GAPP, Inc. is designated by the U.S. Department of State as a sponsor organization for the Exchange Visitor Program. We sponsor J-1 visas only for students in Germany participating in semester- or year-long exchanges at their GAPP partner school in the U.S.
How it works
Students attending a German secondary school with an active GAPP partnership are eligible for a long-term exchange, a semester or academic year at their U.S. partner school. Students must be between the ages of
15 and 18 ½ at the time of their exchange program start date and must not have completed more than 11 years of secondary school in Germany. Students who have already participated in a U.S. exchange visitor program in either J-1 or F-1 status are not eligible.
GAPP recommends starting the DS-2019 application process
six months in advance of the student’s proposed exchange program start date.
Interested German students should request information about long-term exchanges from the German GAPP coordinator at their school. The German GAPP coordinator should then contact the American GAPP coordinator at their U.S. partner school to confirm that the U.S. school can accept an exchange student for the proposed semester(s). Once both German and U.S. schools have confirmed the exchange, the American GAPP coordinator should email GAPP (
gappLT@goethe.de) to request the GAPP DS-2019 application forms.
Please note:
- Only the American GAPP coordinator may request the GAPP DS-2019 application forms—the German GAPP coordinator, the exchange student and their family, and the potential host family may not request the forms on behalf of the American GAPP coordinator.
- The GAPP Long-Term Exchange Coordinator is Madelena Caron—she can be reached at gappLT@goethe.de or madelena.caron@goethe.de
- The GAPP DS-2019 application processing fee is $1,300 per exchange student
Deadlines
The exchange program start date should align with the first day of the semester or school year. Semester start dates vary, so we’ve provided the following deadlines as recommendations.
Fall semester or academic year
May 15th
Spring semester
October 15th
The
GAPP Guidelines for Long-Term Exchanges document provides more detailed information about the DS-2019 and J-1 visa application procedures and what to expect from a long-term GAPP exchange:
For more information on the Secondary School Student Exchange Visitor Program, please visit the U.S. Department of State’s BridgeUSA webpage:
