The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program.  Launched in 1940, the IVLP is a professional exchange program that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the U.S. for current and emerging foreign leaders.  These visits reflect the International Visitors’ professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States.

The International Visitor Program was designed to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations through communication at the personal and professional levels. The IV Program brings participants to the United States from all over the world each year to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to experience the U.S. firsthand. The visitors, who are current or potential leaders in government, politics, the media, education, and other fields, are selected by American Officials overseas. More than 200 current and former Heads of State, 1,500 cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished world leaders in government and the private sector have participated in the International Visitor Program. For more information, please visit http://exchanges.state.gov/education/ivp/.