Media Release - AUS/US relations get personal

Fri 14 Mar 2008

The very first US visa to be issued in Sydney under the Student Work and Travel Pilot Program (announced by Bush and Howard during APEC 07) has been issued to a Student Placement Australia participant.

Michael completed his law degree at the University of Wollongong. He will spend a year working and travelling in the US. His plans include visiting friends on the West Coast in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego followed by employment in the legal or finance sector in New York.

Student Placement Australia Director, Nick Lorentzen, said: “We are delighted to see this program has come to fruition and that Michael is the first recipient in Sydney. The program offers a unique opportunity for Aussies and Kiwis to experience a 12 month working holiday in the USA with the flexibility to leave at any time and to move between jobs when there.”

The Work & Travel program allows Australian post-secondary students and recent graduates to work and travel in the US for up to one year. It strengthens the cultural and personal ties between our two nations. Australia has similar arrangements with other countries; however, this is the first program of its kind for the United States and Michael is the first to be issued the visa by the US Consulate in Sydney.

Read the full article.

Michael of Wollongong, pictured with US Consular Officials, receives the first visa under the new “Student Work and Travel Pilot Program.’