As an Intern you will be currently enrolled in full time post-secondary studies or have graduated within the last 12 months. Your placement in the US will help bridge the gap between formal education and practical work experience and be a period of work-based learning to help you develop practical skills to support your future career.

As a Trainee you will have graduated from a post-secondary institution and have one year of relevant work experience or have five years of relevant work experience. Your placement in the US will provide you with work-based training to enhance your skills in your academic/occupational field. 

As a Trainee or Intern in the US you will follow a structured Training Plan which is designed to enhance your professional skills in your occupational or academic field. This is a professional position, tailored to you and your existing educational and work experience. Your time as a Trainee or Intern will build on these skills in an American workplace and upskill you in preparation for a related career back home. As a camp counsellor you spend up to nine weeks working directly with children or teaching a specialist skill.  As a Trainee and Intern at a camp you will be in a higher-level position and exposed to the business workings of camp such as recruitment of staff and campers, staff management, camp programming, maintenance and dining service etc depending on your previous experience. You can spend up to 18 months as a Trainee and up to 12 months as an Intern. 

Camp America Trainee and Intern focuses on offering placement within camp organisations or organisations linked with them. If you have an amazing Intern or Trainee opportunity in a different business area then please contact us so we can link you with our related programme focusing on these opportunities. 

The first programme payment of £300/USD 375 is non-refundable in all circumstances. Further payments are generally non-refundable, however some discretion may be considered for additional payments based on reason for cancellation such as medical conditions supported by physicians’ documents. Please contact [email protected] for consideration. 

Yes, as long as we have confirmation that you have successfully completed the Camp America programme, it does not matter what year this was in. 

If you have participated in the Camp America programme within the last 12 months we may be able to accept your references, Police Check and Medical Form. You will be contacted to confirm whether your previously submitted documents meet our requirements or if you will need to supply updates.

Ideally you should apply at least 2-3 months ahead of your expected start date in the US to ensure that you have enough time to complete all paperwork and book a suitable visa slot. We will do our best to assist with tight deadlines between application and camp start date, however please be aware that some steps are out of our hands. Referees can take time to reply, Police Checks can take up to 8 weeks to be returned and Training Plans take time to complete. Availability at a suitable US Embassy or Consulate can also be limited, particularly in April-June time and your passport/visa can take up to 10 working days to be issued. Please communicate with our office if your start date is less than 8 weeks after application submission via [email protected]

Once you have completed your application, submitted the required paperwork, agreed a position with an employer/camp and they have completed your Training Plan which has been signed by all parties we will issue your visa paperwork. You will receive a DS2019 form via email with supporting documents and detailed instructions about how to book a J-1 visa appointment at a suitable Embassy/Consulate. Please check your emails once you reach this stage for full details.

Your Training Plan (DS-7002) is one of the most important programme documents, this will be issued to you electronically and forms part of your visa paperwork. You should spend time before your visa appointment learning this in detail! Your Training Plan outlines your role whilst on the programme, it details the skills you will learn, who will be supervising you, what cultural experiences you will be exposed to and how you will be evaluated. This is completed by your camp with input from you. It’s split into different phases depending on the length of your programme, with each phase focusing on a different training opportunity/job role. It will also detail your compensation and any benefits. 

Any payment is agreed directly between you and your camp and should be a discussion as part of your job role. It will be detailed on your Training Plan along with any other benefits that you may receive such as accommodation or food allowance. You should be paid at least the minimum wage whilst on the programme and payment is more likely to be in line with a salary so starting at approx. USD 24,000 for a 12-month programme. Any payment is subject to local taxation, further details are provided in your Orientation materials and will be emailed to you closer to the tax deadline in April. 

Yes, your spouse and dependents (unmarried children under the age of 21) may be able to apply for the J-2 non-immigrant visa, linked with your J-1 visa. If you plan to have someone join you whilst on your programme please contact us at [email protected] once you have submitted your initial application. We will require additional information from any J-2 potential visa applicants to support their visa application. We will let you know the detailed next steps once all requested information has been received. 

Unless you meet the State Department criteria it is unlikely that you will be subject to the two-year home presence requirement, however final determination of this is made by the Consular Officer who processes your visa and they can add this at their discretion. Please review your visa once received. Please see this link for criteria for this requirement: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange/waiver-of-the-exchange-visitor/eligibility.html

Separately please note that to ‘repeat’ participation on a Trainee program or move from an Intern to a Trainee program you will need to reside outside of the US for two years before reapplication.

No, you will need to arrange all of your own travel to the US and back home once your programme ends. We suggest you do not make any non-changeable flight bookings until you have received your visa. Please confirm all flight details with your camp and confirm with them the date and time of your arrival as well as the correct airport to land into! You should also discuss how to get to camp once you have landed. Google flights is a great place to start searching for your flights and you can always contact us for advice at [email protected]. 

Accommodation should be arranged with your camp and form part of your discussions when agreeing your position. Most camps will have accommodation on site that you will be able to stay in for the off-season, some camps may relocate staff to other facilities. This should all be agreed before your departure, so make sure to ask where you will be staying, what the facilities will be like (they may be basic but expect bathroom/kitchen etc), will you move during your time on the programme, will you be sharing with others etc. Support with accommodation is expected throughout your time on the programme, if you are struggling to confirm this with your camp/employer then please do contact us for assistance. 

You can enter the US up to 30 days prior to your camp start date. This time is for travelling and exploring the US, you cannot work. Please email us your flight date once booked so we can make sure your Group Cover starts on the correct date to include this time. You also have up to 30 days to travel and explore the US once your programme has ended.

Please check the visa stamp in your passport to confirm that it has an ‘M’, we would expect this to be present. If so it means that you can leave and re-enter the US during your programme dates for no longer than 30 days at one time. This is NOT applicable for your travel time (30-day Grace period) before and after your programme start/end dates. If you leave during this time you will need to re-enter the US on an alternative visa/ESTA.

If you plan to travel out of the US during your programme dates to a non-bordering country/island (see list below for bordering countries/islands) you must contact us so we can add a Travel Validation signature to your DS2019 form (Certificate of Eligibility), without this you will not be able to re-enter. Please email [email protected] at least 2 weeks prior to your planned travel so we can update this for you.

Countries which do not require a travel validation signature: Canada, Mexico, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Miquelon, Saint Pierre Martinique, Trinidad, The Windward & Leeward Islands, and other British, French, Netherlands territories or possessions in or bordering on the Caribbean Sea. 

Yes, however there are certain conditions that you must meet to be able to participate again. Any additional Trainee or Inten programmes must focus on exposing you to different and more advanced skills or a be in a different field of expertise.  

As an Intern you must still be enrolled in full-time studies at a degree or certificate granting post-secondary institution outside of the US or have graduated no more than 12 months prior to the start of your programme start date. You may also seek a new internship opportunity if you have started study at the next level e.g. moved onto a masters degree from a bachelors degree. 

To apply for a secondary Trainee programme or to apply for a Trainee programme after participating in an Intern programme, you must reside outside of the US for at least two years after completing your initial Intern/Trainee programme before reapplying.  

There's nothing regulatory that we are aware of that would prevent you doing this, however as with any J visa and especially repeated J-1 visas you should just make sure you are thoroughly prepared for your Embassy appointment before attending. It could be a longer interview and you should be ready to be able to demonstrate a significant tie to your home country/solid plans to leave the US after camp finishes and also be ready to possibly explain why you are returning to the US on a 'lower' skill level programme. There are no guarantees but we would hope that you would be successful and would welcome an application through Camp America.