This is part of a series in which I’ll describe our experience applying to the Peace Corps. It took 17 months from our initial contact with a recruiter to when we departed and there was a multitude of tasks involved, from the initial applications to online learning before we left.

From start to finish, the application process was longer than I had expected at 17 months. We began with a conversation with a recruiter to make sure this was something we wanted to do and ended with boarding a flight to Philadelphia for our staging event (more on that in a later post). Since Jon and I applied together, the process had some additional steps and encountered a few more stumbling blocks than if one of us had applied on our own. We were matched with three different countries and programs, ultimately ending up being invited to join the Youth Development program in Morocco. From what I have read about other couples’ experiences in applying to the Peace Corps, a year and a half to two years is fairly typical to be matched with a program, since it is more difficult to get placed as a couple than as an individual.

• April 11, 2017: Emailed to connect with a recruiter
• April 18, 2017: Skype conversation with recruiter
• May 26, 2017: Submitted applications to “go anywhere”
• June 1, 2017: Received email that there is no match based on criteria we selected; we broadened our criteria and reapplied in order to be matched with a program
• June 5, 2017: Received email that we are being considered for CED (Community Economic Development) in Namibia
• June 16, 2017: Emailed with placement officer to set up interviews
• June 22, 2017: Lana’s interview for CED in Namibia
• June 26, 2017: Jon’s interview for CED in Namibia
• July 7, 2017: Placement officer emailed to set up couple’s interview
• July 19, 2017: Couple’s interview for CED in Namibia
• November 30, 2017: Received emails that we were not accepted into CED Namibia program
• December 4, 2017: Phone call with recruiter to discuss reapplying. Resubmitted applications to “go anywhere” with broader range of criteria
• December 11, 2017: Received email that we are being considered for Agriculture and Environment positions in Senegal
• January 9, 2018: Emailed with placement officer to set up individual interviews (couple’s interview not requested)
• January 23, 2018: Lana’s interview for Environment in Senegal
• January 29, 2018: Jon’s interview for Agriculture in Senegal
• February 6, 2018: Received email with alternative placement opportunity in Morocco
• February 7, 2018: Emailed and confirmed switching programs to Youth Development in Morocco
• February 13, 2018: Couple’s interview for Youth Development in Morocco (individual interviews not requested)
• February 16, 2018: Received emails inviting us to serve in Youth Development in Morocco, with information on legal and medical clearance and background checks
• February 20, 2018: Got fingerprinted at police station and mailed in fingerprint cards
• February 21, 2018: Received email with information on applying for no-fee passports
• March 9 – April 9, 2018: Went to various doctor and dental appointments and filled out associated paperwork
• April 9, 2018: Submitted all paperwork for medical clearance
• April 9 – May 18, 2018: Went to additional doctor and dental appointments, requested by the Peace Corps after receiving our first set of paperwork
• May 18, 2018: Submitted all additional paperwork for medical clearance
• May 20, 2018: Received medical clearance
• June 1, 2018: Submitted all paperwork for no-fee passports
• June 20 – August 8, 2018: Completed all invitee tasks (elearning, HR paperwork, etc)
• July 17, 2018: Received legal clearance
• September 10, 2018: Fly to Philadelphia for staging
• September 11, 2018: Travel to New York City and board flight for Morocco

Our invitation to serve arrived via email with instructions on steps we would need to be completing in order to be cleared.

To learn more about our Peace Corps application process, read the other posts in this series:

• Application and Interviews
• Legal and Medical Clearance
• Invitee Tasks (coming soon!)