Olga O'Neil Exchange Advisory

Program administration · Regulatory guidance · Compliance readiness

Former U.S. Department of State Branch Chief, Office of Private Sector Exchange.I know what the Department looks for, because I used to look for it.

An independent advisory practice supporting exchange program sponsors and stakeholders across the J-1 and F-1 landscape: program administration, regulatory guidance, and compliance readiness.

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About

About Olga O'Neil

Founder & Principal

I spent over 12 years in international exchanges at the U.S. Department of State, three of them as branch chief.

For nearly a decade I worked in the Office of Private Sector Exchange, focused on the teacher, secondary school student, and physician BridgeUSA categories. As branch chief in the Office of Program Administration, I led a team of analysts managing thousands of exchange visitor incidents and engaging across the sponsor community. My expertise covers incident response, emergency management, staff training, and regulatory compliance.

Since leaving the Department I have also consulted for exchange program sponsors, reviewing compliance files and program documentation across the teacher, intern and trainee, and au pair categories. I founded this practice as an independent advisory with a broader focus on program administration and regulatory guidance.

I hold a Master of Arts in International Communication from American University and work from Málaga, Spain (CET) with clients across all time zones.

Services

Start here

Office Hours with Olga

$350

Introductory rate

Facing a situation and need a fast, expert read? Book an hour.

A scheduled hour of direct advisory time for sponsors and stakeholders working through a specific situation or question. I read your intake materials beforehand, so the hour is spent on the problem and not on background.

After the call you receive a brief written follow-up summarizing my read on the situation.

This is program compliance consulting, not legal advice. Where a question needs an attorney, I will say so.

All engagements are treated as confidential.

Book Office Hours

Free 15-minute fit call

Fifteen minutes to describe your situation and decide together whether this is work I can help with. No advice is given on the call and there is no charge.

Email to arrange a fit call

Engagements

Program review and readiness

A structured look at your programs before someone else takes one. Covers standard operating procedures, participant files, and readiness for an on-site or ESR review, with prioritized findings your team can act on.

Corrective action and sanctions response

Episodic, high-stakes support for sponsors on probation or responding to a Notice. Focused on building a response the Department can accept, and on the changes that keep it from recurring.

Advisory retainer

Ongoing access for program administration and regulatory questions as they come up, plus a recurring read on what changed and what your programs need to do about it.

Training

Workshops, training materials, and recorded courses for the staff who do the work, on topics such as insurance requirements, host vetting, school accreditation, and compensation rules.

Expert witness

Litigation support drawing on Department-side experience. Testimony and analysis grounded in how the regulations are actually administered, not only how they read.

Track record

Conducted SOP documentation reviews for teacher-category sponsor organizations, engaged in direct response to a Department of State compliance review.
Developed a reusable review methodology, including a Teacher File Review Guide and a 25-item SOP Evaluation Matrix.
Participant file review across the teacher, intern and trainee, and au pair categories, applying regulatory criteria file by file and documenting findings for sponsor action.
As branch chief, oversaw monitoring of over 45,000 exchange participants per academic year and a team processing over 2,000 participant health, safety, and welfare cases.

Office Hours

Office Hours with Olga

Pick an hour. Send your intake materials ahead of the call and we spend the time on the situation itself.

$350

Introductory rate

Online booking opens soon.

In the meantime, email to arrange a time: OlgaExchangeAdvisory@gmail.com

This is program compliance consulting, not legal advice. Where a question needs an attorney, I will say so.

All engagements are treated as confidential.