US Public Schools are Hiring International Teachers

Eligibility for foreign teachers to teach in the US public schools:

1. Meet the qualifications for teaching in primary or secondary schools in their country of nationality or last legal residence;
2. Be working as a teacher in the home country or country of legal residence at the time of application, or, if not working as a teacher, otherwise meet the eligibility qualifications and (a) have recently (within 12 months of application) completed an advanced degree and (b) have two years of full-time teaching experience within the past eight years;
3. Have a degree-equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree in either education or the academic subject field in which they intend to teach;
4. Have a minimum of two years (24 months) of teaching or related professional experience;
5. Satisfy the standards of the U.S. state in which they will teach;
6. Be of good reputation and character;
7. Be seeking to enter the United States for the purpose of full-time teaching as a teacher of record at a primary (including pre-kindergarten) or secondary accredited educational institution in the United States (pre-kindergarten teachers must teach full-time, and at the pre-kindergarten level, may teach only language immersion at an accredited host school);
8. Possess sufficient proficiency in the English language.
9. Have a US designated sponsoring organization. Check this link here for sponsoring organizations. Under the programs tab, filter by selecting teacher.
   • For teachers from Kenya for instance, currently the only sponsoring organization for teachers to immigrate to the US is the Foreign Academic and Cultural Exchange Services (FACES).
   • If you immigrate through FACE, you’ll live and work in South Carolina.

Most sought subject areas to for foreign teachers in the US 

Though the most sought after subjects will vary from sponsor to sponsor, the following are the highest preferred subjects:

• Mathematics
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Special Education
• Elementary Education
• Foreign languages – Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, German, etc.

Top 10 teacher export countries to the USA

According to the Exchange Visitor (J1) non-immigrant visa program website, the top 10 countries sending the most people to teach in the US are:

1. Philipines
2. Jamaica
3. China
4. France
5. Colombia
6. Spain
7. India
8. Mexico
9. United Kingdom (UK)
10. Germany

Top 10 destination States for foreign teachers to the US under J-1 Visa 

According to the Exchange Visitor (J1) non-immigrant visa program website, the top 10 countries destination States for teachers immigrating to the US under the J-1 Visa program are:

1. North Carolina
2. South Carolina
3. California
4. Texas
5. Arizona
6. Florida
7. Utah
8. Louisiana
9. Nevada
10. New York

Application process to immigrate to the US as a foreign teacher 

Step 1: Prepare your documents

You will need to have the following requirements in order to apply for your move to the US foreign teacher in an accredited (K-12) school:

1. Valid passport
2. Your university degree(s), diploma(s), and/or certificates
3. Your official university transcripts validated by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES)
4. Evidence of at least 2 years’ of satisfactory classroom teaching experience since graduating with your undergraduate degree.
5. Recommendation letters (at least 3 should be from your school administrators)
6. Copy of your valid driver’s license. You must have at least 2 years of driving experience
7. Recorded 3 – 5 minute video bio about yourself
8. Be willing to return to your native country for at least two years to share your educational and cultural experiences before you may return to the United States to work again.
9. Any other information requested by your J 1 exchange program visa sponsor

Step 2: Find a sponsoring organization for your J-1 Exchange visa 

To immigrate under the J 1 visa program, you must do so under a designated sponsor organization.

The sponsoring organization is the one that helps you to process your application as well as help you with settlement into America in case your application is successful.

Some of the sponsoring organizations will charge you a placement fee while others will not. It pretty much varies from sponsor to sponsor.

FACES for instance charges NO Placement Fees.

Step 3: Interviews

Upon submission of your application to prospective sponsoring organizations, they will place you for a series of interviews with selected school district depending on when one decides to hire you as a teacher for one of the schools under their jurisdiction.

Some key achievements, skills and traits that interviewers will be looking out for during the interviews include:

• Your educational background
• Learning strategies that evoke student engagement
• Motivational techniques
• Discipline strategies
• Use of technology in learning
• Inter – cultural strategies that you aim to pass on to your potential students. This is the gist of the J-1 exchange visa program.

Step 4: Offer to go to the USA temporarily as a full-time teacher in an accredited (K-12) school

Upon successfully passing the interview(s) in step 3 above, the school district that selects you informs your sponsoring organization of their willingness to hire you as teacher in their school district.

The sponsoring organization will then supply you with the following information:

• Name of school
• Teaching assignments, duties, and responsibilities
• Salary and benefits details
• Expected arrival time to the US

Step 5: J – 1 Visa application at the US Embassy in your home country

Teacher applicants who have successfully completed the evaluation process and have been offered a teaching position will receive from the sponsoring organization a Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1 Status) form DS-2019.

Armed with the information in step 4 above, you will then need to submit an application and attend your J-1 visa interview at the US embassy in your home country.

The key here is to clearly articulate to the visa officer interviewing you that the J-1 visa program is a teaching exchange program allowing teachers to live and work in the United States for one year with the option to renew for a second and third year. Hence your main reason for wanting to immigrate to the US through this program is to teach and to learn from your prospective hosts/students.

Step 6: Arrival to the US 

If your visa application in Step 5 is successful, your sponsoring organization will then process your departure to the US.

Although some organizations will pay your entire air ticket, most will pay for half your air ticket and require you to cater for the remainder.

Your sponsor will be there to meet you upon arrival to the US.

Other issues your sponsoring organization will help you with include:

• teaching preparations
• tips on how to adjust to your new environment
• how to handle your prospective students
• opening a bank account
• getting a car, etc.

Benefits of teaching in the United States as a foreign teacher

Educational and cultural enrichment:

Exchange teachers sharpen their professional skills and participate in cross-cultural activities in schools and communities, and they return to their home school after the exchange to share their experiences and increased knowledge of the United States and the U.S. educational system.

Repeat participation

• Teachers are eligible to repeat the program provided that they have resided outside the United States for two years and continue to meet the eligibility requirements.

Program sponsors

Role of sponsors:

• Screen and select qualified foreign teachers based on qualifications and also based on who can make a contribution to the education of students in the United States and who want to learn U.S. teaching methods;
• Verify each teacher applicant’s English language proficiency through recognized language tests or interviews;
• Monitor the exchange teachers’ stay in the United States to ensure that they are satisfactorily performing their teaching responsibilities, and;
• Ensure each exchange teacher completes a cultural activity component annually, which includes two requirements:
  1. First, each exchange teacher must complete, within the United States and during each year of program participation, an activity for the teacher’s classroom, larger host school or host school district population, or the community at large that gives an overview of a cultural aspect of the teacher’s home country.
  2. Second, an activity that involves U.S. student dialogue with schools or students in another country, preferably the teacher’s home country.

Sponsors must provide participants with the following information:

• The duration and location(s) of the participants’ program;
• A summary of the significant components of the program, including fees and costs of the program, a written statement of the teaching requirements and related professional obligations; and
• A written statement that clearly indicates the compensation package to be provided to the exchange visitor teacher and any other financial arrangements relevant to the program.

Hosts/employers are required to:

• Involve exchange teachers in school and community cultural activities; and
• Monitor the performance of exchange teachers in the classroom and in carrying out official responsibilities.

Find a program sponsor

Click on this link to find an agency to sponsor you to teach in the United States as a foreign teacher.

Extensions

• The base period for a teacher exchange is three years.
• However, host schools may apply to the sponsor for a one or two year extension of the exchange (the extension must be for whole years, not fractions of years).
• Extension requests are not automatic, but there is no limit on the number of extensions that the State Department can grant.
• Sponsors must submit extension requests they approve and any supporting documentation to support the extension to the State Department no later than three months prior to the beginning of the desired extension period for the teacher.