Nominations are made by Embassy Officer only.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs funds and administers the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), one of its premier professional exchange programs. The IVLP is designed to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through carefully designed visits that reflect the participants’ professional interests and support U.S. foreign policy goals. Participants are established or potential foreign opinion makers in government, public policy, media, education, labor, the arts, and other key fields. Selected by American embassies abroad, International Visitors come to the United States to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to gain an appreciation of the ethnic, cultural, political, and socio-economic diversity of the U.S. In 2008, approximately 4,000 International Visitors participated in the program.

The IVLP is carried out through close collaboration with eight non-profit program agencies in Washington, D.C. and a network of over 90 community based organizations across the U.S. whose members arrange professional meetings, cultural activities and home hospitality for the visitors. These organizations are members of the National Council for International Visitors (http://www.nciv.org/).

Tens of thousands of Americans volunteer their time and expertise to strengthening relations between the United States and other countries through the International Visitor Leadership Program.

Nominations are made by Embassy Officer only.