Plan ahead for Grad USA Visa
USIT is encouraging Irish students graduating this year to start planning early if they want to spend a year living and working in the United States on its Grad USA visa. Graduates with September, October or November graduation dates are being advised to give themselves plenty of runway to complete sponsorship, paperwork and travel arrangements so they can move Stateside in autumn.
The Grad USA programme allows recent graduates to live and work in the United States for up to 12 months in a role related to their degree, in cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston. USIT supports participants with visa sponsorship, guidance on finding degree-related roles and in-country support throughout their stay.
“You will only get out of it what you put in”, said one recent participant is Odhrán Whelehan from Laois, a University of Galway graduate who spent his Grad USA year working at the Irish Arts Centre in Manhattan while living in Bushwick, Brooklyn. “Doing Grad USA was genuinely life-changing. I got real experience in my field, made friends from all over the world and travelled to cities I’d only ever seen in films. If you’re on the fence about going, just go.”
Who Grad USA is for
The Grad USA visa is aimed at both final-year students and recent graduates (typically within 12 months of finishing a full-time degree) as well as those who want to work full-time in the US in a role related to their studies, for up to 12 months.
Because there are several steps, from securing sponsorship and documentation to booking appointments and arranging travel, USIT recommends that students who hope to depart in the autumn begin their applications well in advance of their ideal departure date.
Missed Grad USA? Trainee USA is the “second chance” option
For graduates who have aged out of Grad USA, or for non-degree holders with solid experience, USIT’s Trainee USA programme offers an alternative way to live and work in America. Open to both graduates and non-graduates, it typically suits people with at least a few years’ full-time experience and has no upper age limit. Participants spend 1–18 months in structured, paid training roles across sectors such as engineering, tech, finance, construction, media and marketing, with time built in to travel before or after. USIT describes Trainee USA as the visa many Irish people have never heard of, but a powerful career move for those who thought the American option had passed them by.
Info talk and how to apply
USIT will host a Grad USA Info Talk on Wednesday, May 20, at 6.30pm giving students and graduates the chance to hear directly from past participants and visa experts and to get advice on timelines, job-hunting and costs. Register for this talk at eventbrite.ie