Still waiting....

We still don't have concrete information from the US Embassy as to when they will reopen for visa interviews. We were all hoping this would have happened by now - and we feel your frustration. Right now, the US Travel ban is still in place and as a whole, embassies are still closed for normal visa applications.

This week the UK hosts the G7 sumit, and UK ministers have been working very hard to get agreement from the US Government to open up travel and embassies as soon as possible. There are some rumours that this may happen around July 4th (Independence day) but these are just rumours right now and no official announcement has been made.

We also know that an extremely limited number of Summer Work and Travel and Camp participants with other organisations have chosen to travel to Mexico for 2 weeks to attend appointments in Mexico prior to arrival in the US. We don't support this option, as we are unable to proved help and support to participants in Mexico. It's an incredibly expensive way of doing things - AND there's no guarantee of getting your visa.

For J1 Interns and Trainees, the future is looking brighter, as many of you will be planning on travelling to the US in late Summer/ Autumn. We expect things to be up and running in time for this. For Summer Work and Travel participants an Camp Participants, we know time is running out for many of you - and for some, the window of opportunity has now passed.

We can't tell you how sorry we are that this year has (again) been such a disappointment for so many people hoping to travel to the US but are working hard every day to make sure when things are back up and running, we're there to help you each step of the way.

We're all really hoping to get some concrete info in the next couple of weeks - please keep checking these pages for the latest info, as this will be where you see it first!

Hang in there.

The IST Plus InfoTeam

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash