Working as an au-pair on a J1 visa and want to start college
Hey guys, I am writing this on behalf of my girlfriend who is from Turkey. She came to the United over 2 years ago as part of a J1 Visa program for people working as an au-pair. Her goals are to study in the US and become a Kindergarten teacher. She is a qualified teacher back home and was working for a few years before coming to the US. She wants to leave the program very soon to begin a college prep course to improve her English before starting the actual college program next year.
However she is being told by her area director who manages the au-pair program that she will not be able to stay in the US if she leaves the program to become a student. So she is being forced to either stay and work as an au-pair for very minimal wage or leave the US. I am very angry with how she is being treated by the person running this program and I believe there has to be other options for her to stay here and fulfil her wishes to study to become a teacher.
I plan on reaching out to an immigration attorney this week but also wanted to post here in case anybody had any suggestions or have been in a similar situation before. I appreciate any feedback you can give.
Many thanks!!
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/immigration/comments/pihdfn/working_as_an_aupair_on_a_j1_visa_and_want_to/