Independent travel is defined as any on-program student travel away from the host family that does not fall under AFS-sanctioned travel. All minimum travel criteria and additional criteria listed under Guidelines for On-Program Student Travel need to be met before the trip can be considered. Independent travel is not allowed within the participant’s first 5 months on program for year program students or the first 4 months for semester students.
We request local AFS volunteers obtain the following information from the participant/host family before reaching out to AFS Staff. Please note the different instructions for Core/CBYX and YES/FLEX students.
- Core and CBYX students: To request a Travel Waiver for Core and CBYX students, visit the Team widget in your MyAFS Volunteer Portal to find your team's Travel & Logistics staff person (See image at the end of this article) and share the below information:
Participant Full Name:
IOC Country:
Destination(s):
Dates:
Mode(s) of transportation:
Who will be traveling with the student:
Where will the student be staying:
How many days of school will be missed:
Plans to make up missed schoolwork if applicable:
Do the host parents, liaison, and support coordinator approve of this request?
- For YES and FLEX students, please fill out THIS JOTFORM and send the completed form request to Sponsored Programs Travel and Logistics Coordinator Rebecca Kowalski at rkowalski@afsusa.org.
When reaching out to AFS-USA to request a travel waiver, we assume this means that the local team supports the travel request and will confirm this during our process. If the team does not support travel, the request will be denied. Participant must not be experiencing academic and/or behavior concerns.
NOTE: if liaison/support coordinator is not the facilitator of travel requests on team, please be sure to include them on the request to allow insight into student adjustment and clearance for team approval.
Once AFS-USA staff have all the relevant details, we will share with the respective partner office, who will work directly with sending parents to obtain a signed travel waiver. When the AFS Partner office receives the signed waiver from the sending parent/guardian, they will notify AFS-USA, and we will let the team know the participant is permitted to go on the trip.
To request a Travel Waiver, visit the Team widget in your MyAFS Volunteer Portal to find your team's Travel & Logistics staff person, or email directly to Rebecca Kowalski at rkowalski@afsusa.org for YES and FLEX requests: