Travel Guide / USA
Seattle guide: Where to do your J1, Grad visa or US internship
USIT Staff
Jul 9
Sleepless nights on where to work or intern in the USA? Meet Seattle.
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USIT Grad USA
USA Graduate program
Just graduated? Hats off! Put what’s on paper into practice with a year working in your academic field in America – with the flexibility to find your position when you arrive.
Find out
if I'm eligible?
Graduated in Jan/Feb '24? Book by 17 Nov to get out to the USA on this one-time visa
It’s now or never
Why do USIT’s 1-year Grad USA program?
If this was a Friends episode, it would be ‘The One That Almost Got Away’. Why? Because you only have 12 months from the date on your grad cert to enter the USA on our USIT grad visa. And once that window closes, it’s closed forever. (Waves goodbye to living in a Manhattan apartment with your best friends – even you Ross). The bridge between college and your career, it's the chance to put all your academic achievements into practice – to learn from the best in your industry, globalise your CV, and jumpstart your professional training. Basically, it’s a dead cert for hot footing it up the career ladder when you get home.
Why do it with USIT
CV coaching
Unique to this visa, you must find your position when you arrive. Before you go, our team will deep dive into your degree - advising on the graduate positions you can do and companies you should target.
USA sponsorship
We’ve been bringing our USA game for 65+ years. Together with our long-standing US partner, USIT provides the sponsorship to live and work anywhere in the States for up to one year.
Grad experts
USIT are the student and graduate experts. Our dedicated team will guide you step-by-step through all the visa and embassy interview paperwork.
Aged 18+
Graduate-only visa
1-year US sponsorship
Intern anywhere in the USA
CV and placement coaching
90 days to find a position
€1,999
Need to know
1-year Grad USA | €1,999
Unsure what direction you want to go in after college? Across the pond is a great start! Our Grad USA team will help take care of the rest.
The Grad USA visa is exclusive to Ireland and allows Irish graduates to work in the USA for up to a year in professional internships related to their field of study.
You can work anywhere in the USA, do paid or unpaid positions, and you’re not limited to one year-long internship. You can do multiple shorter placements with 30 days of travel permitted in-between – giving you the freedom to live on different coasts, travel around the States, and add more varied work experience to your CV. Unique to this visa, you have 90 days to find your internship when you arrive.
Eligibility
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Who can apply
To go on this program, you must:
- Have an Irish passport
- Be 18+ years old
And be able to fulfil one of the below student requirements:
- If you’re a final year student you can apply for the Grad USA visa program now and travel any time after you’ve received your final exam results and passed your degree.
- If you’ve already graduated you must enter the USA within 12 months of the date on your graduation certificate. You must have done a full-time academic course in a recognised Irish university or college including Northern Ireland (running for at least two years) that will ultimately lead to a degree or higher qualification (Level 6 Major Award on Qualifax). If you have completed a Level 6 Major Award, then at least 50% of coursework must be academic. Unfortunately, online, special purpose, springboard or professionally awarded degrees such as ACCA or FE1 are not eligible.
- If you’re a Masters student you must enter the USA within 12 months of the date on your graduation certificate.
- If you’re a resident in Northern Ireland but hold an Irish passport and have graduated from an Irish university, you may still be eligible for this program. Please contact the team on workusa@usit.ie before you book.
When to apply
On this visa, you must enter the USA within 12 months of your grad cert date. For example, if your grad cert date is 15 September, you must enter the USA by 14 September the following year. However, it can take around 12 weeks to go through the visa and sponsorship process, so you'd need to be applying in the June.
Other US programs
If you haven’t graduated yet and are looking for a summer internship or an internship as part of your course, check out our Internship USA program. If you’re not a student, look at our Trainee USA program or give the team a call to chat through your options.
Internships
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What you can do
About your internship
Your internship must be related to your area of study and you must find your internship when you're in the USA - within 90 days of arriving. Internships can be paid or unpaid, and you're not restricted to one 12-month internship. You can do multiple shorter internships - with 30 days to travel between positions.
How much you can expect to earn
If your internship is paid, the salary will be negotiated directly with your host company, and will vary depending on the city and company you intern for. You can typically expect to earn between USD $2,100-6,500 a month.
Help finding your internship
Although you have to secure your placement when you arrive, you're not alone! Our Grad USA team will work with you to look at you academic experience and what direction you want your career to take. Based on past participants who’ve interned in the USA with the same degree, we can shortlist companies for you to target – giving advice on converting your CV to a resume, how to structure your cover letter, and how to prepare for interviews.
If you're looking to settle in New York, we also include a one-year membership to the IBO (Irish Business Organization) of New York. The IBO provide evening networking opportunities, monthly Zoom breakfast meetings and member-only events.
Approving your internship
On this type of visa, you are responsible for securing your own internships and have 90 days when you land in the USA to find a position and have it approved by the US sponsor. This is to ensure that your placements meet visa and labour requirements. This may include site visits to your prospective employer, which are covered in your program fee.
Industries
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Where you can do it
Industries you can work in
Popular industries for Irish graduates to work in America are construction, engineering, tech, politics, law, finance, science, architecture, media, publishing, marketing and fashion – but you can intern in any field as long as it is related to your education. Previous participants have done everything from script editing at Universal Studios to assisting at the Federal Attorneys Office.
Industries not permitted on this visa
There are some roles within certain industries such as agriculture, teaching and medicine that aren’t permitted, but our Grad USA team will be able to guide you around these restrictions and help you find a position within that industry that is likely to be approved by our sponsor. For more on the industries you can intern in, check out our FAQs.
Where you can work
Popular destination for Irish graduates to work in are New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego – but you can live anywhere in the States. You also don’t have to stay in one place. You could have a fairytale winter interning in New York and an all-American summer working in LA, with a classic road trip in-between.
Just remember… The ethos of the Grad USA program is to gain experience in your field of study and bring that experience home to Ireland at the end of your visa. If you wish to pursue a career in the USA, please do not apply for this visa. Participants should not view this program as an avenue to obtaining a full time or long-term position with an employer.
How it works
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Let’s go
The Grad USA process can be complex and can take up to 12 weeks in total. However, the payoff to spend a year growing your professional skills and having the time of your life in the States is worth it. We're pros at career coaching and form filling, so will guide you through it step-by-step.
1. Book your place Check you’re eligible in the tab above, book your place and wait for us to give you a quick call to check your suitability for the program. If the Grad USA program isn’t right for you, we can point you in the direction of other USIT America visas that could work for you.
2. Resume review You can then set up a coaching call via your online account where we’ll go through your education history, CV and advise on internship options and companies you can reach out to when you land.
3. Forms and flights We’ll order your work papers (DS2019 and SEVIS receipt) from your US sponsor in the USA and the sponsor will review your documents and access your application, this may take up to 10 business days.
4. Pre-departure pack Once your application is approved by the US sponsor, your work papers (DS2019) will ordered and sent to you digitally once you have paid in full.
5. US Embassy interview You're off to the US Embassy! This interview and a 5-7 day review of your passport will provide them with the information they need to issue your visa. Once approved you can then book your flights.
6. Online orientation A Department of State requirement, you must complete an online orientation with your US Sponsor before you go. This is to get you fully prepped for life in America.
7. Land in the USA Your US sponsor are our partner on the ground and are in-country and on hand 24/7 to support you during your stay. From the date you land, you’ll have 90 days to find your first internship and have it approved.
What’s included
Everything you need to get sponsored and have a game-changing year living in the USA.
Grad USA inclusions
- Sponsorship by CIEE, our US partners, to intern anywhere in the USA for up to 1 year in your academic field
- Issuing of your Certificate of Eligibility (DS2019) and sponsorship paperwork
- 1-on-1 support applying for your J1 visa and prepping for your US embassy interview
- SEVIS – a mandatory US government tracking fee worth USD $220
- Career coaching, CV and cover letter review from the Grad USA team
- IBO (Irish Business Organization) of New York membership for virtual and in-person networking opportunities.
- Pre-departure online orientation from CIEE to make sure you’re US ready
- 24/7 support from your sponsor CIEE the whole time you're on US soil
What’s not included
US visa fee Irish passport holders
This is paid directly to the US Embassy and currently costs USD $185.
Travel insurance
To cover against cancellation, we recommend taking out comprehensive travel insurance as soon as you book.
Flights
We don’t recommend booking flights until your visa is approved.
Where are they now
The career benefits of Grad USA
"You can have all the degrees in the world. Because I had that New York experience, that was invaluable. They had so many people applying for the same position that just might have been straight from college that wouldn't have had the upper hand that I had and the connections that I made." Watch where Sean, one of our Grad USA alumni, is now.
Music to our ears
What internships can you do
Other than some restrictions in industries such as agriculture, teaching and medicine, you can work in most fields - as long as it is connected to your degree. Watch Holly's story - who landed an internship working in HR at Warner Music Group where she gets to work between New York, Nashville and LA.
Earn some dough
How to find your internship
Our team are on hand with coaching and advice, but when finding your position, it pays to get creative. Work on your resume game, utilise your uni career service and personal contacts, and set up profiles on Indeed and LinkedIn. Take Euan, who when looking for an accountancy position in NYC, used his loaf and reached out to the bakery that employed him on his summer J1.
The USIT blog
Where to do your Grad USA visa
Ask the experts
Just graduated and wondering what’s next?
It’s okay to not have your future all mapped out – that’s what your year interning in America is for. Our Grad USA team will help you focus on what it is you want to achieve with your internship and help with everything you need to get there. Book a video call with the team today.
More ways to make it in America
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