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Internship USA
Professional internships in America
US sponsorship, visa support + optional hospitality placement
Give your CV a boost with a 1-12 month internship in the USA – with 30 days either side to travel. Now with a pre-arranged placement option for hospitality students and grads.
Bring your away game
Why do a professional internship in the USA
In a competitive job market, having international work experience on your CV can make all the difference. Through Internship USA, you’ll get world-class training in your field, build a global network, and show future employers you have the... Read more
The need to know
What is USIT Internship USA?
Is it for me?
From €1,749
Ages 18+
Student or recent grad
1-12 month sponsorship
30 days for travel
Intern Hub resources
Pre-arranged hospitality placement
Why do an internship with USIT?
Work experience
Global perspective
Explore America
Intern anywhere in the USA
Empire State of mind
Visa + cost
Who can apply for Internship USA?
Own Placement
Deposit
€150
Second payment
€350
Final payment
€1,249
Total
€1,749
US Embassy fee This is paid directly to the US Embassy and currently costs USD $185.
Visa integrity fee We're anticipating the US will bring in a refundable USD $250 visa integrity fee for future departures. More info to follow.
I-94 arrival fee This is paid directly to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and currently costs USD $24.
Site visit A fee of USD $300 will be added to your program fee if a site visit to your prospective employer's workplace is required.
Support funds You must be able to show you have USD $2,000 proof of funds when entering the US.
Travel insurance Talk to the USIT team about a travel insurance provider for this experience.
Flights We don’t recommend booking flights until your visa is approved.
Accommodation Talk to the USIT team for US accommodation advice.
Hospitality Placement
Deposit
€250
Second payment
€700
Final payment
€1,850
Total
€2,800
US Embassy fee This is paid directly to the US Embassy and currently costs USD $185.
Visa integrity fee We're anticipating the US will bring in a refundable USD $250 visa integrity fee for future departures. More info to follow.
I-94 arrival fee This is paid directly to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and currently costs USD $24.
Site visit A fee of USD $300 will be added to your program fee if a site visit to your prospective employer's workplace is required.
Support funds You must be able to show you have USD $2,000 proof of funds when entering the US.
Travel insurance Medical cover is included, but you must buy travel insurance to cover against the rest of your trip.
Flights We don’t recommend booking flights until your visa is approved.
Accommodation Talk to the USIT team for US accommodation advice.
Give your CV the edge
Put your degree to work
Internships
What internships can I do?
Intern USA in numbers
80%
Of our interns find paid positions
50
Number of US States you can intern in
10/10
Your CV after interning in the USA
Finding your internship
Own Placement
Hospitality Placement
Who you gonna call?
Talk to us
Let's go!
How it works and when to apply
Countdown to the USA
- Check you’re eligible for Internship USA in the **visa + cost ** section, hit APPLY NOW to create your profile and start the online application. Once you've paid the deposit, book a compliance call with our team and we will check your suitability for the program plus answer any questions you might have.
1+ days
- You must have a placement secured before we can sponsor you. If you don’t have an internship secured, set up another call and our team to look at your degree, recommend possible routes for you, and go over the advice and employer directory on our Intern Hub – a free resource to finding a placement that you can start using now.
7-30 days
- Using our template, the first job is to create a US-style resume. We'll then set up a video interview with our US placement provider who will go over your degree and experience, what type of internship you are looking for, and discuss your options for roles, hotel groups and locations. They will then set up a video interview with employer(s) relevant to your skills, career path and preferences.
7-30 days
- Once you have a position secured, you’ll have an in-depth call with our USA team to run through the program, answer any questions, get you set up the sponsor’s system and conduct a phone interview (this is a visa requirement).
- Your employer will need to fill out your DS-7002 Training Plan which will then go to our IENA team for sponsorship approval. If your application is approved, your work papers will be issued within 15 business days – or 21 business days if a site visit to your employer’s workplace is required.
- Once your internship is approved and you’ve paid your balance, we'll email your work papers (DS-2019), training plan (DS-7002) and SEVIS receipt. You’ll then receive your pre-departure pack by email with all the information you need to apply for your J-1 visa and schedule your US Embassy appointment.
- We recommend booking your embassy appointment the day you receive your DS-2019, as it's not unusual for embassy appointments to run out – especially in the lead up to US summers (Jun-Sep) and over Thanksgiving and Christmas (Nov-Dec). The embassy will keep your passport for up to 10 days, returning it by post along with your visa stamp. Unfortunately, we don’t have control over the availability of visa appointments or the outcome of your appointment.
- Once you have your J-1 visa, it’s safe to book your flights, travel insurance, and confirm any accommodation you have sourced. Make sure you book a return ticket – as you’ll need this to get through US immigration. Once you’ve had your online orientation with IENA, you’re good to fly!
- You can arrive into the US up to 30 days before the start date on your DS-2019. When you arrive, you’ll need to download a i-94 form from the US government website and go to a local social security office to get your Social Security Number. Your US sponsor will check in with you regularly to make sure your training is going to plan – plus they’re on hand for 24/7 emergency support.
More ways to work in the US
Not a student or grad?
Got questions?
We’ve got answers
Let's talk
- An internship is a paid or unpaid position within a company where you are constantly learning and training under a mentor. Internship placements must not be made up of manual or administrative tasks, but should show clear progression – enhancing the skills you have, learning new skills, and getting exposure to different areas of the department or business.
To protect you as an intern and ensure that your internship benefits your professional development, your placement must meet criteria outlined by the US Department of State. When approaching US employers, make them aware that any international internship offer must meet the below requirements:
- It must be a training position and not a job
- It must be full-time – a minimum of 32 hours a week
- It must be office based, not remote
- It mustn’t involve more than 10% clerical or basic work, or include unskilled labour
- It must benefit your career and have a clear training plan
- It must be doing work that is additional to the employer’s normal staffing requirements
- Unpaid internships are allowed for up to six months only
- There must be a minimum of five full-time employees to every intern at that location
- A site visit may be required to assess your future employer’s workplace.
- If your host company has never taken on an intern through this program before, if their annual revenue is less than USD $3 million, or if they have less than 25 full time employees - our US sponsor will need to conduct a site visit. This is a US Department of State requirement. Site visits will be charged at USD $300. Unfortunately, we only find out if a site visit will be necessary once your internship offer goes through vetting. And if required by the sponsor, it will be added to your booking.
For 'Own Placement' your overall cost will depend on the length of your internship – as this determines how long we (USIT + IENA – our US visa sponsor) need to provide the visa sponsorship and support for your stay in the USA.
On this type of J-1 intern visa, you have a 30-day grace period either side of your internship placement where you can travel in the USA.
This is automatically included in your sponsorship and medical insurance policy. Therefore, you will only pay for the cost of your actual internship. For example, if your internship is for 6 months, you can stay in the US and be covered by the included medical insurance we provide for up to 8 months.
For 'Hospitality Placement' there is one set cost – irrespective of the duration of your placement.
- A training plan is a condition of your visa sponsorship and is where your US host company must detail what you will be doing, give a clear understanding of the goals of the training, and how you will meet those goals. Our team will go over exactly what is required and what questions your employer will be asked to complete.
Own Placement
Such is the breadth of degree subjects and US industries and roles that might align with individual's career goals, it's not currently possible for us to secure a pre-placement for degree subjects outside of the hospitality world. It is your responsibility to find your own placement, however, our team are here to assist you. We’ll give you advice on where previous applicants doing your degree have interned, provide tips on how to lay out your US resume, and can recommend placement partners you can reach out to. You’ll also have all the free resources on our Intern Hub – which is full of info to help you search and apply for international internships.
Hospitality Placement
For those with a hospitality related degree, we work with a US partner to place you in an internship before you go. Scroll up to our 'Internships' section for the type of degrees, roles and employers that they can support you with. Once you have your position secured, we then take over with the vetting, sponsorship, legal paperwork and everything else that's required to intern in the USA.
- On this visa, you're only permitted to do one 1-12 month internship. Your sponsorship is tied to that employer and the duration will be based on the length of your pre-arranged internship – with the option to travel for 30 days before and after.
- Your position can be paid or unpaid, but you cannot do more than six months interning in the US on an unpaid internship. The USA has an established and well-paid internship culture, with most sectors commanding a monthly salary of between USD $2,000-5,000. However, this will also vary depending on the size of the company and the city/region of the United States, with larger cities like New York, Boston and Washington commanding higher salaries. Salaries are negotiated directly between you and your employer, and the earning potential is uncapped.
- Yes, your position must be connected to your area of study. However, with the breadth of sectors, industries and businesses in the United States – our team can work with you to understand your career goals and try and advise on a position to target that would both satisfy your degree requirements and the direction you’d like to take your internship in.
On this visa, there are some fields that are restricted. In general, you can’t have patient or person contact. For example, you can intern in medical research or nutrition development, but you can't work as a doctor or PT seeing patients or clients.
- Education You can’t work as a teacher or teaching assistant, but you can work in curriculum development, lesson planning and more.
- Oenology and Viticulture You can’t do fruit picking, vine and harvest work, but you can do fermentation management, distribution and more.
- Construction You can’t operate heavy machinery or intern as part of a work crew, but you can do project management, drafting and more.
- Healthcare and veterinary You can’t do clinical care or administer medication or procedures, but you can do observation-based internships.
- Hospitality Typically, hotels must be rated 4-star or higher and have broad operations to facilitate a comprehensive training in the hospitality field. For culinary training, restaurants must be a fine dining establishment in order to qualify.
- Social services You can’t work directly with patients, but you can do social work and policy (unpublished), community outreach and more.
- Sports and nutrition You can’t do coaching, physical therapy or personal training, but you can do Sports Medicine business management, food product development and more.
- Retail Internships must be management-focused, and typically include training in areas such as human resources practices, accounting, staffing practices, buying, merchandising and more.
- Sales You cannot do commission sales, sales quotas as part of evaluations and/or compensation, cold calls and direct sales, independent representation of host organisation on sales calls. But you can do forecasting, budgeting, sales analysis, presentation creation, client presentations under supervision, learning how to pitch sales, client management, learning sales management tools and attending client meetings.
This list is not exhaustive, so if your industry or planned internship falls under one of these categories - please give us a call and we can advise.
- It must be full-time – a minimum of 32 hours per week.
- Yes. Medical insurance is included that covers against accident and illness while you are in the USA, but does not cover for routine care. You must also purchase comprehensive travel insurance to cover you against other aspects of your trip – including cancellation, curtailment, legal cover, luggage, personal items, repatriation and more.
- DS-2019 (Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status) is the official certificate of eligibility that you need to apply for a J-1 visa. After your US Embassy appointment, your passport will be returned to you with your visa stamped inside. However, you must keep your DS-2019 with your passport at all times. One is not valid without the other.
- SEVIS stands for Student and Exchange Visitor Information System and is a database where the US Government keeps track of cultural exchange visitors on a J-1 visa. The cost of being placed in the SEVIS database is USD $220 and is included in your program cost.
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