Au Pair Travel Outside the United States
Your J-1 visa is valid for one year as long as you are an au pair exchange program participant in good standing. The visa also allows a thirty-day grace period at the end of the twelve-month program year, so it allows you to be in the USA legally for a total of thirteen months. This 13th month is intended as an opportunity for you to travel, at your own expense, and learn more about America before returning to your home country. The J-1 visa permits multiple entries to the USA during the twelve-month period of validity. If you plan to exit and re-enter the United States during the twelve-month program year, send your DS-2019 Form, at least four weeks before departure, along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to EurAupair - Visa, 250 N. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 USA, for an authorizing signature. Without this signature you may not be permitted to re-enter the United States. Be sure to include the dates of departure and return to the United States. If traveling outside the United States, please remember to check with the appropriate Embassy for any visa requirements for the destination country. Re-entry to the USA during the 13th month is not premitted.
Traveling during the extension period
While the extension allows you to continue the program year, it does not renew the J-1 entry visa. This means that while you are legally allowed to continue living in the United States, you cannot travel outside of the USA during the extension period. Therefore, you must complete all international travel during the initial twelve-month program year before your entry visa expires.
Click here to open the Travel Outside the US Form
“Thank you for helping me to become the au pair of such a lovely family!” EurAupair Au Pair from Germany