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Visa Requirements for Summer Camp Workers

Most camps will take applications from non-USA citizens living abroad (indeed they welcome them), but in most cases you will need to arrange your own visa requirements before traveling to the US.

The three options you have to allow you to work in the USA are a Green Card, a Working Visa, or a J-1 visa. It is this last option, the J-1 visa, which most international camp counselors use to work for the summer in the USA. The J-1 visa is intended as a cultural exchange visa for visitors to work in the USA as students, teachers, and other similar roles and, as such, there are a number of different programs within the J-1 visa umbrella - including summer camp employment.

To get a J-1 visa you need to be ‘sponsored’ by an authorized agency. All of the mainstream summer camp placement agencies, such as CampAmerica and Camp CounselorsUSA, are authorized to help in this matter and of course there is a fee involved. There are also a number of general employers who are authorized to issue J-1 visas, like Disney for example, so your options aren’t strictly limited to working in summer camps with this type of visa. Remember though that the summer camp J-1 visa is not a work permit, so you are only permitted to work at the camp for the duration of the camp. Working elsewhere is not permitted.

For those wanting to seek summer camp work directly with the camp owners themselves the agencies can provide a visa-only service, again, for a fee. Many camp owners are often in a position to recommend suitable agencies with whom they have worked with previously so when arranging your employment offer ask which agencies they can recommend.

When applying for a J-1 visa through one of the summer camp agencies, the agency will lodge an application on your behalf with the US authorities (you will need the offer of employment first). Once the application has been rubber-stamped in the US, appropriate forms will be sent to you to fill out and you then apply for the actual visa at your nearest US embassy. The process can take a number of weeks or even months, so it’s important to get in early. In some cases you may be required to attend an interview at your local U.S. embassy to verify your intentions while in the U.S. and you will be expected to bear the cost of traveling to such an interview. You will also pay a fee to the embassy for the visa.