Pre-Arrival Information

The period between hiring a participant and their arrival at your camp is critical! During this time, InterExchange and our ICs will assist your counselor as they apply for and obtain the visa, plan their travel to camp, and prepare for a successful program. It’s important that camp also stays in touch with their hired participants. Building rapport and expectations during this time is vital to their success with you.

Obtaining Visas

InterExchange and our ICs will assist your participants as they apply for their visas. We will provide their DS-2019 form and instructions on how to sign up for their visa interview. We request that all participants inform us once they have booked their visa interview by adding that information to their InterExchange profile. You will have access to this information as well, via your Arrivals list. 

Once a participant has attended their visa interview, we request that they log in to inform us how the interview went. In most cases, they will simply report that their visa was issued. Again, you will be able to see this information through your Arrivals lists. 

If their visa was denied, they will have the option to say whether they were denied or are reapplying. InterExchange will work with our ICs to determine if a participant may have a chance at being approved if they reapply. We know that denials are frustrating for everyone involved, and that you are relying on the counselors you hire to make it to camp. It is impossible to foresee which counselors may get denied, and difficult to understand what their odds of approval are on a second attempt. Please keep in mind that each time a participant signs up for an interview at the embassy, they must pay an additional interview fee of $185. This may make it impossible for them to apply for a second interview. 

Your InterExchange representative will contact you immediately once we are aware of any visa denials. Additionally, participants can be sent into Administrative Processing, meaning the embassy needs more time to assess the application. Often, the embassy will inform the counselor what is needed to move their application forward, but sometimes they are held in this limbo for long enough that they may miss out on camp. We will keep you as informed as possible in these situations.

Travel Directions to Camp

Camps are responsible for providing clear directions for how and when participants should arrive at camp. The “Travel Arrangements” section of your camp application and profile should be detailed and can be updated at any time. Placed participants will see this information and book their flights based on the information you provide. Participants can fly directly into the airport that is closest to your camp. Please stay in touch with your participants regarding arrival information especially regarding pick up times and locations. 

All participants are responsible for purchasing their own flights to and from camp.

Pre-Camp Contact

Let your staff know you’re excited about working with them! Send a welcome letter and camp brochure, plus any relevant forms. InterExchange highly recommends sending international staff your standard camp contract with start and end dates and any important camp rules. You may also want to include a packet from your local Chamber of Commerce. Having contracts signed and returned and copies of certificates and medical reports on file before your staff is physically at camp reduces your paper chase once the summer begins. Remember, your international participants are just as excited as you are and they want to be prepared. This is also a great time to connect your international staff with your domestic staff, so that the first day is not too overwhelming. Social media groups, email chains, and virtual hangouts can go a long way!

Pre-Arrival Orientation

We do our best to ensure your counselors are ready for a summer in the US by the time they arrive to camp. InterExchange has a mandatory orientation that all of our participants must watch prior to travel. If you’re interested in viewing it, you can do so here. This orientation covers topics such as who InterExchange is, what they can expect on the program, information on SEVIS and Social Security, understanding pay and taxes, along with various other challenges they may face.

Because every camp is different, we do rely on you to provide any additional information that may be unique to your camp. Packing lists, detailed arrival instructions and/or staff policies are always helpful so be sure to share those with your arriving counselors.

Here are a couple other quick topics we cover with all participants prior to their arrival:

• Participants are given their insurance information and access to their insurance documents
• Participants are aware that they will need to apply for a Social Security number and taxes will be deducted from their paycheck.
• We encourage all participants to review their offers and ask questions about pay/compensation prior to arrival to avoid any confusion during the summer.