HARD pressed students are being forced to pay "exorbitant and inequitable" fees to take part in the J1 work visa programme to the US, the Fianna Fail MEP Mr Niall Andrews has claimed.
Mr Andrews called on the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Education to talk to the US embassy about "streamlining" the procedures for granting J1 visas to about 6,000 Irish students each year.
Every student has to pay the travel organisation, USIT, a fee for £160 to participate in the programme, and all travel must be booked with it.
"When one counts the average flight cost to New York or Boston of £320, together with basic insurance cover of £72 and the US embassy fee of $20, the extra participation fee of £160 has the effect of hiking up the cost of an already expensive investment," Mr Andrews said.
Since anyone could travel to America for less than 90 days without a visa, it seemed unfair that students going for four months should pay so much.
A spokeswoman for USIT said the company would be "very happy" to discuss any aspect of the J1 programme with the Government. However, the needs of Irish young people going to work on a formal programme in the US were very different from those of holidaymakers, she pointed out.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/e23497a4-11b8-483c-94f7-2871a9e21dab.png)