Changing Jobs on J-1 Summer Work and Travel: What Your Sponsor Must Approve First

A job that falls through, a boss who cuts your hours or a better offer down the road: all of it ends at the same checkpoint. Your sponsor has to approve the new job before you work a shift in it. This page covers the steps, the checks, and what is at stake if you skip them. The jobs hub lists the pages around it.

The short version

1. Tell your sponsor about the new job before you leave your current one.
2. Wait for your sponsor to vet the new job, which must happen within 72 hours.
3. Start the new job only after your sponsor confirms it.
4. Report a new address to your sponsor within ten calendar days.
5. Call your sponsor first if a job falls through.

Can you change jobs on Summer Work and Travel?

Yes. Sponsors must not pose obstacles to job changes, and they must offer reasonable assistance to anyone who wants to change jobs, under 22 CFR 62.32. That holds whether the sponsor found your first job (direct placement) or you did (self-placement). The State Department’s pamphlet for temporary workers lists the same duty.

The rule talks about initial, replacement and additional jobs, and treats them the same way. Participants are told they may not begin working at any of them until the sponsor has verified the terms and conditions of the employment. Sponsors must confirm each placement before the participant starts work, and vet a job found after arrival within 72 hours.

Your total time stays the same. The program lasts up to four months, and extensions are not permitted. Changing jobs does not add a day.

The steps for a replacement job

The program rules fix the order: find the job, tell the sponsor, wait for the vetting, then start. Two sponsors follow the same sequence in their own procedures. CIEE, on its page for Irish participants, requires them to contact their U.S. sponsor before leaving a job, and every additional and later job must be vetted before work begins. CICD requires participants to let its host company review finish before a new job starts (blog post dated March 2, 2019).

1. With CIEE, contact your sponsor before you leave your current job.
2. Tell your sponsor about the new job. CICD asks for the company and the hiring manager’s name.
3. Wait for the sponsor’s approval. CICD’s authorization can take a couple of hours if the employer is prepared and available. The federal limit is 72 hours.
4. Start only after the sponsor confirms it. Participants may not start any job until the sponsor has verified and vetted it.
5. If you move house for the job, report the new address. Participants must report changes of phone, email, US address and site to the sponsor within ten calendar days.

The details in items 1 to 3 come from those two sponsors, so ask your own sponsor for its form. Employers have a duty too. They must tell the sponsor when there are changes or deviations in the job placement, and when a participant leaves a position ahead of the planned departure.

What your sponsor checks about the new employer

Vetting is a real check. Before approving a job, the sponsor must contact the employer directly to verify the business owners’ and managers’ names, telephone numbers, email addresses, street addresses and professional activities. It must also obtain the employer’s Employer Identification Number and current business license. It must verify the employer’s workers’ compensation coverage in the state where you will work.

Employers cannot pass if they have had layoffs in the past 120 days, or have workers on lockout or on strike. Placements must not displace domestic US workers at the worksite. The job vetting page covers the full check.

What the new job must be

A replacement job faces the same tests as the first one. It must be seasonal or temporary, with regular interaction with US citizens. It cannot be a job with another specific J visa category.

The jobs a sponsor cannot place you in include:

• Work hours mostly between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
• Substantially commission-based jobs, since they do not guarantee minimum wage
• Domestic help in private homes, such as child care, elder care, a gardener or a chauffeur
• Jobs as operators or drivers of vehicles that need a driver’s license
• Clinical care with patient contact

The prohibited jobs page lists the rest. Staffing agencies are allowed only when three conditions are met.

Pay, hours and housing in the new offer

Compare the new offer with the old one. Participants must be paid at least the higher of the federal, state or local minimum wage, or comparable US pay. Employers must make good faith efforts to provide the paid weekly hours stated on the job offer. They must pay overtime under State or Federal law.

If the new employer provides housing or transport, the job offer must include details of the arrangement and its cost to you. If the employer provides neither, the sponsor must help arrange them immediately. See the housing page for what to look for.

Experience American culture at work and out at play

Summer Work and Travel is an exchange, not only a job. Sponsors must ensure participants work alongside US citizens and interact regularly with them. They must also plan cultural activities outside work. Sponsors may place participants only in jobs that provide opportunities for regular communication and interaction with US citizens.

What happens if you start before approval

Starting a job that your sponsor has not vetted is the costly mistake. Two rules bite at once.

• Sponsors terminate participants who fail to follow the listed program rules, and starting work at a job the sponsor has not vetted is one of them.
• Participation is subject to termination when someone engages in unauthorized employment, and once the State Department establishes it, it shall terminate the participation.

When a sponsor terminates you for just cause, it enters that in SEVIS and you are expected to depart the US immediately. You are not entitled to the 30-day period after the program in that case.

Reinstatement is the usual way back for other infractions, but not here. Unauthorized employment is on the State Department’s list of infractions that preclude reinstatement. That list also includes involuntary suspension or termination from the most recent exchange visitor program. For substantive infractions, the sponsor’s responsible officer must apply to the State Department for reinstatement, and a nonrefundable fee of $367 is payable (page seen October 20, 2026).

When a job falls through or turns bad

A job can end on its own: the employer cuts you, the hours vanish or the work is not what was promised. Call your sponsor first, because it must offer reasonable assistance. Sponsors must also keep at least monthly contact with you and provide a 24/7 number before you leave home.

If the job is unsafe or abusive, the rules change. You do not have to stay in a job where you are mistreated or unsafe. For urgent health, safety or welfare concerns call the J-Visa Emergency Hotline at 1-866-283-9090. For forced work or threats, the National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888. Stopping you from leaving your work or housing is a listed sign of labor abuse. Workplace rights covers where to turn.

Do not take an unvetted job just to bridge the gap.

Changing sponsors

The State Department’s adjustments page covers transfers: a move from one sponsor to another may be allowed at the discretion of the responsible officers, and it must be within the same category. The new sponsor issues a new DS-2019 reflecting the transfer. A transfer does not extend the maximum duration of the program.

After the last job: going home

Students must return to their home country before the start date of their university or college. After the program ends, a 30-day grace period lets you depart. In it you are no longer in J-visa status and are under the jurisdiction of USCIS. You may not work.

The program is not a path to staying. All exchange visitors are expected to return home after their program. Participants can be admitted to the program more than once, so a later season is possible. See grace period for the details.