Candidates you interview before hiring
You meet candidates before making an offer. ARCO evaluates English, readiness, expectations and role fit on the participant side.
Build your strongest season. Change a student's life.
ARCO prepares Mexican university students for BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel. You provide a real seasonal role. We prepare the students in Mexico, coordinate with the designated sponsor, and stay involved throughout the season.
Start an employer conversationPeak season should not lower your standard.
Peak season exposes weak systems quickly. Open shifts lead to rushed onboarding, managers absorb work that should already have an owner, and constant retraining drains the people you need most.
Summer Work Travel can complement local hiring with eligible Mexican university students who come to the United States for a defined season and a real cultural exchange.
It is not a substitute for permanent hiring. Roles must be seasonal or temporary, cannot displace U.S. workers, and remain subject to independent sponsor vetting and approval.
BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel · 22 CFR § 62.32 — Summer Work Travel
You interview the candidates.You make the offer.You employ them directly.
ARCO prepares the students in Mexico and stays involved throughout the season.
A better season begins before arrival.
ARCO works before arrival, while expectations, conditions and preparation can still be shaped. We stay involved once the season begins.
A season defined before anyone travels
Role, wage, expected weekly hours, dates, deductions, housing, transportation, supervision, and work conditions should be understood before a participant accepts.
One counterpart in Mexico
You are not left to translate the entire process across borders. ARCO coordinates participant preparation, employer information, and the evidence required for sponsor review.
Support after the offer
Preparation does not end when a position is accepted. ARCO stays close to the participant before departure and during the season while the designated sponsor retains formal program authority.
A season worth repeating
A strong season can lead to returning participants, referrals and a more reliable path for the next year. Renewal is earned through the quality of the actual experience.
Three parties. No blurred authority.
A strong program depends on clear roles. Each party should know what it controls, what it does not, and when it must act.
The host employer
Employs and supervises participants directly. The employer defines the seasonal role, interviews candidates, makes the offer, pays wages, provides the agreed hours and conditions, maintains a safe workplace, and reports material changes or incidents promptly.
ARCO
Selects and prepares Mexican university students, develops host relationships, coordinates the information required for sponsor review, and remains an active counterpart before and during the season. ARCO does not employ participants, supervise work at the job site, or authorize the program.
The designated BridgeUSA sponsor
Independently vets and approves the employer and role, authorizes each participant's program, issues the DS-2019 once applicable requirements are met, monitors the exchange, and retains formal authority over program status.
We do not accept every employer.
The students we prepare should know where they are going. The businesses that receive them should know what they are accepting.
A real seasonal need
The role must answer a genuine temporary or seasonal need. It cannot replace a permanent vacancy or displace U.S. workers.
Local workforce integrity
Recent layoffs, a strike, a lockout, or other incompatible workforce conditions must be disclosed and may make the placement ineligible.
A transparent offer
Wage, duties, expected weekly hours, dates, overtime treatment, deductions, housing, transportation, and worksite must be understood before anyone accepts.
A workable way to live the season
Housing does not always have to come from the employer. Cost, commute, availability, and responsible contacts still have to be resolved before arrival.
A worksite ready to receive someone
The business must be legally and operationally ready: licenses, workers' compensation, payroll, seasonality evidence, a real worksite, and a named manager who directly supervises the role.
Someone has to own the season
The wage and hours in the approved offer must be dependable. A responsible operator must be able to answer, decide, document, and respond promptly when conditions change or something goes wrong.
Reciprocal respect
Summer Work Travel includes employment, but it is not reduced to employment. Participants should be able to work alongside Americans, practice English, experience their community, and return home with more than a paycheck.
Passing our review is not sponsor approval.
Sponsor approval does not obligate ARCO to place participants with an employer that no longer meets the standard.
The fee is zero.The standard is not.
ARCO and the designated BridgeUSA sponsor charge approved host employers no recruitment or program fees.
- Recruitment fee: $0
- Program fee: $0
The employment is still yours.
You hire directly. The wages, conditions, and ordinary obligations of employment remain with the host employer.
Pay the role.
Pay the wages stated in the approved offer and lawful overtime where required.
Run the employment properly.
Handle payroll, required withholding, workers' compensation, and ordinary workplace obligations.
Honor what was offered.
Provide the represented hours, onboarding, supervision, safety, and working conditions.
Keep the commitments you make.
Provide housing or transportation when the employer has agreed to do so.
A no-fee partnership is still a real partnership.
A payroll distinction worth understanding
Eligible J-1 students who remain nonresident aliens for U.S. tax purposes are generally exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes on authorized wages.
6.2%
Social Security
ordinary 2026 employer-side rate on covered wages
1.45%
Medicare
ordinary 2026 employer-side rate on covered wages
Not tax-free employment.
Eligibility depends on the participant's actual immigration and tax-residency facts. Federal, state, or local income-tax withholding and other payroll duties may still apply. Employers should confirm treatment with their payroll provider or tax adviser.
From seasonal need to an approved placement.
Tell us about your season
Send your company, location, operating dates, roles, estimated headcount, wage, expected hours, and available housing or transportation information.
Have a direct employer-fit conversation
Aldo reviews the operational need with you. The first conversation is for fit and truth, not a sales performance.
Complete the ARCO readiness review
ARCO evaluates seasonality, job conditions, supervision, documentation, housing, transportation, participant experience, and readiness for formal sponsor review.
Meet potential participants
If the role is eligible and participant capacity exists, you interview candidates and decide whom you want to hire. Candidate introductions are never automatic or guaranteed.
Enter independent sponsor review
The designated sponsor vets the host employer, role, offer, worksite, housing and transportation context, and required documentation. Only the sponsor can formally approve the placement.
Prepare both sides before arrival
ARCO prepares participants for the role and the reality of the season. The employer confirms onboarding, payroll, supervision, arrival, housing, transportation, and first-week logistics.
Operate with support
The employer manages the workplace. The sponsor retains formal program authority. ARCO remains close to the participant and employer so emerging issues can be identified before they become a crisis.
Every placement enters formal sponsor review.
ARCO prepares the employer case and participant readiness before the designated BridgeUSA sponsor for the placement reviews the case.
The sponsor independently vets the host employer, role, worksite, housing and transportation context, and required documentation under the Summer Work Travel program.
Approval is never automatic. Only the designated sponsor can approve the placement, and its decision remains independent of ARCO.
ARCO stays involved throughout the review so the employer has a consistent counterpart without blurred authority.
A cultural exchange at national scale.
104,609new Summer Work Travel exchange visitors entered the program in 2025.
7,678came from Mexico, making it the third-largest sending country that year.
SelectiveARCO is building a deliberately smaller employer network around the quality of the actual experience.
Scale proves the category.
The ARCO Host Standard
decides who enters our network.
Questions a serious host employer should ask.
Is ARCO a designated J-1 sponsor?
No. ARCO is a Mexican cultural exchange firm. A designated BridgeUSA sponsor independently reviews and authorizes each Summer Work Travel placement and participant program.
Is ARCO a staffing agency?
No. ARCO is not a staffing agency. It does not employ, dispatch, lease, or supervise workers at the job site. The host employer hires and supervises participants directly.
Does ARCO or the sponsor control visa approval?
No. Neither ARCO nor the designated sponsor decides a visa application or admission to the United States. A U.S. consular officer independently decides the visa application, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection independently decides admission at the port of entry.
Does the employer pay ARCO?
No. Approved host employers pay no recruitment or program fee to ARCO.
Does the employer pay the designated sponsor?
No. Under the employer offer described on this page, the designated BridgeUSA sponsor for an approved placement does not charge the host employer a recruitment or program fee. Sponsor review and placement approval remain independent.
What does the employer still pay?
Normal employment costs. These include wages, lawful overtime, payroll administration, workers' compensation, onboarding, supervision, safety obligations, and any housing or transportation support the employer agrees to provide.
Are J-1 participants exempt from all taxes?
No. Eligible J-1 students who remain nonresident aliens and perform authorized employment are generally exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes on those wages. Income-tax withholding and other obligations may still apply. The employer should confirm each participant's treatment with its payroll or tax adviser.
Can Summer Work Travel replace local employees?
No. The program is intended for eligible temporary or seasonal roles and cannot be used to displace U.S. workers. Sponsors review seasonality and relevant workforce conditions before approval.
Do we have to provide housing?
Not universally. A suitable, affordable, and workable housing and transportation plan is still essential. The designated sponsor for the placement may impose additional requirements, and ARCO will not prepare a participant for arrival without credible housing and commute planning.
How long can participants work?
Summer Work Travel participation can last up to four months and must fit the participant's official university vacation and the sponsor-approved program dates. Actual dates vary by participant, country, season, and sponsor authorization.
Can we use this for year-round positions?
No. This page covers Summer Work Travel only. Roles must be temporary or seasonal. Intern and Trainee programs are separate and are not offered through this page.
Can we choose the participants we hire?
Yes. Employers interview potential candidates and decide whom they want to hire. Every offer and placement remains subject to candidate acceptance, sponsor approval, visa issuance, admission, and actual arrival.
Does ARCO guarantee a specific number of participants?
No. ARCO does not guarantee headcount, candidate acceptance, sponsor approval, visa issuance, admission, arrival, retention, or season completion. We do commit to telling you the truth about capacity and fit before building an operating plan around it.
What happens if something changes during the season?
The employer must communicate material changes promptly. Workplace, hours, payroll, housing, safety, separation, or participant-welfare issues may require immediate sponsor involvement. ARCO stays close to both sides but does not replace the sponsor's formal authority or the employer's workplace responsibility.
What types of employers may qualify?
Potentially eligible environments include hospitality, food and beverage, attractions, recreation, resorts, retail, and other seasonal service operations. Eligibility depends on the specific role, worksite, hours, duties, supervision, seasonality, and current sponsor rules.
How do we begin?
Email team@arco.org.mx with your company, city and state, operating season, roles, expected headcount, wage, weekly hours, and any housing or transportation support. Aldo will review the initial fit directly.
Tell us what your season needs. We will tell you plainly whether this program fits.
Start with the operation as it really exists: company, location, dates, roles, headcount, wage, hours, housing, and transportation. If Summer Work Travel is not the right instrument, we will say so. If the fit is real, we will explain the next steps.