes require adjustments to already printed DS2019 forms and updates to SEVIS that could cause participants to be without proper documentation for their visa appointments. The scheduling of visa appointments continues to be one of the largest hurdles to overcome this hiring season, and changes now could lead to delays in visa issuance and ultimately program cancelations. CIEE Vaccination Policy – As a reminder, the U.S. now requires all international travelers entering the United States to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. CIEE is requiring ALL the BridgeUSA program participants we sponsor to be fully vaccinated with a World Health Organization vaccine prior to arrival in the United States. Beginning this week, CIEE is requiring participants to attest to the fact that they have been vaccinated with an FDA or WHO approved vaccine, but we will not be collecting documentation. Due to HIPAA privacy regulations, we are unable to release specific vaccination information for individual participants, and we suggest that if you have a COVID-19 vaccination policy for housing or employment terms that you communicate what documentation participants will need to provide as part of their onboarding. Housing – As a reminder, if you do not provide housing, we ask that you provide substantial assistance to participants to secure housing prior to arrival, including providing housing leads and/or local resources. It is critical that this year all participants arrive with secured housing and if a participant reports challenges in securing housing, CIEE will offer a replacement job at a host with provided housing/support. Social Security Application Process – Many Social Security Administration offices have limited services, may require advanced appointments, and often ask that participants be in the country up to 14 days before applying in person for their Social Security Number. We ask that you reach out to your local Social Security Office in advance to see how their process may have changed due to COVID-19 precautions. As a reminder, participants may begin working with their proof of social security application in hand, before their actual card has been issued. Communicating with CIEE – While CIEE participants are at your workplace, we encourage you to first mediate any situations that may arise directly with participants. If your mediation steps do not resolve participant concerns or if any of the below situations arise, we ask that you please contact us at hire@ciee.org.
Thank you again for being on this journey with us and for your continued support of the program. If your business needs change or you are unable to host participants, please make sure to contact us at hire@ciee.org OCTOBER 2021: EMAIL
Greetings from CIEE, I hope this email finds you well. I’m writing with several winter CIEE Work & Travel USA program updates as we are 40 days out from the very first participant arrivals! Recruitment and Hiring This week marks the end of our winter 2021-22 hiring. We thank you for the extraordinary placements that you offered this season. Increased wages, housing, and staff benefits such as ski passes, have given participants many great choices and made your jobs incredibly competitive. A few important details:
Pulling a Roster of Hires: To view you a roster of your hires, please log into the CIEE Host Portal. For a refresher on how to pull a roster, please visit the Winter 2021-22 page on our Host Employer Resource Center (password: ciee) for a video tutorial and written instructions. Visa Outlook: CIEE continues to closely monitor visa appointment availability in our winter sending countries. While we expect that pandemic-related conditions will continue to impact the program in some ways, we are optimistic that this winter season will be more robust than what we have seen in the last 18 months. The State Department shared that they anticipate at least 50% of participants will be able to secure embassy interviews for this winter season – an average across all countries and sponsors. They continue to recognize the important role the Summer Work Travel program plays domestically and beyond and have committed to work closely with Consular Affairs to bridge visa issuance challenges. Anecdotally, we are more optimistic than 50%.
We know this information creates uncertainty and makes it challenging to fully plan for your season. We are committed to updating you as we know more and, beginning in the coming weeks, we will email you weekly as participants are granted visas. Vaccines and Travel: As shared last month, the U.S. plans to open travel for all vaccinated foreign nationals in early November. Today, it was reported that this federal policy will go in effect on November 8 and all foreign nationals will be required to show that they have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO). We do not believe this will greatly impact travel for our winter participants. The vast majority have received or have access to a COVID-19 vaccine listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO). Additionally, effective November 1, 2021, CIEE will require ALL BridgeUSA program participants we sponsor to be fully vaccinated prior to arrival in the United States. Tips for a Successful Program As we wrap up hiring, we have shifted focus to supporting participants while they are here in the U.S. A few best practices you should implement now to help with a smooth start to your winter season include:
Thank you for your partnership with CIEE and support of cultural exchange! We are looking forward to continuing to rebuild this invaluable program as we enter the winter 2021-22 season with you. Should you have any questions, please contact us at hire@ciee.org. We will be in touch again with any relevant updates and for an official season kick-off in the coming weeks! SEPTEMBER 2021: WEBINAR
September 9: Updates on
august 2021: email
** emailed 8/27/2021 Greetings from CIEE, I hope this message finds you well. I’m writing with updates on the Winter 2021-22 CIEE Work & Travel USA program. Please Join our Live Webinar on Thursday, September 9 at 1:00 PM EST We ask that you join us on Thursday, September 9 at 1:00 PM EST for a live webinar where will share the latest updates on the Winter 2021-22 CIEE Work & Travel USA program. PLEASE REGISTER HERE Throughout the pandemic, CIEE has remained focused on providing clear and transparent communication and believe that our webinar format allows the best opportunities to connect with our host employers, answer your questions and provide clear, updated and consistent messaging to all. We hope you can join us live, but a recording will be available, upon request. Winter Visa Issuance It is still not clear whether all embassies will open normally for J-1 visa issuance. It is our understanding, as we continue to work closely on this issue, embassies hope to shift resources to Summer Work Travel visa processing soon and that the important role these programs play is very much recognized. To date, Chile and Paraguay have announced visa interview appointment schedules, while Argentina and Peru have not. Costa Rica initially planned on interviews, but recently the U.S. embassy has unofficially cited staffing shortages as a barrier to proceeding with the program. We anticipate that more changes are ahead and that flexibility will be key. We will discuss the CIEE strategy to maximize participation during the webinar on September 9. Potential Action by the Administration It has been widely reported in the media that the Biden administration is planning to require nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The timing and details of any such action are unclear, but it may be that this will impact the Winter 2021-22 CIEE Work & Travel USA program. We are tracking vaccination rates globally as part of our work. Advocacy In collaboration with the Coalition for American Public Diplomacy and Leadership, the CIEE advocacy team is working with Congress, the White House, and the Department of State, to ensure that government officials understand the implications of visa issuance for economic recovery and the long-term sustainability of BridgeUSA programs, like CIEE Work & Travel USA. This advocacy work is currently very focused on the upcoming winter season. While our updates today do not include any specific advocacy asks, stay tuned as we finalize our upcoming campaign. Your voice plays a critical role in our efforts and we appreciate your participation. We understand the incredible importance of this program to your business, especially during these times, and remain invested in our efforts for a successful winter program and the future health of this program. We know that the uncertainty around J-1 visa issuance is making your job more difficult. CIEE is here to help and we are hard at work maximizing participation in Work & Travel USA. We will send further updates as we have them and we look forward to seeing you on September 9. Thank you again for your commitment to BridgeUSA programs. |
summer 2022March: Webinar
During this webinar, we share program, sending country, and embassy updates and answer any questions from our hosts!
FEBRUARY: WEBINAR
February 9: Updates on
JANUARY 2021: EMAIL
Greetings from CIEE! I am pleased to share that hiring is underway for Summer 2022 Work & Travel USA and you have participants placed at your business for this upcoming summer. Recruitment efforts will continue through April, and we are working hard to fill all your jobs with qualified participants. Your new staff members are very excited to work for you this summer and will likely contact you in the coming weeks. Please send a Welcome Email to your participants! They are looking forward to hearing from you and learning more about what they can expect during their program. Please see the below CIEE updates and resources: Pulling rosters to see a list of your hired participants - Please reference our Host Employer Resource Center (password: ciee) for instructions on how to pull a hire report in CIEE Host Portal or reference this video. Notifications of Visa Issuance - CIEE will send updates to host employers when new participants report a Visa Approved in our system.
Additional Resources – Please check our Host Employer Resource Center (password: ciee) for additional resources to best prepare you to welcome your participants this summer! We recommend that you explore the Participant Experience & Support tab for more information! Enhanced Host Employer Vetting Requirements in light of COVID-19 – As we continue to operate amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we ask all host employers adhere to the below set of expectations/best practices developed by CIEE. If you do not feel that you can commit to the below expectations, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing hire@ciee.org. As all host employers and communities are different, we may also be reaching out to you directly with a few location specific questions.
Thank you again for being on this journey with us and for your continued support of the program. If your business needs change or you are unable to host participants, please make sure to contact us at hire@ciee.org August 2021: Summer: sign up now!
Greetings from CIEE! We are excited and ready to plan for Summer 2022! We have been on a journey together over the last few seasons and it is time to look towards the future. Our International Representative Network is reporting high participant interest for Summer 2022. This coupled with all of the advocacy work done leading up to this point gives us the confidence that we are in the position to rebuild and reemerge stronger than ever. This is what we have all been working towards. Please join us! Next Steps:
We look forward to planning with you soon! Look out 2022… here we come! Kind Regards, CIEE Employer Relations Team MAY 2022: SUMMER UPDATES & WEBINAR
Greetings from CIEE! We hope this email finds you well! While this recruitment season continued to provide a few hurdles, we are all very excited to welcome CIEE Work & Travel USA participants hired for summer 2022 very soon. To prepare you for the summer ahead, please read below for important program updates and information. As always, thank you for being on this journey with us and for all that you do to support global exchange. Join Us for a LIVE Webinar: CIEE Work & Travel USA Summer Kick-Off Please join us Wednesday, May 11 at 3 pm EDT for a live webinar to kick-off our Summer 2022 season! In the webinar we will be sharing updates on:
If you are unable to attend, a recording of the webinar will be available on CIEE’s Host Resource Center here (password: ciee) after our live session. Communicate with Participants We encourage all hosts to send a welcome email to participants! Please include specific details on transportation to your location, what to bring, and any COVID-19 specific arrival requirements. Participants are the best source of information regarding visa approval updates and flight details. We encourage you to ask participants to keep you updated on steps leading up to arrival. Connect with Your Local Social Security Office Now is a good time to connect with your local Social Security Office to start planning your summer appointments. We have found that every office has continued to operate a little differently around pandemic levels and, in some cases, remaining restrictions have impacted normal operations. Knowing any different operating procedures early will help make the process smoother this summer and avoid any surprises! As a reminder, participants are eligible to begin working prior to applying for and receiving their Social Security number. SEVIS Registration – Upcoming Changes! All exchange visitors must register with SEVIS when they arrive in the U.S. and keep it up to date with their address and employer information. CIEE’s SEVIS registration process is changing. In the coming weeks, participants will be able to register in SEVIS directly from their CIEE Beacon Portal. We will notify you when this change has been implemented and provide you with additional instructions so that you can support participants with questions. Until further notification, participants should call CIEE at 1-888-268-6245 to register in SEVIS during business hours (9am – 5pm EDT, Monday – Friday). MAY 2022: SUMMER KICKOFF & SEVIS
May 11 webinar:
Social Security: Update Social Security Administration (SSA) recently shared a newly released online application that can now be used for first-time social security card applicants – https://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/. While this is new for this summer, CIEE’s understanding is that participants will submit their documents online and then will have 45 days to visit their local SSA office with their original documentation before a card is issued. As always, we recommend that you are in contact with your local SSA office on location specific processes. The SSA asked us to stress the importance of having and entering a good address or even in care of address to receive the card, before completing and submitting the application. This will prevent visitors from having to visit the SSA multiple times for non-receipt issues. The post office cannot deliver the card if the applicant is unknown at the address.
While CIEE participants are at your workplace, we encourage you to first mediate any situations that may arise directly with participants. If your mediation steps do not resolve participant concerns or if any of the below situations arise, we ask that you please contact the Host Employer Relations Team at hire@ciee.org or 207-553-4295.
As a reminder, our emergency line for participants is monitored 24/7 at 888-268-6245. |
general updatesdECEMBER 2021: END OF YEAR EMAIL
Greetings from CIEE! This note is a little different from my typical updates and we hope you will find the information helpful, timely, and inspiring! As always, the below includes a few action items for your attention. After facing unprecedented challenges related to the pandemic, navigating change, and weathering an unpredictable storm, we are nearing the holiday season, and we wanted to celebrate some amazing wins and share our gratitude with you. Our incredible host employer partnerships through this pandemic made the wins possible and we look forward to building the next chapter together! 5 WINS WE ARE CELEBRATING THIS YEAR!
ACTION ITEMS As we round the corner into 2022, here are your action items! Winter 2021-2022: If you are hosting winter 2021-22 participants:
Summer 2022
On behalf of the entire CIEE community and those participants you have directly impacted, thank you! Your support and partnership have kept us inspired and lifted through these challenging times and we are excited to celebrate our shared wins with you! As always, please contact us at hire@ciee.org with any questions. September 2021: COVID-19 Vaccine requirements for travel
** Emailed 9/24/2021 ** Greetings from CIEE, I am writing today to share updates regarding this week’s announcement by the Biden Administration requiring COVID-19 vaccines for travelers to the U.S. We see this as good news as we anticipate that travel restrictions will be dropped starting in early November and all foreign nationals will be required to show that they have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO). The full details of the policy have not yet been released. We will be back in touch once that happens. Based on our analysis, we believe that there is strong demand for BridgeUSA programs, including CIEE Work & Travel USA, and that most prospective participants have been, or will be, vaccinated. Ultimately, we see this as a positive indication that the U.S. is safely reopening to travel again, including to a more robust CIEE Work & Travel USA program. CIEE is also adopting a vaccination policy and all our CIEE Work & Travel USA participants must be vaccinated to participate on the program, including this upcoming Winter 2021-22 season. We are looking forward to our 2022 programs and encourage you to schedule a call with CIEE in the coming weeks to discuss and finalize your summer hiring strategy. Thank you, as always for your partnership and commitment to cultural exchange. Kind Regards, |
