DUTIES AND TIME LINES

PROCESSING INBOUND (FOREIGN) STUDENT APPLICATION

INBOUND STUDENT: (Name/Country):______

DUE / DATE
DONE
October / Contract for Coming Year:
1. Send letter to foreign country contact asking for commitment to enter into a mutual exchange for the coming school year. (Sample attached as Attachment A)
2. Upon receipt of signed agreement from Foreign Country Contact, scan and send copy to DISTRICT CHAIR and INBOUND COORDINATOR.
Feb-March / When Application Packet or Electronic Application Arrives: (Date arrived______)
1. Create a file folder for the student and keep all original documents in the folder.
2. Confirm that the packet or electronic document contains:
  • ONE TO FOUR original complete application forms (insert #of paper forms:______)
  • Passport picture page (If no passport picture page is included, email the foreign Country Contact and request that they send you a copy by email ASAP).
  • Immunization record
  • If anything else is missing, request it from the foreign Country Contact immediately.
  • ONE to THREE original Visa Guarantee Forms (VGFs).
(insert # of VGFs ______)THESE MUST BE PAPER
3. If you don’t have an electronic application, scan the original application, including VGF and passport picture page and keep a paper copy in student’s file.
5. Upload the electronic application to Dropbox and email it (including the Visa guarantee form and passport picture page) to:
INBOUND COORDINATOR, DOS RESPONSIBLE OFFICER, and DISTRICT CHAIR.
6. Draft a cover letter (sample is attached as Attachment B) to YEO of the Hosting Club conveying the ORIGINAL VGF forms and instructions to the YEO.
7. Send the cover letter, along with 1 original or copy of the original application and ALL THREE OR FOUR original VGF Forms, by USPS EXPRESS MAIL WITH TRACKING to the YEO of the hosting club. Instruct Club YEO to return the materials to you, the CC, as soon as all are completed. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
8. Follow up with Club YEO by phone or email if receipt is delayed. Please look for and adhere to early deadlines imposed by certain countries (currently Denmark, Sweden and Germany).
March-May / Upon Receipt of the Packet from the Club YEO:
Scan and email to INBOUND COORDINATOR, DOS RESPONSIBLE OFFICER AND DISTRICT CHAIR the following documents:
  • Both pages of ONE completed VGF
  • First host family application with photos (3 pages) Be sure to complete the sections relating to calling references and visiting the host home.

April-May / Upon Receipt Of Completed DS 2019 From DOS Responsible Officer:
1. Send Packet of documentsto the Foreign Country Contact byInternational FedEx ONLYusing the Rotary account number (3075-5942-0).
The following documents must be included:
  • A cover letter from you (Sample is attached as Attachment C). Send a copy of this cover letter to the INBOUND COORDINATOR and DISTRICT CHAIR.
  • At least THREE originals of the completed Visa Guarantee form. (Also Make THREEcopies of this document, one for the CC’s student’s file,one for the Inbound Coordinator and one for District Chair).
  • The original DS 2019 (make THREE copies: one for the CC’s student’s file, one for Inbound Coordinator and one for the District Chair).
  • The original Letter of Welcome from the hosting Rotary Club. Scan and email a copy of this letter to District Chair.
  • The original Letter Verifying Enrollment on school letterhead from the school the student will be attending. Scan and email a copy of this letter to District Chair.
  • A blank Colorado Certificate of Immunization form to be completed and returned as instructed.

2. Email the Foreign Country Contact that packet has been sent, include tracking number and ask Foreign CC to email confirmation of receipt. Follow up with Foreign CC if receipt is not confirmed within 1-2 weeks.

INBOUND COORDINATOR: Sally Corcoran ()

DOS RESPONSIBLE OFFICER: J.R, Thompson ()

DISTRICT CHAIR: Marilyn Branch (

Attachments:

A – Sample Contract for Exchange

B - Sample Cover Letter from Country Contact to Hosting Club

C - Sample Cover Letter forwarding DS2019 and Related Documents to Foreign Country Contact

ATTACHMENT A

SAMPLE LETTER TO FOREIGN COUNTRY CONTACT TO CONFIRM EXCHANGE

Please adapt to your particular country

INSERT ALL CONTACT INFORMATION FOR YOUR FOREIGN COUNTERPART

DATE

Dear NAME OF FOREIGN COUNTRY CORRESPONDENT,

Once again, we are having a successful l experience exchanging with your Rotary District. Thank you for all you have done to make our exchanges so successful. (Please feel free to personalize this paragraph).

We are about to embark on another year of Rotary Youth Exchange here in District 5470 – Colorado, USA. We request your agreement to once again host one or more students from our district in exchange for our agreement to host a student or students from your district. We have had so many successful exchanges that I hope we can continue in the same manner.

North American Youth Exchange Network (NAYEN) policy now permits us to send and receive applications in digital format by email. We are still required to send and received 3 ORIGINAL paper Visa Guarantee forms signed in blue ink by all parties. Please let us know if your District will accept digital copies or applications or if paper documents will be required.

Regarding our exchange agreement, we again look at the following parameters in our program:

  • Age of Your Inbound Student: The student must at least 15 ½ years old at the start of exchange year and no older than 17½ years old when he or she arrives in the United States. The student must NOThave completed his or her secondary education in the home country.
  • Age of Our Outbound Student: Please confirm the age limits you have for students you are willing to accept in your country:

Youngest age at date of arrival? ______

Oldest age at date of Arrival? ______

Are you able to accept our students who have completed secondary education in the US?

YES NO (circle one)

  • Insurance: The student must have medical, dental, travel and liability insurance purchased from CMI Persons – Frontier-MEDEX, the carrier for District 5470 in conformance with regulations of Rotary International which includes medical, dental, travel door to door, and liability and sports coverage other than sports physical examinations. Current cost is @US$511. WITHOUT PRIOR SPECIFIC AGREEMENT, WE CANNOT ACCEPT INSURANCE PURCHASED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.
  • Emergency funds: The student must bring emergency funds in the amount of US$500 to be deposited in a local bank of hosting Rotary Club. The emergency funds should NOT go below the noted US$500 during the exchange year; if they do, the funds must be replenished by a wired bank deposit from the student’s parents.
  • Length of Exchange: The exchange year typically lasts about ten months, mid-August to mid-June except in the case of summer tours and/or specific exchange agreements. Unless the student is participating in an optional tour, we do not encourage the student to stay beyond mid-June.
  • Tours: Several spring and summer tours are made available to our inbound students and involve two to four weeks of travel. The cost is in addition to any costs for the exchange year and must be paid by the student at time of application for the tour of choice. Payments must be made by check drawn on a US bank.
  • Visa: The student’s visa should be one year from arrival date to encompass a summer tour if desired.
  • Transportation: All students must have a ROUND TRIP air ticket to the destination specified by the host district or hosting club and must have an OPEN return or allow for a change of return date with minimal charges to the student. The ticket must be with an airline that operates year-round.
  • Monthly Allowance: Student will receive a monthly allowance in accordance with the location of the hosting club within District 5470. The actual amount may vary from club to club, but is typically between US$80 and US$125.
  • Travel: No individual travel by the student is allowed; however, host families and hosting club Rotarians will often include our inbound exchange students in holiday travel opportunities. Inbound students may engage in such travel if they have a written Travel Permission Form from District 5470 signed by their parents. A Travel Permission Form is sent to the inbound student prior to his/her initial travel to D5470 for parents' signatures. Additional forms will be made available as necessary during the exchange year. These forms must be completed each time a student travels OUTSIDE the State of Colorado. It is important to remind each student that the Rotary Exchange program is a student exchange and not a chance to travel in the US. Especially when school is in session.
  • Immunizations: The State of Colorado requires specific immunization records in order that each inbound student may attend school. A form to be completed by the inbound student's family doctor will be sent with the Visa Guarantee Form and DS2019 prior to the student’s departure for the United States. The inbound student should bring this completed form with him/her and give it to the host family or to the hosting club counselor on arrival. Each inbound student must have a current (within the last five years) Tetanus shot prior to departure for the USA.
  • Mandatory Events: Required meetings for orientation purposes are held at least three times during the exchange year; inbound students arrange travel with their counselor or hosting Rotary Club to these meetings.
  • Rotary International Rules: Rules outlined by Rotary International in the application form and signed by the student and his/her parents, relating to drinking, drugs, dating, and driving are to be followed without exception.
  • Additional Rules: Additional rules relating to each student’s host family requirements will be adhered to without exception. The student should understand that these rules may change from one host family to the next during the exchange.

We would also like to know if your district is interested in participating in the summer Short Term Exchange Program (STEP), which is a family-to-family exchange sponsored by Rotary. If so, please indicate how many students you would be willing to accept.

______Our district is interested in participating in Short Term Summer Exchange.

______We are willing to accept a maximum of ______students for Short Term Exchange.

I would appreciate hearing from you at your earliest convenience to confirm that we have an exchange agreement for(NUMBER OF STUDENTS- insert the same number as was used in the prior year unless directly otherwise by the District Chair) each way during the 2012-13 exchange year. Please send your agreement to the above terms by printing and signing this letter and mailing it to me at the address below, or by signing it, scanning it and emailing the scanned signed document to me.

Thankyou and best regards,

YOUR NAME AND NAME OF COUNTRY,Country Correspondent

Rotary Youth Exchange – District 5470

YOUR ADDRESS AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Agreed: ______

District/Multi-District Chair

______

District Country

______

E-Mail Address

______

Mailing Address

______

Phone with Country Code

Attachment B

SAMPLE COVER LETTER TO FORWARD INBOUNDER’S APPLICATION TO HOSTING CLUB

DATE

NAME AND ADDRESS

OF HOSTING CLUB YEO

OR PRESIDENT

Dear NAME,

If sending a paper application:

Enclosed is an ORIGINAL OR COPY of an application for NAME OF INBOUND STUDENT from NAME OF COUNTRY. Also enclosed are THREE (OR OTHER NUMBER) Visa Guarantee Forms (“VGFs”).All sections of the VGFs are to be completed in blue ink.In completing these forms, please pay careful attention to the instructions below.

If application has previously been sent by email:

In connection with the application of NAME OF INBOUND STUDENT from NAME OF COUNTRY, whom your club has agreed to host, enclosed are THREE (OR OTHER NUMBER) Visa Guarantee Forms (“VGFs”).All sections of the VGFs are to be completed in blue ink. In completing these forms, please pay careful attention to the instructions below.

Instructions for Completing the VGF:

a. Sections A& B are to be completed by the hosting club and signed by the club president AND the YEO or secretary.

b. Section C is to be completed by the school that your student will be attending. A school seal must be embossed on all VGFs when the school signs them. If the school does not have a seal, this should be explained in a Verification Letter from the school (see below).

c. Section D regarding the first host family is to be completed as well.

d. Please be sure that the name of the arrival airport where you would prefer to pick up the student is inserted.

Other Documents to be Completed:

a. Verification Letter from the School: A letter ON SCHOOL LETTERHEAD must be obtained from the school that the student will attend, stating that he or she has been accepted for the academic year. A summary of the classes that a student will normally take in a year of study (need not be specific to the inbounder) and the name and address of the school should be included if not in the letterhead.

b. Welcoming Letter from Hosting Club: A letter from the hosting club president welcoming the student as their RYE inbounder for the academic year.

c. Host Family Application: A completed host family application for the first host family.

All of the above documents are to be returned to me as soon as possible by trackable USPS Express Mailto this address: INSERT ADDRESS.

Other Matters:

a. Background Checks: Background check are now required annually for the following people: 1) all members of the Host Families over 18 years of age (except college students living away from home); 2) the club president; 3) the club YEO, and 4) the club counselor for this student. Please be sure that this rule is followed by all parties.The background check form must be completed and send by fax or mail to the officer named on the form. The background check form can be found at our District 5470 Club Runner RYE sectionin the salmon-colored column on the left side of the page at:

b. New Privacy Rules: No personal information regarding the inbounder can be shared with anyone who has not completed a Background Check. This means that you cannot share the student’s application, except for the personal essay and family letter (with names hidden), with any potential host families.

If you have any questions, I can be reached at my email address INSERTYOUR EMAIL ADDRESS or by phone at INSERT YOUR PHONE NUMBER.

Yours in Rotary,

YOUR NAME

Country Contact for NAME OF COUNTRY

ATTACHMENT C

SAMPLE COVER LETTER FORWARDING DS2019 AND RELATED DOCUMENTS TO FOREIGN COUNTRY CONTACT

INSERT NAME AND ADDRESS OF FOREIGN COUNTRYCONTACT

INSERT DATE

Dear NAME,

. Enclosed are the following documents you will need to obtain a visa for NAME OF INBOUND STUDENT:

1.DS2019 – Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1) Status.

2.Three originals of the Guarantee Form/Visa Application

3.An original welcoming letter from the Hosting Club

4.An original Verification of Enrollment from the high school the student will be attending in Colorado.

Also enclosed is a standardized immunization form to be completed by the student’s physician. Please email me a scanned copy of the completed form and have the student bring the original document to the US to give to the Host Club Counselor upon arrival

Please confirm by email to me that you have received these documents.

Finally, please confirm that your student is aware of the following requirements:

Insurance: The student must have medical, dental, travel and liability insurance purchased from District 5470 in conformance with regulations of Rotary International, which includes medical, dental, travel door to door, liability and sports coverage. Current cost is approximately US$600. We cannot accept insurance purchased in the student’s home country. Please be sure that your student brings sufficient funds to cover this cost.

Emergency funds: The student must bring emergency funds in the amount of USD$500 to be deposited in a local bank of hosting Rotary Club. The emergency funds should NOT go below the noted US$500 during the exchange year; if they do, they must be replenished by a wired bank deposit from the student’s parents.

Length of Exchange: The exchange year typically lasts about ten months, mid-August to mid-June.

Tours: Several summer tours are made available to our inbound students and involve two to four weeks of travel. The cost is in addition toany costs for the exchange year and must be paid by the student at time of application for the tour of choice.

Visa: The student’s visa should be one year from arrival date to encompass a summer tour if desired.

Transportation: All students must have a ROUND TRIP ticket to the destination specified by the host district and must have an OPEN return or allow for a change of return date with minimal charges.

Monthly Allowance: The student will receive a monthly allowance in accordance with location of hosting club; this amount is typically between USD$80 and USD$125.