U.S. Summer Jobs Less Tempting to Foreigners

"There are definitely not as many kids coming over as there used to be. I think since 9/11 it has become harder for the kids to get visas and it has become far more expensive to organize," said William Kurtz, a restaurant owner in Wildwood.

"About 15 percent of my staff have J1 visas, and I've noticed a real shift in terms of where the students are coming from. Before, most of the kids came from Ireland and the UK, but now there's been a complete turnaround and they're coming from places like Eastern Europe, Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine."

Morey's Piers has been employing J1 holders for decades at its amusement park on the Wildwood boardwalk. One of the biggest employers in the area, it provides up to 1,000 seasonal jobs every year.

"We have always overhired to ensure that we can carry ourselves through the entire season, but this year it's different, because we just haven't been getting enough people," said Denise Beckson, director of operations at Morey's Piers.

"Our staff numbers are down by around 150 people from last year and we are still hiring, which is very unusual. It has the potential to cause us real problems. If the students currently working here decide to leave early and travel before they leave the U.S., it will have a serious effect on business, and I don't believe we are an isolated case."

The students themselves say they hope interest in coming to the United States doesn't wane in the coming years. For many of them, a summer spent here remains an exciting experience that leads to broader cultural understanding.

"Very few people in my country can afford to do something like this," said Ala Ossolinska, 26, a doctoral student from Katowice, Poland, who works as a payroll clerk at Morey's Piers. "It took me more than a year to save the money I needed and get the visa organized, but it was worth it.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me -- it's a wonderful chance to see another country from a different perspective, get valuable work experience and brush up on my English."