Welcome to San Francisco!!!!

Hi guys, (get used to saying this)

Welcome to san Francisco. So, here is where it all starts. you have decided where you want to spend your summer. No better place than the NORCAL city of San Francisco. Where do i start? What do i need to do? How do i get my visa? These are probably some questions you will be asking yourself right about now. Here i will answer some of these questions. I will highlight what you need to know about the process of getting your J1 visa sorted.

The Process:

• Firstly, you need to decide where to go. I presume you have already decided and SF is your desire.
• Once the destination has been picked you are ready to do the paper pushing. There is also one more decision you need to make though. WHO TO BOOK WITH. there are a number of agents you can book with. USIT http://www.usit.ie/, SAYIT http://www.sayit.ie/ and GO4LESS http://www.go4less.ie/. There may be more. Your decision is up to you. Each agent has its pro's and its cons. I went with usit as they are a more established company.
• Now that you have decided on destination and agents you are ready. Your next step is to get the forms. These can be printed from your chosen agents website. You will need to fill these out and get them stamped by your college or university.
• Once they are completed and stamped you are ready to book. each agent may charge different fees. What you will generally pay for is 1)visa, 2)insurance, 3)flight, 4)postage and packaging and 5)administration charges. For me last year it totalled @ €1200.
• When you have everything booked you will have to attend an embassy interview. This will take place in the U.S Embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin. At this interview you will be requested to bring a bank draft for $131 or $132. MAKE SURE YOU FIND OUT THE EXACT FIGURE. MAKE SURE THE DRAFT IS IN DOLLAR. You will not get into the embassy if it is not in dollar.
• Once you have attended your interview and all the forms are filled out and fees paid off you are almost ready to go. There is one last loose end to take care of. You will be instructed to watch an online video on ciee's website and asked to answer a few questions. Its very simple, its just an orientation video. Gotta love IKTOR. :-)

Now that you have carried out all these steps your ready to fly. See its a simple process. dont be daunted by it. Come May you will be having the time of your life.

The next post will be up shortly. It will let you know what you should expect when touching down in San Francisco and what you need to do once you get there. It will also give you some ideas for before you travel.

SEE YOU IN SAN FRANCISCO SUMMER 2010