The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 authorizes the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program. The program provides foreign nationals with opportunities to participate in exchange programs in the United States and return home to share their experiences, while also encouraging Americans to participate in educational and cultural programs in other countries. Foreign nationals who participate in the program enter the United States with a J-1 visa. The program has grown considerably over the years. Figure 1 shows the number of J-1 visas issued since 1995. The program is comprised of 13 categories of exchanges, which are grouped under private sector programs or academic and government programs. The private sector programs include the Alien Physician, Au Pair, Camp Counselor, Summer Work Travel, and Trainee categories. The academic and government programs include the Government Visitor, International Visitor, Professor and Research Scholar, Short-Term Scholar, Specialist, Student (Secondary School Student, College/University Student), and Teacher categories. The Exchange Visitor Program had about 282,000 exchange visitors in the 13 program categories for fiscal year 2004. State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administers the Exchange Visitor Program through the Office of Exchange Coordination and Designation. This office administers the program through the designation of United States organizations to conduct exchange programs in the various exchange categories. There are 1,457 designated exchange programs. Designated sponsors are responsible for screening and selecting qualified applicants for program eligibility. The office determines which organizations will be designated to administer the international exchange programs on the basis of information provided during the application process in accordance with regulatory requirements. The office also develops and administers policy and regulations for the exchange categories and oversees sponsoring organizations’ compliance. Sponsors may be for profit or nonprofit organizations; businesses; state, local, or federal government agencies; and education-related institutions. Sponsors sometimes contract with overseas organizations—such as student travel agencies—as local partners to help identify and screen exchange program applicants. Some sponsors serve as intermediaries between the exchange visitor and a third party, which engages the exchange visitor in the program activity for the category in which they are being sponsored. For example, for trainees, the third parties are the organizations where the exchange visitors will receive training. Third parties consist of a variety of organizations, which include—but are not limited to—hotels, law firms, restaurants, Internet companies, and other private and public sector businesses and organizations. Sponsors are responsible for overseeing the operations of their overseas partners, and any third parties they work with. Also chief among the sponsors’ responsibilities is that of managing information on the exchange participant in DHS’ Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which has been in operation since January 2003. SEVIS, which is maintained and administered by DHS’ U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is an Internet-based system that electronically collects information on all nonimmigrants that enter the United States with student visas and exchange visitor visas, and their dependents. Once a participant’s data are entered into SEVIS by the sponsor, a Form DS-2019 is issued by the system in the applicant’s name. This identifying information in SEVIS can be reviewed by a consular officer at the time of the visa interview and during the processing of the exchange visitor at the port of entry. Upon the arrival of the Exchange Visitor Program participant, the sponsor is required to document their participation in their program activity and record information on the location of the visitor’s employment or training and U.S. residence address. Figure 2 describes the sponsoring organizations’ roles and responsibilities. The Summer Work Travel Program is among the largest of the 13 categories of exchanges, with about 89,453 participants in 2004. This program is designed to achieve the educational objectives of international exchange by involving bona fide foreign college or university students directly in the daily lives of U.S. citizens through travel and temporary work opportunities. The Trainee Program, with about 27,475 participants in 2004, provides foreign nationals the opportunity to enhance their skills in their chosen career field through participation in a structured training program. Summer Work Travel sponsors help the participants obtain jobs and provide pre-arrival information, an orientation to life in the United States, and contact information in the event of problems. Sponsors of trainees are also required to provide pre-arrival information to the trainees and are directly responsible for all aspects of the trainees’ program, including the selection, orientation, training, supervision, and evaluation. About 52 Summer Work Travel and 170 Trainee sponsors operated programs in 2005. Thousands of employers participate in the Summer Work Travel and the Trainee programs. Typical Summer Work Travel employers include amusement parks, resorts, hotels, and restaurants. The jobs generally include ride operators, waiters, lifeguards, receptionists, and guides. The types of organizations that utilize trainees include corporations, architectural firms, hotels, restaurants, development organizations, airlines, investment and financial services entities, and manufacturing companies. The participants are placed in locations wherein they receive training in engineering, drafting and design, biomedical technology, agricultural technology, hospitality administration and management, marketing, agricultural and food products processing, culinary arts and chef training, financial management, and many other careers. Throughout the existence of the Summer Work Travel Program, there has been a geographic shift in which countries provide the most program participants. In the past, Western Europe had the largest numbers of participants. However, more recently, the largest numbers of Summer Work Travel participants have been citizens of Eastern European countries, including Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, and Romania. Table 1 lists the 10 countries with the largest numbers of Summer Work Travel and Trainee participants. State has not exerted sufficient management oversight of the Summer Work Travel and the Trainee programs to guard against abuse of the programs. State primarily ensures compliance with program regulations through a paperwork review, and there is inconsistent monitoring by sponsors. Moreover, some sponsors believe that the program regulations need updating, and State officials have expressed concerns about the enforceability of the sanction/revocation process provided for in the Exchange Visitor Program regulations. Sponsors have also expressed concern about their communication with State. State has acknowledged problems, is establishing a compliance unit to monitor program activities, and is revising the regulations; however progress has been slow. State’s monitoring efforts largely consist of reviewing written information provided by sponsors, with minimal efforts of verifying such information through program visits. State relies on sponsors to provide written information, primarily through annual reports, which describe the number of individuals a sponsor has placed and a brief narrative on program activities, difficulties encountered, and their resolution. Exchange program regulations require that sponsors promptly notify State about any serious problem or controversy that could cause State or the sponsor’s Exchange Visitor Program notoriety or disrepute. When a sponsor reports a problem, State officials follow-up by telephone, e-mail, fax or letter, according to sponsors and State officials. However, State rarely visits sponsors to observe program activities and verify the information that they provide, although such visits are a good internal control practice for ensuring that management’s directives are being carried out. We found that in the past 4 years, State officials made visits to only 8 of its 206 Summer Work Travel and/or Trainee sponsors. Additionally, information on problematic incidents provided by the sponsors and any notes or correspondence on the matter are filed as part of the material that is examined when the sponsor applies for redesignation, which is required every 2 years. In their applications for redesignation to State, all sponsors are required to estimate the number of exchange visitors their organization would like to place and provide information on their legal, financial, and managerial resources to manage exchange programs in compliance with federal regulations. State reviews these applications along with the annual reports and other documentation collected over the 2-year period and determines whether it should grant a 2-year designation to a sponsor and the number of participants the sponsor will be authorized to include in their exchange program activity. The vast majority of sponsors who apply for redesignation are approved. State officials said that their staffing levels and lack of travel funds do not allow for intensive monitoring of the Exchange Visitor Program sponsors. The Office of Exchange Coordination and Designation has five Program Designation officers who serve as the point of contact and are responsible for the day-to-day administration and management of the 13 exchange programs. Exchange Visitor Program regulations require sponsors to effectively administer and monitor their Exchange Visitor Program and ensure exchange participants engage in activities consistent with the appropriate exchange category. Nevertheless, recent discoveries by consular officers overseas suggest that some sponsors do not consistently carry out their oversight and monitoring responsibilities. For example: A trainee applicant submitted a training offer that included the name and organizational information of a legitimate financial services company, but listed as a contact an individual with a noncompany e-mail address. When the consular officer checked the contact information, he learned that the contact person was not affiliated with the financial services company. The sponsor admitted to only spot-checking the viability of third party organizations and training plans. When a consular officer at another post checked a company’s Web site to verify the job offer of a foreign student applying for the Summer Work Travel Program, he discovered that the company was a topless bar. In another case, consular officers noticed a number of trainee applicants who said they were going to the United States to work as kitchen help and wait staff. When State contacted the U.S. sponsor about these applicants, the sponsor stated that it relied on another organization to help it select and place the trainees and admitted that it had not followed up directly with each trainee and employer to ensure that its standards were being satisfied. Sponsors are required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that third parties know and comply with applicable provisions of the Exchange Visitor Program regulations. However, State does not offer any guidance on how the sponsors should carry out their monitoring and oversight responsibilities.