efexchangeyear.orgHost a Foreign Exchange Student | Become a Host Family with EF

Host with EF Become a host family Find your student Our students FAQ Our stories Guide to hosting Schools Become a coordinator About the role Rewards and benefits FAQLogin Students Host families IEC Host a foreign exchange student Become a host family and open your eyes to the world. Get started Students looking for host families Find your future exchange student today. Browse all students Log in Read full student profiles Filter by interests and country Find a good fit for your family Recently added students: No students found. Load more students Become a host family How does it work? Host for 5 or 10 months An exchange will go quickly, but the connections you make will last forever. Open your eyes to the world through exchange and build a global family. You decide which student Access 300+ student profiles from Europe and Asia. Find the right student for your family by filtering our student list. Pay it forward Hosting is a great way to volunteer. Open your home and enrich both your community and family’s life! Want to host for a shorter duration? Can’t host for an academic year or semester, but excited about the idea of cultural exchange? Become a welcome family and host for 2-3 months. Become a welcome family What is a welcome family? We are happy to offer our welcome family program to families that are interested in hosting but hesitant about the full-year or semester commitment. A welcome family commits to hosting an exchange student for the first 2-3 months of the student’s exchange, or until a permanent family in the community is finalized. As a welcome family, you make an exchange student’s dream possible by helping to acclimate them to their new U.S. community and school, while a long-term family is identified through EF’s network. Welcoming a student allows families to commit to a shorter timeframe, if a year or semester is not an option. Our welcome families and students receive the same support and guidance both locally and from EF global offices. Families that host for a shorter duration are instrumental in helping our students start their exchange on the right foot. If during the experience, a welcome family realizes they would like to commit to hosting their student long-term, we welcome that change and would work with the host family through that process. See available students Learn more Choose EF We bring more exchange students to the US each year than any other high school exchange program. Since 1979, our organization has connected more than 100,000 international students with caring host families across America. We proudly work alongside the US Department of State in promoting public diplomacy through our program. Our guide to hosting The student selection We only accept students who will flourish on an intercultural exchange. Our thorough screening and preparation process set our students up for success. Choosing your student Once you have been accepted into our program, you will be able to choose students from 13 different countries. Our EF team will help you find the best match. The EF support network We provide host families and students with proactive outreach and individualized support. Our local and regional coordinators will be within driving distance. What is hosting like? Our host families come in all shapes and sizes but they all have one thing in common: they open their homes and share their lives with exchange students from around the world. Read our stories Share your traditions: Halloween Learn more about hosting an exchange student Join our next online information meeting to find out what it means to host a foreign exchange student. Learn about this exciting volunteer program and get your questions answered. Register here The exchange community Hosting a foreign exchange student doesn’t take anything fancy—just a warm, welcoming spirit and the love you’d give to your own family. For our exchange students, it’s the little things that make their year special. #efexchangeyear Creating families across the globe since 1979 Learn more about EF We believe in learning from each other Our mission is to open the world through education. We strive to create the opportunity for a life changing cultural exchange for students, host families and schools regardless of gender identity, race, sexual orientation or religion. Our goal is to build cross cultural understanding, global families, and an inclusive experience for all program participants. → Learn more about our efforts We are actively taking steps towards: Diversity We recognize that each individual is unique and understand that each one of us brings something different to the table. Diversity is a fact. Equity We commit to breaking down the barriers that may have prevented some of us from receiving fair treatment and opportunities in the past. Equity is a process. Inclusion Everyone, regardless of where they live, who they love, their spirituality or the color of their skin has the power to contribute to this organization’s success. Inclusion is a behavior. Belonging No one is you, and that is your superpower. Belonging is the freedom to be your true self at EF. Want to know more about hosting? Are you ready to experience a new culture at home? Talk with us and start your hosting journey now. Tell us about yourself Speak to an EF exchange advisor Choose your exchange student Learn more about hosting with EF Get started FAQ - Hosting a foreign exchange student Here are the answers to some of the most common questions we receive about hosting a foreign exchange student What are the requirements to host a foreign exchange student? Host families provide the student with room and board, and are expected to treat their student as a member of a family, not as a guest. Students cover their own travel costs, health insurance, school expenses, cell phone, and spending money. EF and the U.S. Department of State also designate certain requirements of all host families. For example, host parents should be at least 25 years of age or older, pass a background check and have a stable and suitable household. Let us know if you are interested and we will help you determine if your family meets our program requirements! Can my family host a foreign exchange student? Our families represent the diversity of American culture, and we encourage families of all shapes and sizes to apply. There is no ’typical’ host family. Some families have young or teenage children, while others may be empty-nesters or newlyweds. Our families include single people, same-sex couples and grandparents, and we find them all to be wonderful hosts. What’s most important to us is a caring family, a suitable and stable environment and an interest in welcoming a foreign exchange student into your daily lives. Do you get paid to host a foreign exchange student? Host families are not paid. According the U.S. Department of State, host families cannot receive financial gain from their participation in a student exchange program. This rule is designed to ensure that host families are participating in the program for the right reasons. However, in recognition of their role as citizen ambassadors, host families may be eligible to receive a charitable tax deduction on their tax return. Where do exchange students come from? EF exchange students come from 13 countries across Europe and Asia. They hail from a diverse set of communities and backgrounds which help to offer an interesting breadth of students to choose from. Can I select the exchange student I want to bring into my home? Yes, our exchange coordinators and full-time staff will work with you to find a great student match. We have spent more than 40 years matching students to their American host families and high schools. If you have an idea of what type of student would fit best in your family, let’s talk about it! How long will the exchange student be with my family? EF exchange students come to the U.S. for either one semester or one school year. What if it...