July 13, 2012-- Annual Allotment/Sponsorship Priority Policy
Every J-1 sponsor designated by the US Department of State is given an allotment of DS-2019 forms for the calendar year. This Certificate of Eligibility form is the required document for the J-1 visa applicant.
In January 2012, the US Department of State announced that the annual allotments for each designated sponsor would be based on the number of J-1 participants who entered the United States on the respective program in 2011. Sponsors would be able to request program expansions in addition to this base number.
The American Immigration Council has requested and been granted a program expansion over the 2011 arrivals.
However, due to an improved economy, a decrease in active designated sponsors, and increased awareness of the J-1 visa, a record number of applications for J-1 sponsorship have been submitted during the first half of the calendar year.
To best serve our excellent existing host organizations, we are implementing a priority policy [1] regarding which applications will be considered for J-1 sponsorship.
New applications will be considered based on the following priorities:
First priority: Applications that have already been reserved for existing host sites and AILA members. For the remainder of 2012, no further applications are being added to the reserved list.
Second priority: As space is available, excellent applications for programs at US organizations that have successfully hosted J-1 programs with the American Immigration Council in the past. Currently, space is available only in the event of cancellations from the reserved list.
Third priority: If space is available, excellent applications sent to the American Immigration Council via members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Currently, unless there are major policy changes at the Department of State, we do not anticipate additional space opening for new host organizations.
Due to the limited remaining allotment, only extremely strong applications for training and internship programs will be considered.
Thank you for your interest in our programs and please do not hesitate to contact us at 202.507.7500 or send us an email at [email protected] [2] with any questions you may have.