Many U.S. congressional & remote government internship applications are closing in the next few weeks for Spring (Jan - May) internships. This is a relatively low-effort, high reward thing to do if you you’re interested in testing your fit for policy.
I interned in my congressional office for a semester just from off-the-cuff applying to test my fit and build my resume. This experience has been incredibly helpful - I now work for in US government and it gives me some more credibility in D.C.
Many applications are closing within the next 2-6 weeks. We’re offering to support anyone considering applying.
This is a particularly good fit if you’re:
- Interested in working in policy, politics, or governance solutions to problems
- An undergraduate student
- Able to work part-time (10+ hours per week)
If you think this could be a good opportunity, we recommend:
- Reading this guide to internships and remote government internships via VSFS which has information on which offices to choose from and how to apply and more
- Checking out these helpful links of all the Congressional office internships and open VSFS positions
- Making a list of offices you think you’d be a good fit for
- Applying! When in doubt, apply - there’s no harm in applying if you’re serious about exploring this opportunity. We’re offering to support if you’re interested.
Sign up here to get support applying
We can help with:
- Whether or not you’d be a good fit for the positions
- Review your resume, cover letter & offices you’re interested in
- Accountability for submitting applications by the deadline
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Sorry if I'm asking something obvious, but is it fair to assume that all of these internships require US citizenship? (According to GPT there could be exceptions so I thought I would ask you just to be sure)
Thanks for flagging these great opportunities!
This is a tricky one and I'll speak to what I know but I'm not a legal expert.
The vast majority of internships require the person to have a right to work in the U.S, so international students who have a visa status sponsored by their college or university, or are authorized to work in the U.S could intern but it depends on the place
Many Think Tanks (e.g. Brookings) allow this.
Most executive agencies do not since US citizenship is required
For Congressional offices, from what I know, theoretically yes a foreign national could intern but I don't think if they can be paid (many offices don't pay anyways) and some offices/committees (e.g. House Foreign Relations Committee) don't allow it.