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The Step-by-Step Process of Building Exchanges Between Countries

The following flowchart is intended to illustrate the general chain of events that takes place, from start to finish, in building exchanges between Rotary District 5080 and districts in other parts of the world.  This information is presented for the general information of our outbound students and others interested in learning how the process takes place.

     The actual process is not always so uniform as shown here; the information displayed below is condensed and simplified.  There are wide variations among Rotary Districts in regard to the timeframe when the various functions take place and the chain of events may differ somewhat.

     Most of the exchanges that are arranged by District 5080 are two way exchanges, meaning that we send a student to a given district and they send us a student in return.  There are two separate processes that take place side-by-side, the "Inbound Process" and the "Outbound Process."

OUTBOUNDS

INBOUNDS

September

Students in District 5080 submit preliminary applications to their local Rotary Clubs

October

Rotary Clubs review applications and conduct Interviews.   

Clubs select their "Outbound Candidates" for the following year. 

Selected students submit a full application for Rotary Youth Exchange

October

Rotary Clubs in District 5080 notify the District Youth Exchange Committee of how many inbound students they will host for the following year and any preferences they may have.

November

The District 5080 Youth Exchange Committee reviews all applications, interviews all candidates and makes final determination of status for each candidate.

INBOUNDS & OUTBOUNDS

November - December

The Chairman and Vice Chairs of the District Youth Exchange Committee contact other districts around the world and make agreements to exchange a specific number of students for the following year.  This is based on the number of outbound students that are approved in District 5080 and the number of inbound students our clubs are willing to host. 

District 5080 has ongoing agreements with 29 districts in 23 different countries.  Some districts may have special conditions or preferences in regard to the students we send them.  District 5080 uses a written exchange agreement that specifies our conditions and preferences.

OUTBOUNDS 

(continued)

INBOUNDS

(continued)

January - February

District 5080's Youth Exchange Committee meets and assigns each of our outbound students to a specific district in another country.

January - March

Youth Exchange Committees around the world meet and decide which students they will send to us

February

District 5080 sends the application of each of our outbounds to the districts that will host them.

February - April

Our partner districts send us the applications of the students they have assigned to District 5080

February - May

The Youth Exchange Committees in each of our partner districts assigns our outbound students to specific Rotary Clubs or areas. 

Applications and other paperwork are forwarded to the selected clubs.  Rotary Clubs obtain the required signatures on the student's "Guarantee Form."

March - April

District 5080's Youth Exchange Committee meets and assigns each inbound student to a specific club in our district. 

Applications and other paperwork are forwarded to the selected clubs.  Rotary Clubs obtain the required signatures on the student's "Guarantee Form."

OUTBOUNDS 

(continued)

INBOUNDS

(continued)

May

Outbound Students and their parents attend District 5080's "Outbound Orientation."

April - May

District 5080 returns the required "Guarantee Forms" to the appropriate Rotary Districts.

May - June

"Guarantee Forms" for our Outbound Students arrive back in District 5080.  Our travel agency assists outbound students in obtaining the required visas, and travel arrangements are made.

The amount of time required to obtain the necessary visa will depend on the student's citizenship (American or Canadian) and their destination country.

April

"Guarantee Forms" from District 5080 arrive back in the overseas districts.  Students make travel arrangements and get the required visas.

Depending upon the country, the process of getting visas can be relatively simple for our inbound students, or major bureaucratic undertakings.

INBOUNDS & OUTBOUNDS

June - July - August

All over the world!  

Goodbye Parties!  Final preparations!  High Anxiety!  

Everything is check, double checked!  Checked again!

The planes take off....and after waiting ...so long...  exchange students are shuffled into their new homes all over the world.

OUTBOUNDS 

(continued)

INBOUNDS

(continued)

September

Our outbound students meet their new families and (depending on district) attend language camps or orientation sessions in their host country

September

Our inbound students settle in with their new families and attend District 5080 Inbound Orientation.

District Youth Exchange Committees

all over the world sigh a brief sigh of relief!

Another year of exchange students have arrived in their final destinations!

But...it is already September again... so the process begins again at the top of the list!