Host Employer Requirements
Host Employer Eligibility
Host companies must meet the following requirements to be eligible:
- Abide by all federal, state and local labor and occupational health and safety laws, including compensation requirements and regulations
- Programs exceeding 6 months must be paid at least the state and local minimum wage. Shorter programs may be unpaid, but they must meet the U.S. Department of Labor’s Criteria for Unpaid Internships and are not eligible for a program extension if the total program length will exceed 6 months.
- Provide a professional training program in an office-type setting, with no more than 20% clerical or basic work. Home-based businesses are not permitted
- Training provided to interns and trainees must also be primarily in-person. Intern/Trainees may participate remotely no more than 40% of their program (e.g., two out of five days per week) if the host organization has instituted partial remote policies.
- There must also be at least 5 full-time, onsite employees per J-1 intern or trainee to ensure adequate training and supervision is provided.
- Each Phase Supervisor listed on the Training Plan must be onsite for the duration of their assigned phase.
- Be in business and operational for at least six months
- Have an English-language website and company-based email addresses
- Interview candidates via phone, webcam, or in person
- Agree to complete mandatory program evaluations and to notify InterExchange in case of an emergency or any changes to the training plan or supervision
- Consent to a site visit by InterExchange (for a one-time $250 fee) prior to program approval, if required
- If the host company has fewer than 25 employees and less than $3 million in revenue, InterExchange is required by the State Department to perform a site visit before approving you for the program
Special Requirements for Hospitality Hosts
The following requirements apply to hotel/hospitality management, hotel food and beverage management, restaurant management, and culinary arts.
- InterExchange does not permit business-only or non-hospitality programs at hotels, resorts, inns, or restaurants.
- Interns and Trainees wishing to train in hospitality or restaurant management positions must have hospitality or restaurant management education (interns) or work experience (trainees) in order to be able to rotate through various departments.
- At least three rotations for programs six months or longer is required by the regulations. No rotation may be more than three or four months long, and each department must have sufficient, qualified staff to offer adequate training.
- NOTE: InterExchange will not be able to sponsor Hospitality programs with Housekeeping Management phases.
- Per the U.S. Department of State regulations, all Hospitality Management, Restaurant Management and Culinary programs are limited to 12 months regardless of whether the individual is an Intern or Trainee.
- Hospitality Interns and Trainees may not return to properties at which they have previously worked on a Work and Travel program or other work visa.
Education or work experience only in Tourism Management does not qualify Interns or Trainees for programs in Hospitality Management, as those fields are not interchangeable.
Eligible Locations
- Hotels should be rated 3-Diamond or higher by AAA, or rated 4-Star and above by Forbes. All unrated properties will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Restaurants must be high-end, fine dining, sit-down restaurants OR full-service banquet halls. All properties will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Non-Eligible Locations
- Hotels that do not meet the above requirements
- Motels
- Hostels
- National chains restaurants, casual dining restaurants, pubs, pizza parlors
- Fast food, delivery/takeout restaurants, bakeries
- Kiosks, stands, food trucks
Acceptable Types of Training
Remember that participants must rotate through departments and roles. Therefore, they may train in any given category for only one phase.
Hotel/Hospitality Management
- Front Desk
- Concierge
- Hotel or Restaurant Inventory/Buying
- Back Office/Business Management
- Food and Beverage Management
Restaurant/Food and Beverage Management
- Restaurant Inventory or Management/Buying
- Catering/Event Planning
- Staff Training and Development
- Restaurant Business Areas
Culinary Arts
- Kitchen equipment and food-handling safety training
- Recipe development
- Inventory/food sourcing
- Different stations/food styles
- Menu planning
For questions about other types of tasks, please contact InterExchange.
Prohibited training tasks or positions
- Bartending
- Bellhop
- Bussing Tables
- Cashier
- Delivery
- Dishwashing
- Housekeeping
- Laundry
- Maintenance
- Night audit or any training that occurs in the overnight hours
- Running Food
- Serving/Hosting
- Valet
As part of an overall management training, participants may briefly train in hosting, waiting tables, food preparation, etc. to learn basic skills needed to pursue management-level training within a department. However, the combination of such basic tasks may NOT exceed 20% of the entire training program. For culinary participants, food preparation may constitute a larger percentage of their program but only for high-skill tasks contributing to their training.
Host employers who require wait staff, housekeepers, bellhops, short order cooks, etc., are encouraged to learn more about our InterExchange Work & Travel USA program.
