The first recipients of the 12,000 "Walsh visas"- called after Congressman Jim Walsh who pushed the scheme through Congress last year - will arrive in the Washington area early next year.
Two-thirds of the visas will go to young people from Northern Ireland, and the other third to young people from the six Border counties in the Republic. They will come to the US for a maximum of three years to train in conflict resolution skills as well as develop job skills.
The scheme was officially launched here yesterday by Mr Walsh, representatives from the US Administration, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, Mr Robert Molloy, and the Northern Ireland Minister for the Economy and Education, Mr John McFall.
The programme administrator in the US will be Logicon, which will arrange jobs and services for the temporary immigrants.
The involvement of Logicon, which is also involved in defence programmes, has been questioned by the Irish development agency, AFrI. Its director, Mr Joe Murray, said in Dublin that "it seems bitterly ironic that a company involved in preparing military forces for war should be chosen to administer a project whose stated aim is to encourage grassroots support for long-term peace."
Mr Robert Powell of Logicon responded by saying that only 10 per cent of the company's activities were concerned with weapons. Logicon was also involved in training courses for young people and information technology.
Stressing the coincidence of the timing of the launch in the week when the Mitchell review had been successfully concluded, Mr Molloy said the visa programme sent a further confidence-building signal "of the continuing US interest in, and commitment to, the peace process."
FAS and the Training and Employment Agency in Northern Ireland will advertise for applications.