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Yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a consular cable to U.S. embassies and consulates regarding F and J visa appointments. According to news coverage, 鈥渢he memo instructs consular posts to pause processing of J visa applications while the Department develops procedures to expand social media screening.鈥� While the intent appeared to focus on international students, the guidance was broadly worded and is currently being interpreted by posts as applying to all J categories鈥攊ncluding teacher, camp counselor, au pair, and summer work travel programs. They have stopped allowing appointments to be booked and, in some cases, are cancelling existing appointments.

Many school districts rely on the J visa to hire international teachers and if appointments are not reinstated quickly, new exchange teachers won鈥檛 arrive by the start of school. In which case, the State Department might not let them enter at all (teachers are supposed to be here by mid-October at the latest). This is also a significant problem for any 3rd year exchange teachers who plan to travel home for the summer and have their visa renewed for the additional 2 years of eligibility. If they鈥檙e unable to get it renewed due to the pause, they won鈥檛 be able to re-enter the U.S. 

We believe this is an unintended error and are working to fix it. In the meantime, if this change is impacting your district, we recommend that you flag this issue for your members of Congress, so they understand what it means for the students and schools in their district.