Getting work and travel visa while on J-1

[jaskunas 0]

Hey guys,

could you please let me know where to start if I am currently an exchange student staying in the US and would like to stay here during the summer 2013. My visa ends in May and I am not sure if I can get work and travel visa before that, if yes, please tell me the first steps to that.

Should I get a job offer at first and let my employer work on my visa or should I start with visa and then search for a job or what?

I tried calling UCIS and talk to them but I wasn't able to go through the automated answering mashine.

Appreciate your help.

Domantas.

[jaskunas 0]

Could anybody help, please?

[kzielu 1,149]

Zero chance for that. For any work visa, you'll have to have employer first, however - even assumming you find one - earliest time H-1Bs will be given out is October 2013.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

There isn't such a thing as a "work and travel visa" for the USA, unlike Australia and similar, and a work visa for just a few months during the summer is unlikely to happen (but if you want to persue that path, it is the employer who sponsors you so you need a job offer first).

Your best options are either a tourist visa (can't work, may have difficulty getting one as you are not really visiting, having lived here on a student visa) or possibly an internship visa like a J1, which enables you to work in the field you are studying. Check with your international student office if that may be an option.