It’s a rite of passage for many Irish students every summer, but the popular J1 programme could be in trouble.

The visa looks to be under threat, due to restrictions placed on it in the new immigration reform bill, currently going through the US senate. 

Under the suggested new conditions, would-be-employers of Irish students intending to spend the summer in the US would have to pay out a €500 fee as a sponsor of that student.

A provision in the bill means the fee cannot be paid by the student themselves.

Over 7,000 Irish students took part in the J1 programme in 2012, almost 700 more than in 2011, and over 2,000 more than the 2010 number.

Visits to the US embassy to secure a visa could soon be a thing of the past for students

As well as the experience of three months spent in the United States, many students have looked upon the programme as the only way they would be likely to find employment for the summer.

According to The Irish Independent, former Congressman Bruce Morrison, who secured the so-called "Morrison visas" for thousands of Irish in the US in the 1990s, said; "While there's no direct repeal of the J1 summer work visa programme, there are restrictions on who can pay, and since participants can't pay fees, it's unclear how it would be financed”.

He added; "As it's currently written, it would have a very dramatic negative effect on the ability of this programme to work. At the very least it would have to be a pre-arranged employment and the employer would have to be willing to pay the amount."

The bill is expected to go to the full senate soon.