5th October 2020: Update on temporary ban on J1 Visas

A U.S judge has temporarily lifted the existing ban on J1 visas to the USA. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White found that President Trump did not have the authority to issue the June 22nd proclamation that paused the issuance of several categories of J-1 visas, including Summer Work Travel, Camp Counselor, Intern and Trainee.

This means that prospective J-1 Exchange Visitors going through IST Plus and CIEE should be able to apply for a visa appointment.

There are, however, a couple of points to be aware of:

• The administration is likely to appeal the decision
• We don’t yet know what Consular Affairs’ next steps will be and when appointments will be made available
• And, of course, this doesn’t change the reality of the pandemic and associated program limitations/travel bans

We'll be updating this information once the situation becomes a little clearer... In the meantime please make sure you bookmark the US Embassy's non immigrant visa news page

Best, The IST Plus InfoTeam