J1 trainee visa

[NotThatGirl 0]

Hi,

I'm hoping to come over the the US to do an internship, probably for around 6 months. I would have to do this on a J1 Trainee visa, rather than an Intern visa as I graduated university over 12 months ago. I know one of the ways in which J1 Visa-holders end up subject to the 2 year residency requirement is by participating in a government-funded or international, exchange program. As I'm still researching my options I'm just wondering whether there are any ways of attaining sponsorship for an internship abroad, without going through one of these programs?

If the employer I ended up with were able to sponsor me, thereby meaning I didn't have to go through any kind of program, would that get round the residency requirement? Are there any avenues for attaining private sponsorship/funding (I'm guessing any internship would likely be in the arts or administration)? Or, is it possible to sort the funding out myself, again avoiding using any government-funded prgrams?

Or, is it simply the case that once you come over on a J1 Trainee visa there is no way of preventing having the 2 year residency requirement as well? I am a UK citizen so not on the exchange visitor skills list.

Many thanks,

Claire