No, host families are not paid. However, you will be entitled to a tax deduction each month that an AFS student stays in your home.

Host family requirements include providing your student with the following:

1. The opportunity to participate in your family’s daily lives and events
2. The same care, support, and comfort you would another member of your family
3. A bed, not convertible or inflatable in nature; sharing a room with a sibling of the same gender close in age is fine
4. Three quality meals each day, including lunches and meals eaten as a family in restaurants

AFS students arrive with their own spending money for social and school activities, clothes, etc. As a host family, you will not need to provide spending money or an allowance.

No, your student will come with secondary medical insurance so that, in an emergency, the student can be treated as soon as possible. There is also a 24-hour support phone number in case of any emergency.

Yes, although AFS first gets permission from the high school to accept your exchange student. AFS works with schools to ensure exchange students are in compliance with each school’s policies and procedures. Your family will fill out the same paperwork at the school as you would for your own children. You and your student will meet with the counselor to determine the classes your student will take. AFS Volunteers can offer suggestions and assistance if needed. AFS enjoys an excellent reputation with high schools across the country, and we value a close working relationship with the schools that we serve.

AFS students are required to meet a high standard of qualifications to be accepted by the AFS office in their home country, as well as by AFS-USA. They must:

1. be between 15-18.6 years old on arrival
2. demonstrate a commitment to academic motivation and possess solid grades
3. be in good general health and meet the medical criteria

Yes, all students have a demonstrated level of proficiency in English. Our students come to the U.S. with a desire to immerse themselves in the language and to improve their level of proficiency.

AFS students come from more than 80 countries, and are seen as role models and leaders in their home communities by demonstrating maturity and motivation to study abroad. Students attend high school in the U.S. during their program.

Year program students stay for 10 months and arrive in mid-August. Semester students stay for 5 months and arrive in either mid-August or mid-January.

Yes, if your family cannot commit to hosting for a full year or semester, you can become a welcome family and host a student upon their arrival for 6-12 weeks while AFS-USA works to identify a permanent home for the student in the same community. Replacement families are also always needed; these are families that agree to host a student for the remainder of the program after the student has been moved from a different semester or year family.

Yes. AFS students are expected to obey all the AFS rules and policies that are applicable while on their program. Should a student break a rule such as driving, hitchhiking, or partaking in illegal drugs, they will have their program terminated. Hosted participants are expected to obey U.S. laws. We also limit independent travel by students. You will be provided access to Help & Learning to Host Families, which contains information on these rules and other host family requirements and expectations, at or before your pre-arrival orientation for host families.

Yes, families can host two students at a time. Some host families decide hosting two is better than one and find the hosting experience even more rewarding. Both students and their parents must approve of this arrangement. We also require that they speak different native languages to ensure that only English is used in your home.

AFS Volunteers have a lot of experience in placing participants with families and we provide extensive support throughout the year. However, if the placement does not work out satisfactorily, AFS assumes responsibility to move the participant to another family.

Yes. However, AFS Exchange Students must be enrolled at an accredited high school and cannot be home-schooled with their host siblings. U.S. Department of State regulations “require all exchange students to be enrolled and participating in a full course of study at an accredited academic institution” as secondary school students.

The safety and welfare of our participants is our highest value. The criminal background check is an integral part of the screening process that AFS-USA staff, volunteers and host family members are required to undergo before being affiliated with our program. The U.S. Department of State and CSIET require that AFS conducts criminal background checks for all members of the host family home aged 18 years and older. For more information on AFS Safety Standards, visit our section on Health and Safety.

State-Specific Requirements: Pennsylvania Residents are required to submit up to three additional screening requirements which include the Pennsylvania State Police Search, Child Abuse History Clearance, and FBI Fingerprint Background Checks. The FBI Fingerprint Background Check is only required if you have not been a resident of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the previous 10 years consecutively. These requirements apply to host parents or any adult 18 years and older responsible for the direct care, well-being, and/or supervision of a minor exchange student. 

Yes! There’s no “typical” AFS Host Family. Our definition of family focuses on the warm, welcoming environment provided by the individual(s). Whether or not you have children in your home, you are eligible to apply to be an AFS Host Family, however, per U.S. Department of State regulations, AFS must obtain prior approval from the student and his or her natural parents for a placement if you are a single person with no children living in your home.

With approximately 3,000 volunteers nationwide, our local volunteer teams are at the heart of our mission, serving host families and exchange students through monthly check-ins and additional support as needed. You will be invited to participate in an in-person orientation, run by local volunteers, to help prepare you for the experience. You will also be assigned a local volunteer “liaison,” whose role is to help you navigate the intriguing cultural differences that make the exchange experience so rich and rewarding and assist your family with questions or concerns that may arise during the experience. In addition, AFS provides support for emergency situations 24/7 through our Participant Support Staff and after-hours Duty Officer.