Eligibility
Program Description
Visa and Travel Documents
Getting There
AFS Orientations and Activities
Eligibility
To be eligible you must:
- Be between 15 years 0 months and 18 years 0 months old at the start of the program
- Have a minimum 2.8 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale)
- Be in good mental, physical, and emotional health in accordance with the AFS Medical Evaluation Policy
- Have an open mind, willingness to be flexible, and the ability to adapt to new a culture, school, and environment
Program Description
As with all AFS high school programs, you will be placed with a volunteer host family while attending a local host school. Learn more about life in Hong Kong.
Students are placed throughout Hong Kong.
The ability to speak Cantonese is not a prerequisite for the program but we strongly suggest that you learn as much as possible prior to departure. Compulsory one-week language classes will be held upon your arrival, followed by weekly classes in the following month.
Visa and Travel Documents
In order to participate in this program, you must have a U.S. passport that is valid for six months longer than your intended stay.
In addition to your passport, you also need a student visa to enter and reside in your host country.
The visa application process for Hong Kong is detailed, time-consuming, and costly. It involves collecting a number of documents including official academic transcripts and a parental consent form that has been legalized with an apostille.
The current visa processing fee is US$55, not including the cost of obtaining, translating, notarizing, and mailing the required documents. Please note that these fees and requirements are determined by the consulates and are subject to change.
AFS USA will provide you with detailed visa application instructions in the months prior to your departure.
Getting There
You and your fellow AFSers will travel together from one of the gateway cities in the United States. You all will arrive in Hong Kong, collect your baggage and pass through customs. You will be met by AFS staff and volunteers and will participate in a welcome orientation together. During your first week in Hong Kong, while living with your host family, you will participate in a five-day orientation which will give you some basic language training and introduction to Chinese etiquette and culture.
AFS Orientations and Activities
AFS will provide you with several orientations throughout your experience. These orientations give you a chance to gather important information about your host country, to meet other AFS teens from around the world, to share experiences and make friends. These group activities give you a chance to understand and process your intercultural learning experience during your time abroad as well as when you are returning home.
These required orientations are intended to help you maximize the AFS experience, prevent culture shock and to gain knowledge, skills and a global understanding.
Students are advised to bring extra money for souvenirs and other incidental expenses. A visa to mainland China, for instance, currently costs US$35. (Although Hong Kong was handed over to China on July 1, 1997, it is still administered as a Special Administrative Region with its own border-control jurisdiction. Therefore, any travel to the mainland, however brief, requires a two-way visa.)
