The Welcome to the USA handbook and Safety Tips for the USA are provided to all AFS hosted students prior to their arrival into the U.S. You can download a copy of these handbooks as a reference. It is also good to check to make sure that the hosted students in your community have reviewed each handbook. It is not uncommon for students to lose or forget to bring a copy of the handbook when they travel to the U.S.
In addition, AFS-USA develops short welcome videos for AFS Partner countries to share with students coming to the U.S., to help manage expectations and reinforce some of the important concepts and information covered in the participant handbooks. We hope that receiving this information prior to their travel will help participants prepare for their exchange experience and recognize that while there are certain aspects of U.S. culture, they are likely to experience, each family, school, and community is unique.
Please review the videos here:
AFS-USA Welcome Video - Travel Information 2023
AFS-USA Welcome Video - Host Family Realities 2023