(edit title) Paid internship in the U.S. Is it possible? Advice needed Options

[NataBee]

Thanks Texaslass for understanding where I'm coming from.
Yes it is a little less than $3000 for 12 months hospitality/tourism internship, with about $2400 paid after passing the interview with the company and getting an offer from them.
They say the fee is for arranging visa, insurance & customer service. I guess, the hint here is that the more money you pay, the faster you will get your visa done since this corruption thing exists.

I will try to contact some companies/hotels myself though that could be quite a task.

[wondering]

It could be a scam as well.

Be careful before you invest so much money !

[NataBee]

Yes I know that. I didn't just trust any agency.

[Pursuivant]

Basically, the only way you can get through onto a J-1 programme is through an accredited agency. Its got to do with sponsorship etc. and a single company won't go through all that trouble as they can hire someone off the street. Way back I was in USA on a J-1 programme, and I worked in a national park. The pay was rather nonexistant though, and they're pretty strict the visa is for that one "experience", they don't allow you to transfer or get another category too easily.

What I would suggest looking into, is getting a job on the cruise ships. I mean after graduating, just check the jobs available. Being a cruise director's assistant or in the purser office is not "loveboat" but you get money saved and something to talk about in the next job interview. You can get an entry level job and then, well, its not the foreign legion but a few years of hazing and you work through the ranks...

Being a non-EU and in Sweden unfortunately doesn't give you any preferentials to say Nordjobb placements and you still need to go through the work permit process to any EU country.

[Pursuivant]

I mean, if you look at teh J-! programme rules, the "idea" of it is to provide an "experience" with pocket money, rather than being a "real paid job". So as an answer to your original question, the answer is "no". But you have a couple "plan b" there that might be possible.