Welcome to the beginning of a wonderful adventure as you prepare for an exchange to District 5100 in the heart of the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Within our district, you can find some of the most beautiful, coastlines in the world, mountains ranges with year-round skiing, windsurfing, and all other forms of recreation all within just a few hours from your home.
Our Rotary District covers the northern portion of the State of Oregon, and southern part of the State of Washington. We have over 76 Rotary Clubs and over 3,500 Rotary members. The District has about 35 clubs that participate in the Youth Exchange Program. Each year District 5100 hosts up to
45 students from up to 22 different countries. This makes us one of the largest individual District Youth Exchange Programs in North America.
Our District also has the distinction of being one of the strictest, but best, Rotary Youth Exchange Programs in the world. The strict part will make your parents happy, but the guidelines that we put forward are simply meant to give you the opportunity to have the most successful exchange possible. So when reading the guidelines, keep an open mind. The following information is to help you prepare to have the best exchange experience possible. We encourage you to read this manual carefully and contact your individual Country YEO (Youth Exchange Officer) or any member of District Committee with questions or concerns that you or your parents may have.
GETTING READY
If you are reading this document, it means you may have received your guarantee forms, as well as a letter of instructions to prepare you for your arrival in District 5100. Please go over these instructions with your sponsoring club or district and solicit their help in obtaining your J-1 Visa from the U.S. Embassy in your country. YOU WILL PROBABLY BE REQUIRED TO MAKE A PERSONAL VISIT TO THE U.S. EMBASSY FOR AN INTERVIEW. YOU WILL NEED YOUR GUARANTEE FORM, DS2019, AND A RECEIPT SHOWING THAT YOU HAVE PAID THE $220 FEE. This is a required fee that the U.S Government charges all inbound exchange students. Go to this site to obtain your document and pay your I-901 fee. The fee is $220 (USD) and may change without notice.
The Guarantee Form lists your first host family with their address, phone, and e-mail address. You are encouraged to contact them, and stay in communication with them right up until your arrival. Ask them abouHere is the link for information on the SEVIS I-901 fee: http://www.ice.gov/sevis/i901t the climate, what kind of clothes you will need, about your school, host brothers
and host sisters, whether you have your own room or just any question that comes to mind. The host family listed on your guarantee form may change before your arrival or maybe a “welcoming family” and not your real first host family. We do this so we can get your documents to you as fast as possible so you can complete the visa process. You will be informed when you receive the guarantee form from your Country YEO if the family listed is a “welcoming family” or the real first family.
The guarantee form also lists the school you will be attending. Almost all the schools in District 5100 are public, and Oregon & Washington have the reputation of having one of the finest public school systems in the U.S. You are not required to wear a uniform, but you are required to attend
the school that falls within the area in which you live. There is no guarantee that you will officially graduate from high school here. You may ask the
school, but they are under no obligation to accommodate you. Do not come here assuming that you will be allowed to graduate. It is a conversation you will have with your high school counselor after you arrive. The guarantee form states the allowance that you will receive from your hosting club. The club will pay your allowance at the beginning of each month.
The guarantee form also lists your hosting Rotary Club and the International Airport closest to the city where you will be hosted. Portland International Airport (PDX) serves the area where our District is located.
The instructions you receive from our District ask you to complete several documents to return to us either before or upon your arrival here. Please send these documents to your Country Youth Exchange Officer (YEO) in advance. We must have all these forms completed in order to get you through the orientation process.
- Statement of English Proficiency – This is needed before we can issue your DS 2019 that is needed to get your visa. You should have already sent it to your country officer.
- Certificate of Immunization (Oregon or Washington) – This form must be completed in full and signed by your family or physician. If you are missing any of the required immunizations, you will not be admitted to high school here. Please complete your immunizations prior to arriving. If your immunization record is missing or incomplete, all required immunizations must be obtained before school starts. You will be required to pay for the immunizations.
- Please send in advance copies of your school grades/marks/transcripts in English. If they are not available to you in English, please have them translated.
- Please read and sign, along with your parents, one copy of the rules provided to you. Please read this section carefully, and understand that these rules will be enforced. If you or your parents disagree with or do not believe you can comply with the rules, please contact your Youth Exchange Officer to discuss whether you should continue with the exchange.
You will receive the following documents from the U.S. Embassy that must be included with/stapled to your passport on your arrival:
- Your J-1 visa, which should be good for the exchange program year.
- An I-901 Receipt.
- The DS-2019 form issued by this district and stamped by the US consulate.
TRAVELING AND ARRIVAL
Please make your airline reservations early. You must arrive here no later than 7 days prior to the start of school. Students arriving late may be at risk of not being able to continue their exchange. Please ensure that your host family is ready to receive you and knows your arrival plans. Please advise your host family, hosting club, and Country YEO when you have made your airline reservations and have a firm itinerary. Your airline tickets must be round trip. Please do not travel here without return tickets. The return tickets should be open-ended or changeable without any or a
very small fee. We suggest using a travel agent to help get the correct type of ticket.
Unless you are traveling with Rotary Youth Exchange personnel, you must travel directly to Portland (PDX) from your host country with no overnight layovers in any city. If you encounter any delays in your flight, and know you will not be arriving in Portland on time, please contact your host
family, host club, and District YEO. Advise them of your new arrival time and ask them to advise anyone else you may be expecting at the airport. The same procedure would apply if you find that you will be arriving earlier than expected on a different flight. Bring the important contact numbers of your host family and YEO with you on the plane. Do not pack them with your checked baggage.
You must arrive with a fully paid, round-trip, open return airline ticket in your possession. No standby tickets are allowed! Before leaving home, all baggage should be labeled both inside and outside with your name, your destination address, and phone number. A flat label should be used in addition to a tag. Leave your baggage claim number with your parents. If the baggage is lost, notify all airlines and your Country YEO at once. On any connecting flights, move directly from your arriving gate to the next departing gate and check in before taking time to shop or eat.
Please wear your Rotary Blazer and any name badge you might have when debarking from your flight in Portland. It makes it easier for Rotary personnel and your host family to find you. On arrival in Portland, you may need to go through customs. International flights arrive in a different terminal and you will need to get on a bus that will take you to Customs. Collect your luggage. Complete any custom forms and have your passport ready. Once through Customs, you will come to an arrival area where your host family, representatives from the hosting club, your District Country YEO, or another district committee member will be there to greet you. If no one is at the arrival area to greet you, stay in that area. Do not go down to the baggage area or outside the terminal to the pick up area. If no one comes, call your host family first, followed by your District Country YEO or any other member of the district committee. A paging system is also available in the terminal. The phones are white and labeled as paging telephones.
If a club in Hermiston, Pendleton, Milton-Freewater, La Grande, or Enterprise is hosting you, your host family might not be present to greet you at the airport. Those cities are a five to six hour drive from the airport. You will stay in the Portland area with a member of the District YE Committee until the host family or club can arrive. This may be on the weekend after you arrive. At the airport, the District Representative will ask to see your passport and airline tickets to check that your documents are in proper order. In many cases, the District representative will elect to keep your documents to make copies for the District files. Your documents will be returned to you at the first orientation in September or sooner if convenient. We will also collect any money required for the optional trip.
The emergency money is usually held by the club counselor, not the Country YEO. Students’ immunization records will be checked, and you may be subjected to a Tuberculosis Skin Test. If you are missing any required immunizations, you will be advised and your host family or counselors will make an appointment to get the immunizations you require to attend school.