Visas

All our counselors come to North America on official government approved exchange programs. For the USA, the paperwork is handled by BUNAC in London and Connecticut and by IEP in Melbourne or Auckland. This J-1 exchange program sponsored by IENA has been officially designated by the State Department and allows counselors to be in the USA for up to four months from May to early October. An additional 30-day grace period is allowed for travel.

Please be aware that participants are required to visit their nearest US Consulate or Embassy in person before a visa can be issued. This can be an expensive matter and can add considerably to the time it takes to get a visa. Also before a visa is issued, the sponsor is required to enter the participant and camp details into the SEVIS system. Once the participant is in the USA, this information must be validated. BUNAC will work with camps on how to do this.

For Canada camps, if the counselor is a student, they need an official contract from the camp and can then, with BUNAC’s help, apply to the Canadian High Commission in London for the employment authorisation. For non-students, the camp has to obtain an Employment Authorisation number from its local CEC.

Insurance

Every program participant has full travel/work insurance coverage arranged by BUNAC. Coverage includes medical and accident, baggage loss and cancellation/curtailment. Such insurance is secondary to and is not to replace, any coverage under the camp’s Worker’s Compensation or liability policy.

Please note that although this policy is negotiated by BUNAC for participants, it is for the individual counselor to make all claims, on the form provided, directly to the insurance company and NOT to BUNAC. Full details of coverage and claims procedures will be sent to each camp in early June.

Social Security

All J-1 program participants are required to obtain a social security card after they have arrived in the USA. However, you do not withhold social security payments since overseas counselors are ‘excluded from coverage under the Social Security program’ (IRS Pub. 518, p.21) and are neither subject to federal social security withholding nor unemployment benefit.

Returning Counselors

There are no restrictions on the number of times an overseas counselor can return to camp.

Since the whole application/visa process can be lengthy, it is advisable for returning staff to register with Summer Camp USA as early in the year as possible. On BUNAC, returners also have the option to make their own flight arrangements. If they choose to do this, they pay more to register to cover administration and visa costs, but the camp receives a zero billing from BUNAC. In this case the counselor gets the total salary amount from the camp at the end of the summer.

Referrals

If your camp has already accepted someone from overseas, we can provide the correct visa and other program services for them.

Every first-time applicant must have an interview and must participate in the BUNAC flight program (where applicable).

If you are expecting an application from a particular referral (brother/sister/friend of former counselor, etc.), please let us have that person’s name so that we can be sure that the dossier does go directly to you after we receive it in Connecticut.

Recruitment

BUNAC counselors are part of the staff at every type of camp in every corner of North America. Our counselors work in traditional private, residential camps and also at day camps (private and agency), YM/YWCA or YMHA camps, Girl Scout camps, inner-city agency camps, arts and music camps, primitive wilderness camps, upmarket sports camps, camps for the disabled child (or adult), science camps, riding camps, soccer camps, computer camps – the list is endless!

Assessment

All first-time applicants attend one of our one-on-one interview sessions. We rigorously screen applicants and accept only those candidates who our interviewers feel will genuinely relate well to children and who have the potential to become fine counselors.

All applicants have to provide a criminal background check and at least two college or professional references. Many provide more than two.

Camp visiting

During the summer, we try to visit each camp where we have staff. The BUNAC camp visitors are either interviewers or BUNAC staff members. These visits are considered extremely valuable from every point of view – counselor, camp director and visitor. The camp visitor reports are an important part of our overall information about each camp.

Further feedback is provided through the questionnaires sent to each camp and counselor at the end of the summer.

Orientation

Although BUNAC does thoroughly prepare staff for camp life in general, we expect each individual camp to prepare staff for their own camp. We ask you to be sure to write to your counselors and to send them as much information as possible. The more you communicate, the better prepared your staff will be on arrival and the quicker they will adjust to their new environment.

All Summer Camp USA participants attend an in-depth orientation before departure for North America. Orientations are mainly presented by US camp directors so participants arrive with realistic expectations of camp life. BUNAC provides each counselor with a full set of Orientation Notes. Counselors continue to refer to these throughout the summer.