[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43695-43696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15831]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice: 9622]
Exchange Visitor Program--Use of Forms DS-2019 in the Summer Work
Travel Program
AGENCY: Department of State.
ACTION: Re-allocation of Forms DS-2019 to designated Summer Work Travel
Sponsors.
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SUMMARY: The Department of State (the Department) will permit current
sponsors in the Summer Work Travel (SWT) program category to apply to
the Department for a program adjustment by allocation of Forms DS-2019
that were previously allocated to SWT sponsors in business for the full
2011 calendar year, but which no longer operate in the SWT program
category. These forms are not currently allocated to any sponsor. If
allocated, the total number of SWT program participants would remain
within the aggregate actual total SWT participant program size for 2011
(i.e., the overall program participant level and designation moratorium
established by the notice published by the Department in 2011 (Public
Notice 7677, 76 FR 68808).
DATES: Effective September 1, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: G. Kevin Saba, Director, Office of
Policy and Program Support, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,
U.S. Department of State, SA-5, Floor 5, 2200 C Street NW., Washington,
DC 20522; or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department administers the Exchange
Visitor Program pursuant to the Mutual Educational and Cultural
Exchange Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2451 et. seq.), also known
as the Fulbright-Hays Act (the Act). The purpose of the Act is to
increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States
and the people of other countries, including through educational and
cultural exchanges. The Department's implementing regulations for the
Exchange Visitor Program are set forth at 22 CFR part 62.
On November 7, 2011, the Office of Private Sector Exchange
published Public Notice 7677, which provided that, until further
notice, SWT program sponsors in business for the full 2011 calendar
year would not be permitted to expand their number of program
participants beyond their actual total 2011 participant program size (a
cap), and that no new applications from prospective sponsors for SWT
program designation would be accepted (a moratorium).
In effect, the cap limited the SWT program's aggregate size to the
2011 participant level, which was 109,187 participants, and the
moratorium fixed the 50 designated sponsors active in the 2011 SWT
program. The purpose of the cap and moratorium was to give the
Department time to review and take next steps in reforming the SWT
program.
Since 2011, the Department has implemented significant reforms of
the SWT program, reflected in several rulemakings, increases in
Department staff to monitor SWT program implementation in the field,
compliance reviews, and periodic Department-sponsor dialogue sessions.
Between 2011 and 2015, the number of designated SWT program
sponsors operating in the SWT program decreased from 50 to 41. In 2015,
12,959 fewer exchange visitors could participate in the SWT program
than the 109,187 participants that constituted the aggregate actual
total program participant size in 2011.
This notice informs SWT program sponsors that they may apply to
adjust their number of program participants beyond their respective,
sponsor-specific 2011 participant program size. A designated sponsor in
good standing (one without imposed sanctions in the SWT program
category), and currently active in the SWT program, may apply in
writing to the Department's Office of Designation, on or after
September 1, 2016, for program adjustment pursuant to 22 CFR 62.12(d).
22 CFR 62.12(d)(2) provides that a request for program adjustment
must include certain required information as well as any other
information requested by the Department. The Department requests that,
pursuant to Sec. 62.12(d)(2), an application for SWT program
adjustment include information about the sponsor's:
(1) Ability to meet emerging foreign policy priorities through
increased people-to-people exchanges;
(2) need to meet demand while maintaining an equitable balance
between summer (northern hemisphere)
[[Page 43696]]
and winter (southern hemisphere) cycles of the SWT program; or
(3) ability to address exigent diplomatic needs that can be served
by increased people-to-people exchanges.
The Department has the sole discretion to determine the number of
Forms DS-2019 to be issued to a sponsor. See 22 CFR 62.12(d)(1). The
overall number of program participants in the SWT program remains
limited by the SWT program's aggregate size at the 2011 participant
level established by Public Notice 7677. No new applications from
prospective sponsors for SWT program designation will be accepted at
this time.
Dated: June 27, 2016.
G. Kevin Saba,
Director, Office of Policy and Program Support, Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2016-15831 Filed 7-1-16; 8:45 am]
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