Outbound Long Term Exchange Program
 
 
List of offices/persons involved:
  1. Exchange Student and Parents/Guardians 
  2. Club Youth Exchange officer/chair – The process is begun when this person begins sponsorship of a student for the coming academic year.
  3. District Youth Exchange Officer –  Issues the Long Form to the club / student, receives, qualifies it and begins the distribution process.
  4. Youth Exchange Service Country Coordinator – works with country of student’s /SCANEX choice and travel agent to arrange visit.
  5. Youth Exchange Service Outbound Coordinator/Office – Helps with the choosing of country, collects transportation, insurance, etc. fees and moves the whole process forward.
  6. Tzell Park Avenue Travel – Works with student & parents for VISA issues, issues Round Trip tickets with Office approval.
  7. Host Country / Multi-District / Host YEO / Host Club – Accepts student application, and deals with Guarantee Forms, vetting of Host families and Insurance issues.
     The process begins with the District Youth Services Chair and the local club Youth Exchange Officer recruiting potential candidates. These are generally freshmen or sophomores and often in an Interact club sponsored by a given Rotary Club. Language departments are another good source for exchange students. Recruiting can be done at nearly any time of the year but the actual exchange generally happens during the school academic year. What follows is a checklist ( X ) of events and responsibilities involving the seven groups above.
 
1.     (  )  Local high schools are visited, especially the Interact group and the language departments. The interested student and parents/guardians are directed to the D5000 website page with RYE information ( www.ryehi.org ). They then download and complete the preliminary statement of interest and give a copy to the District YEO and the sponsoring club YEO. The nominal deadline for completion of the preliminary form is November 1st.
 
2.     (  )  As soon as the sponsoring club YEO receives the form he/she schedules an interview with the student and parents using some or all of the questions in the form "Student and Family Interview Questions". After the interview the club YEO notifies the District YEO of the club decision to go ahead or not based on the interviewer’s experience and the form results. If the decision is to go ahead, the District YEO sends a copy of the Long Form Application to the club YEO and the student along with specific instructions about filling out the form. That is, type not write the information needed into the first two form pages.  The fillable form will then populate the rest of the pages with basic student information. The parents/student should then print out the whole form. The student and parents must acknowledge that they understand these instructions, i.e. that the form must be filled in as completely as possible by typing the information needed into the fillable form. The only handwriting on the form should be signatures in blue ink done by the doctor, dentist, school counselor, club president, club YEO, district YEO, parents and student.
 
The student is also given a link ( http://yehub.net/SNX-obapp ) which they follow to fill out the same information as is in pages 1-4 of the Long Form. But this time the information is entered into the YEAH database.
 
With the advent of the YEAH (Youth Exchange Administration Hub) database, there are five hardcopy pages to be filled out and signed in blue ink:  Section C: Medical History and Examination; Section D: Dental Health and Examination;  Section E: Student, Parent, & Sponsor Endorsements (Guarantee Form / Visa Application Supporting Document);  Section G: Rules and Conditions of Exchange (page 11);  and Section H: Secondary School Personal Reference.
 
The parents/student should mail Section C, D and H to their respective destinations with a stamped envelope addressed to the District YEO (DCH) so that the forms go directly to him/her. The parents/student sign Sections E and G and give them to the club YEO who along with the club president will sign Section E and forward both forms to the District YEO. Based on my limited experience, it may be necessary to gently prod the parents to move along with these procedures and make sure that they're done correctly.
 
3.     (  )  The student and parents/guardians complete the Long Form Application using the YEAH database link and send a copy of the student's passport, a copy of the school  transcript and a check for $800 (made out to “Rotary District 5000”) to the District YEO in late November/early December.
 
4.     (  )  The District YEO reviews the documents for correctness and uploads scans of the signed documents.  After that:
  • (  )  The SCANEX/YES Manager checks to see if the data entered and forms are complete. This same office will later collect the ~$4400 flat fee from the student/parents )
  • (  )  The SCANEX/YES Manager and YEO agree on what country the student will go to.
  • (  )   The YEO also sends a congratulatory letter to the student and parents and informs them of the mandatory first orientation session date.
5.     (  )  The SCANEX/YES Country Coordinator sends a copy of page 1 of the Long Form to Tzell Park Avenue Travel. At the same time, he/she sends the YEAH student data to the Host Multi-District/YEO/club.
 
6.     (  )  The Host YEO and Host Club sign & complete the Guarantee form and state what the Host insurance requirements are; these documents are then sent to the SCANEX/Yes Country Coordinator.
 
7.     (  )  The Yes Country Coordinator then sends 1 signed and completed Guarantee Form to Tzell Park Avenue Travel; he/she sends 2 signed Guarantee Forms and the host insurance requirements to the YEO; he/she sends a copy of the Guarantee Form and any insurance information/application to the YES Outbound Coordinator/Office.
 
8.     (  )  At this point the Visa can be issued and entered into the passport. Note that some countries (Spain, Italy, France and Mexico among others) require that the student apply in person, a significant additional expense for those living in Hawaii.
 
9.     (  )  With the Visa issued and the approval from the SCANEX/YES Manager coordinator/office, Tzell Park Avenue Travel issues the round trip plane tickets.
 
10.   (  )  The student and parents in conjunction with the YES OB coordinator/office decide on and purchase insurance for the student if needed.
 
11.    (  )  The student now is ready to leave with a passport, Visa, 1 or 2 Guarantee Forms and plane tickets.