ccusa
 

SUCCESSFUL SEASONAL PLANNING

Congratulations on hiring qualified participants for the season!

Please free to send your new hires updates on the following:

  1. What is happening around your area;
  2. Any special events that you are planning;
  3. The weather;
  4. Packing tips;
  5. Travel plans;
  6. Housing info;
  7. Random town facts;
  8. Or just to say hello!
The more you communicate with your new hires the more comfortable they will be with you to address issues before and during their employment.

Issues that the students should NOT be communicating to you about:

  1. VISA Issues:
    Prior to the participants arrival there may be issues regarding them attaining VISA’s. If that is the case, please ask participants to speak to the local office in their home country.
  2. Monetary issues:
    Participants may claim that they do not have enough money to come on the program. This is not the case as it is required that all participants bring at minimum $900 USD. Please send any such emails to your Program Coordinator immediately.
  3. Questions answered on your employer profile:
    Some participants get excited and forget to review the employer profile leading up to the start of their program. If you have answered information in the profile a participant is asking you about, please feel free to tell the participant to refer to your employer profile. Or you can inform your PC, so that he/she can help you and the participant.
When Summer Work Travel participants arrive in the USA, they will all receive a welcome email from their PC. Work Experience USA covers the following information in the welcome email to our participants. Please find an example below for your reference:

How to Validate Your VISA
Once you are in country please remember to validate your VISA. This means logging into your footprints account and under your To Do List clicking on “Validate.” You will then have to input your address. Make sure that you are inputting the correct address, or you will be getting an email from me asking questions. The correct address should be that of where you return home after work. It is NOT the address of your employer.

Example #1:

Line 1: Tundra Hall or Glacier Resort
Line 2: 123 Hickory Lane, Apt #1
City: Spruce City State: AK
Zip Code: 00001

Example #2: When you are not staying at a hotel, resort, dorm, apartment complex, etc. Then the second line is where you put your Suite/Room/Dorm/Apt Number OR nothing if you are living in a house.

Line 1: 123 Alpine Street
Line 2: Apt #2
City: Spruce City State: AK
Zip Code: 00001

Please make sure to enter your address correctly – that is VERY important. I will look up every address to make sure that you are living in a safe location.

I-94 Procedure

Once you validate your VISA make sure that you complete your I-94 online. Be sure to enter your name exactly as it is on your DS-2019. Please visit the following sight to do this:

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

Please be sure to click on the middle left tab: "Get Most Recent I-94" and then "Consent & Continue" tab to proceed with obtaining your I-94. You should print a copy of it to take with your social security AND save a copy on your phone/computer.

Social Security

After you validate your VISA and complete your I-94 remember that you need to apply for Social Security. Please check your Employer’s Profile online to see where the nearest Social Security Office is and whether your employer will be assisting you. They may or may NOT be assisting you; however, it is up to you in the end to get to the Social Security Office and apply for a Social Security Number.

Cultural Activities

After 3 weeks (from when your VISA starts) it will be time for you to complete a check-in. You will be receiving an email 5 days prior to your check-in reminding you to log into your footprints account and complete as such. Every check-in is different, so make sure that you are reading the questions and answering them in complete sentences or else I will be emailing/calling you to verify. Additionally, please do not copy and paste from every check-in or another participant. (I can easily see who has done this) The two questions that will always remain the same are the following:

How many cultural activities have you done in the past 30 days? You should be completing one Cultural Activity a week and reporting on three to four Cultural Activities during your 30-day check-in. Please describe each one including what you did, where you did it and with whom.

What did you learn about US culture?

Please ensure that – at minimum – you are answering these questions in as much detail. If you had an awesome experience/culture activity, feel free to write to me about it personally!

Additionally, if you are planning on getting a second job, leaving your employer, traveling out of the country during your VISA, ending your employment early or moving to a new place you need to contact our offices at the Toll-Free Number. These are all instances that you need to notify us because it affects your program!

All the PCs have now added the following paragraph into our welcome emails:

Termination Rules

  • Failure to validate your visa within 10 days of your DS2019 start date and to provide address changes within 10 days of moving
  • Engaging in unauthorized employment – which includes working for an unverified employer
  • Failure to pursue the activity of the visa which is to work, except during the 30-day grace period
  • Failure to complete the mandatory 30-day check ins
  • Failure to participate in Cultural Activities
  • Failure to maintain health insurance
  • Conviction of a crime
  • Not going to or leaving an employer without following CCUSA procedures
  • Not maintaining contact with CCUSA during your program


Do NOT break any of the above rules!

Additional Information

If you are planning on getting a second job, leaving your employer, traveling out of the country during your VISA, get injured, ending your employment early or moving to a new place you need to contact our CCUSA offices at the Toll-Free Number: 1-888-449-3872. These are all times that you need to notify us because it affects your program!

Lastly, if you are very sick and need to go to the hospital make sure that you notify your employer and most importantly CCUSA. You can access your insurance through your Footprints account, but I should be made aware of any health problems OR safety issues that could endanger you.

I hope you have a fantastic time in the United States! Enjoy your time and your 30-day grace period after your VISA is complete. I look forward to reading about your Cultural Activities and maybe visiting you as well.


These steps help remind participants of important information at the start of their program. As the host employer, you can also help ensure a successful season by assisting CCUSA in the following situations:

  1. Addresses
    It is important that every participant put in the correct address so if the U.S. Department of State were to conduct a visit they could easily find said individual either at their housing or place of employment. As the employer if you know the location of each participants housing please send CCUSA a list and we will cross reference it with what the participant(s) submit.
  2. Change of Employment
    If a participant chooses to find a new place of employment be it a second job or leave your business altogether then it is vital that CCUSA is notified because we need to update their records; once again if there were to be a site visit. If you change the participants’ position or location of employment you NEED to notify your CCUSA – Program Coordinator.
  3. Second Jobs
    If a participant wants to find a second job, then they need to fill out an Independent Job Offer Form and have their new employer sign it. They also need to complete the Credit Card Authorization form for the charge of vetting a new employer.1 The vetting process can take anywhere up to 72 hours at which time the employer will have to provide CCUSA with the necessary documents within the allotted time; or else we cannot permit a participant to work there. A participant CANNOT begin working at a new employer until the verification is complete. If they begin to work at said employer prior to receiving CCUSA’s approval they risk their VISA.
  4. Resigning
    Our J-1 participants, like American employees, can resign. If a participant chooses to resign (and some of them do), they need to inform you as the employer and our staff at CCUSA. As the employer, you are required to inform your PC as well. The participant must present to you a Two-Week Notice Form and then you can sign and waive the two weeks or ask the participant to work for the last two weeks. The participant will then have 10 days to find a new job. If the participant does not find a job within 10 days, he/she will have their program ended and they will have to return to their country if they have not completed two-thirds of their program. Their program ends in good standing; however, a big portion of the program is actively working during program dates.
  5. Firing
    Summer Work Travel participants can be fired. If a participant is fired, you as the employer NEED to notify us. After each participant is fired their program is put under review. Depending on the situation, CCUSA as the sponsor will determine the next steps to the participants program. In most cases, participants can find a new job. The only exception to this is if the participant did something illegal to be fired.
  6. Cultural Activities
    Every 30 days each participant must complete at minimum 3-4 cultural activities of which they inform CCUSA via their Footprints account. If a participant does not complete their check-in we then involve you, the employer. Should the participant not complete their check-in, then we will put the participant visa under review for failure to follow the J-1 Summer Work Travel regulations. It is vital that all participants complete their check-ins.
  7. Health and Safety
    If a participant becomes ill or injured, please notify your Program Coordinator! If the participant is injured or sick outside of CCUSA’s regular business hours, please call the Emergency Line and a PC will pick up the phone.
  8. Emergency Phone
    The Emergency Line should only ever be called if a participant is arrested, sick, injured or worse. However, if there is any situation that involves a participant which you believe warrants the immediate attention of CCUSA, please call the emergency line. The emergency number is the same as the Toll-Free Number at which point you will have the option to press 0 and be transferred to an operator.