+ Au Pair

The Au Pair program connects American families with young people from around the world for an exciting, life-changing cultural exchange experience. Au pairs provide valuable childcare services for American families and introduce American children to the wider world by sharing their culture. Au pairs gain an in-depth understanding of the American way of life by living and interacting with their host families.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS: Au Pair participants are adventurous young people with childcare experience who want to live with an American family and provide care to the family’s children while immersing themselves in American culture and improving their English language skills.

PROGRAM PLACEMENTS: Host families are typically middle-class American families with working parents and multiple children. For the duration of the program and beyond, au pairs become extended family members. They join their host family for meals, social events, vacations, milestones and other activities.

KEY PROGRAM REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS:

• Au pairs must be between 18 and 26 when they arrive in the U.S.
• Au pairs can provide childcare related work for a maximum of 10 hours per day, and 45 hours per week.
• All au pairs and host families undergo a comprehensive vetting procedure that includes background checks, an in-person interview, and vetting of childcare references
• Au pairs must complete not less than six semester hours of academic credit in formal educational settings at accredited U.S. post-secondary institutions
• Au pairs can stay in the U.S. for up to 12 months, and can extend their program one time for an additional 12 months.

+ Camp Counselor

International camp counselors have a rich history of working at American summer camps. Camp counselors take leadership and support roles at summer camps across the country. They creatively engage with American children, adults, peers, families, and communities from different ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS: Camp counselor participants represent a diverse population of qualified students, teachers, and youth workers. Many have specialized skills they teach to campers. Counselors may work at U.S. camps during the summer only, and are directly responsible for the supervision of American youth.

PROGRAM PLACEMENTS: Camp counselors work at summer camps that are either accredited, members of the American Camp Association (ACA), affiliated with a nationally-recognized non-profit organization, and/or have been inspected, evaluated, and approved by an exchange sponsor organization.

KEY PROGRAM REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS:

• Participants must not displace American workers and must receive pay and benefits commensurate with their American coworkers.  
• Placements are thoroughly vetted and approved before participant arrival.
• Host camps must provide frequent cultural exchange opportunities
• Participants may not be placed in roles such as administrative personnel, cooks, or menial laborers, such as dishwashers or janitors.
• Participants can stay in the U.S. no longer than 4 months.

+ Intern and Trainee

American companies increasingly see professionally-based exchange programs as integral to their operations and success in the global market. The BridgeUSA Intern and Trainee programs were established in 2007 to meet this need while also providing hands-on exposure to American business practices to qualified international participants.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS: International interns are either currently enrolled in postgraduate studies or have recently completed their undergraduate degree. Internships may last up to 12 months.

Trainee participants are young professionals with a degree or certificate and often as much as five years of work experience in their fields. Training positions may last up to 18 months.

PROGRAM PLACEMENTS: Interns and trainees must intern or train in their field of study or experience. For a full list of approved industries in which participants may intern or train, please refer to the U.S. Department of State.

KEY PROGRAM REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS:

• Participants may not displace American workers or serve to fill a labor need.
• Host employers and participants must complete, and have approved by their exchange program sponsor, a training plan to ensure that exchange participants obtain professional skills and knowledge.
• Host organizations must agree to provide interns or trainees with opportunities to supplement their work experience with classroom training, seminars, rotation through several different departments, attendance at conferences, or similar learning experiences.
• Program sponsors and host organizations must actively facilitate cultural exchange opportunities for participants.

+ Summer Work Travel

For more than 50 years, international university students have come to the U.S. to experience American culture for up to four months, underwriting the cost of their experience with temporary and seasonal job placements, typically in hospitality and tourism industries. Seasonal communities across the U.S. not only welcome these participants, but also have come to depend on them to fill otherwise unfilled temporary positions. The Summer Work Travel (SWT) program also affords international participants the opportunity to explore the vast and diverse beauty of the U.S. for up to 30 days after their job placement ends.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS: SWT participants are international university students who live, work, and travel in America during their summer breaks. Their J-1 visa allows them to be in the U.S. for no more than four months, after which they return home to continue their studies.

PROGRAM PLACEMENTS: SWT placements are typical summer jobs. They are seasonal, temporary, entry-level, and in tourist areas such as beaches, ski resorts, and National Parks.

KEY PROGRAM REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS:

• Participants must be currently enrolled college students.
• Participants must be paid the same as their American coworkers.
• Placements must not displace American workers.
• Placements must be vetted and approved before students arrive.
• Placements must provide contact with Americans, facilitate language learning, and offer cultural exchange opportunities.

+ Teacher

The BridgeUSA Teacher program provides an opportunity to welcome skilled educators from around the globe into American classrooms, while enriching domestic students' learning experiences with cultural diversity, international perspectives, and new teaching practices.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS: Educators selected for the BridgeUSA Teacher program are experienced professionals from around the world who wish to enrich their teaching skills, gain exposure to the American education system, and are willing to facilitate and engage in cross-cultural learning activities.

PROGRAM PLACEMENTS: Participants are hosted by U.S. schools, including pre-K (language immersion only), elementary, and high schools, for up to three years.

KEY PROGRAM REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS:

• Participants must possess relevant teaching qualifications and experience.
• Placements must be vetted and approved before participants arrive.
• Teaching positions must be temporary and not lead to a tenure.
• Participants must be compensated the same as their American colleagues.
• Participants must engage in and facilitate cross-cultural activities at their host institutions during their time in the U.S.

+ High School

American high school exchanges are a fundamental part of U.S. public diplomacy efforts and some of the U.S. government’s earliest grassroots exchanges, having begun in significant numbers following the Second World War. The BridgeUSA Secondary School Student program enriches American classrooms by enabling young people to travel to the U.S. to live with an American host family and study at a U.S. high school.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS: International secondary school students are between the ages of 15 and 18.5 years of age or have not finished more than 11 years of primary and secondary school when they begin their program. Their course of study and stay with a host family can be for one or two academic semesters.

PROGRAM PLACEMENTS: Secondary students are required to be enrolled and participating in a full course of study at an accredited academic institution. Those hosting students are required to provide adequate living space, three quality meals a day and transportation to and from school activities.

KEY PROGRAM REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS:

• Exchange students may not be employed on either a full or part-time basis but may accept sporadic or intermittent employment such as babysitting or yard work.
• Host families must secure two personal references from within the community attesting to their good reputation and character, and have adequate financial resources to undertake hosting obligations.