Final Rule on J Student Interns

73 Fed. Reg. 35066 (June 20, 2008)

A final rule effective July 21, 2008, amends the J Exchange Visitor regulations to create a new "Student Intern" subcategory under the College and University Student category. Participation in the Student Intern subcategory will be open to foreign students currently enrolled and pursuing a degree at a postsecondary academic institution outside the United States. Student interns may participate in a student internship program for up to 12 months for each degree/major.

Programs that are currently designated with the College and University Student category will not have to apply for a new Student Intern designation; they will automatically be allowed to provide student internships once the rule is effective and required updates are implemented in SEVIS. The rule does not specify when those SEVIS updates will be implemented.

July 24, 2008. In the July 23, 2008 SEVIS conference call with NAFSA, DOS confirmed that the new student intern category will not be available until functionality is added to SEVIS. According to DOS, the J student intern functionality is not included in the planned August 2008 release of SEVIS 5.10, but is being considered for the next SEVIS release after that. The SEVIS change will involve placing a new option - Student Intern - in the Exchange Visitor Category drop-down menu at item 17 in SEVIS RTI.

Summary

Participant eligibility
To be eligible to participate as a J Student Intern, a participant must meet these conditions:

1. Be currently "enrolled in and pursuing a degree at an accredited postsecondary academic institution outside the United States."
2. The U.S. internship must "fulfill the educational objectives for his or her current degree program at his or her home institution."
3. Have "verifiable English language skills sufficient to function on a day-to-day basis in the internship environment."
4. Be "primarily in the United States to engage in a student internship program rather than to engage in employment or provide services to an employer."
5. Be "accepted into a student internship program at the postsecondary accredited academic institution listed on his or her Form DS-2019."
6. Be "in good academic standing" at his or her home institution outside the United States.
7. The student must return to his or her academic program outside the United States "and fulfill and obtain a degree from such academic institution after completion of the student internship program."
8. Have "sufficient finances to support himself or herself and dependants for their entire stay in the United States, including housing and living expenses."

Program sponsor requirements
Prior to issuing a Form DS-2019 to sponsor a student in the J Student Intern category, an exchange visitor program sponsor must:

1. Be an accredited postsecondary academic institution designated in the J College and University Student category.
2. Accept the student into its student internship program.
3. Verify the student's English language ability, "through a sponsor-conducted interview, by a recognized English language test, or by signed documentation from an academic institution or English language school."
4. Secure a placement for the intern.
5. Complete and secure the requisite signatures on Form DS-7002 (T/IPP).
6. Screen and vet all potential host organizations where the intern will be placed, by obtaining the following information:
   • The organization's Dun & Bradstreet identification number, unless the host organization is an academic institution, government entity, or family farm
   • Employer Identification Number (EIN) used for tax purposes
   • Verify the organizations telephone number and address
   • Review the organization's professional activities by examining the organization's advertising, brochures, Web site, and/or feedback from prior participants
   • Verify that the organization has a Workman's Compensation Insurance Policy
   • Unless the organization is an academic institution or a Federal, State, or local government office, conduct a site visit of the host organization if it has not previously participated successfully in the sponsor's student internship program, has fewer than 25 employees, or has less than three million dollars in annual revenue.
7. If the sponsor engages a third party to assist it in the conduct of the student internship program, the sponsor and the third party must execute a written agreement that outlines the full relationship between the sponsor and the third party on matters relating to the administration of the exchange visitor program.
8. Develop procedures for evaluating all student interns. The program sponsor must conduct such evaluations for each Student Intern. All programs must do a concluding evaluation, and programs lasting more than six months must do a midpoint and concluding evaluation. The sponsor must retain these evaluations for at least three years following the completion of the student's internship program.

Internship program requirements
The internship activity secured for the participant must conform to these requirements and prohibitions:

1. Be full-time; i.e., consist of a minimum of 32 hours per week.
2. Consist of no more than 20 percent clerical work.
3. All tasks assigned must be "necessary for the completion of the student internship program."
4. Not displace "American workers" (including full or part-time, temporary or permanent).
5. Exist "solely to assist the student intern in achieving the objectives of his or her participation in a student internship program."
6. Consist of "work-based learning," rather than "ordinary employment or unskilled labor."
7. If in the field of agriculture, meet all requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
8. Expose the participant to "American techniques, methodologies, and technology," expand upon the participant's existing knowledge and skills, and "not duplicate the student intern's prior experience."
9. Not place a student intern in any position that involves the following:
   • Unskilled or casual labor
   • Child care or elder care
   • Aviation
   • "Clinical positions or engaging in any other kind of work that involves patient care or contact, including any work that would require student interns to provide therapy, medication, or other clinical or medical care (e.g., sports or physical therapy, psychological counseling, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, social work, speech therapy, or early childhood education)"
   • Any "position, occupation, or business that could bring the Exchange Visitor Program or the Department into notoriety or disrepute."
   • Duties may not involve more than 20 per cent clerical work
10. Not involve in any way a "staffing/employment agency."
11. A student may participate in an internship with or without wages or other compensation. To be employed, however, the student needs the "approval of the exchange program's responsible officer and the student's home institution's dean or academic advisor."
12. The internship does not have to be in the student's field of study, but it does have to "fulfill the educational objectives for his or her current degree program at his or her home institution."
13. Student interns may participate in a student internship program for "up to 12 months for each degree/major."