For the summer and fall months, you will notice that Door County turns into a mini-United Nations as they provide a critical service to the area’s businesses. Almost 530 international students will participate in the summer work and travel program in Door County, commonly known as the J-1 Student Visa. The students represent 27 countries and they will be working primarily in eight municipalities, with most of them serving the Egg Harbor and Sister Bay communities. Destination Door County Director of Advocacy Phil Berndt says the program has rebounded and then some since the pandemic severely limited international travel for almost two years.

Over 180 students are already working in Door County with the remainder coming in the coming weeks. As a result, Destination Door County is hosting J-1 Social Security Sign-up Days on Wednesday, June 21st, and Friday, July 14th at the Ephraim Village Hall to help ensure a smooth transition for the students and their employers when they arrive. The Door County Bridges program, which sets up activities for the students to participate in throughout the summer, has already hosted one of its events when it took some of them on a cruise around the peninsula.