April 28, 2020
Alliance Abroad is still heavily involved in supporting the health, safety and welfare of all of our exchange visitors still in the United States. While our focus continues to be on supporting our participants in various communities impacted in different ways, now that the beginning of May is almost here we must also look ahead to the summer months to determine the best path forward for our programs.
Much is still unknown and depends on decisions made by our essential partners in the Exchange Visitor program:
- Embassy and Consular posts around the world remain closed; J-1 visa applicants are not yet able to schedule their visa appointments.
- The Department of State has requested sponsors to postpone all arrivals until May 12th at the earliest.
- Host companies are reviewing information on re-opening in their respective areas to gauge how quickly tourism will resume and reevaluating their seasonal needs.
At this time, we continue to anticipate summer arrivals. We are working with host companies, housing vendors, fellow sponsors and the Department of State to anticipate the ways COVID-19 has impacted the programs to ensure that when and where we move forward with exchange visitor placements we can be assured of exchange visitors’ safety.
Alliance Abroad will extend the pause on arrivals to the U.S. to the month of June and will work with each host company to determine the appropriate date with safety in mind.
We will continue to keep you updated with decisions and changes to the programs we offer. Should you wish to speak with an Alliance Abroad team member, please call 1-866-622-7623.
Respectfully,
Adam Cooper
President of Alliance Abroad U.S.A.
#inthistogether