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Federal official to meet international exchange students in Rehoboth July 15

July 9, 2014

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Robin Lerner, who oversees the Department of State’s J-1 visa Exchange Visitor Program, will visit international exchange participants in Rehoboth Beach July 15. She will visit with students, employers, and local elected officials during the regularly scheduled student meal program from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 15, at Epworth United Methodist Church on Holland Glade Road.

Each year, approximately 80,000 international students travel to the United States during their breaks from school through the Summer Work Travel program, one of many international exchange programs managed by the U.S. Department of State through the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program.  By spending time in communities across the United States, these visiting students learn about U.S. culture, take part in community service activities, make lasting friendships, and improve English language skills.

Lerner is spending the summer on the road, meeting international exchange students and taking part in their cultural activities, including sports outings, meetings with town mayors, U.S. national parks visits, and summer festival experiences across the country. Her tour highlights the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program participants’ interaction with Americans in dozens of communities throughout the United States.

Exchange programs overseen by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs support U.S. foreign policy goals and engage students, educators, artists, athletes, and rising leaders in the U.S. and more than 160 countries each year.  For over 50 years, the U.S. Department of State’s Summer Work Travel program has afforded college and university students from around the world an opportunity to live and work in communities throughout the United States for up to three months and travel up to one month during their academic breaks.

For more information about the U.S. Department of State’s Exchange Visitor Program, visit  j1visa.state.gov.

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