hi~

I would like links and/or text regarding information on exchanging
minors for a year or two.  But I would like to know what is involved
if we do NOT want to be involved in an organised student exchange
program.  Details:

My husband and I would like to host my husband's nephew from Korea for
a year.  He (nephew) is in the US equivalent of the 8th grade.  We
would host him for his freshman year of high school.  If he were to go
to school somewhere in California, what would I need to do to prepare
in terms of the education aspect?  My husband thinks that it would not
be possible to do this outside an organised program.

What about other states?

We are just doing the preliminary research on this, so nothing would
need to be tooooo detailed.

We would also like to send our kids over to korea for a year (within
the family), but that would be some time from now...

thank you very much in advance!

Hi banchan,

Your main issue will be with obtaining a student visa for your nephew.
As you might imagine in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, the Immigration
and Naturalization  Service is tightening up the rules on issuance of
visas, and will be carefully scrutinizing all requests. You will want
to start the process as soon as possible as the INS, not known for the
rapidity of its action will be slowed down by the new demands for
security.

In addition to obtaining a student visa, the school that he will be
attending must request approval from the INS to have the student
attend and the host family (or someone else) must reimburse the school
for the full, unsubsidized cost of attendance. The student must be
enrolled full time and may attend for no longer than one year. The
student must be proficient in English or be enrolled in classes
leading to proficiency and must also maintain a residence in his own
country that he does not intend on giving up.

The school must be an accredited institution and provide proof of that
accreditaion. If you are planning that he attend a public high school
the accreditaion issue shouldn't be a problem, but if you are planning
to enroll him in a private school be sure to check that they are
accredited by the state.

Nothing that I read mentioned any requirement that students be
exchanged through an official exchange program. My guess is that most
exchanges take place through them as an organizing body and that they
manage the visa application and the school approval and reimbursement
process, and more importantly, screening the applicants and host
families to insure suitability as in these cases the parties involved
are strangers to each other.

There are several organizations that will help you with this process
for a fee, but be sure they are reputable companies before you hook up
with them as fraud and ripoffs are common in this area.

You may want to contact one of the student exchange organizations and
see if they would be willing to offer any advice or assistance.

Here are links to sites that will get you started...

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is a good place to start...

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/index.htm

Here is the section of their FAQ relating to student visas...

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/faqsgen.htm#student

These links are to non-governmental sites that offer help for a fee
and also have a lot of information relating to the process...

http://www.usais.org/index.htm
http://www.usavisanow.com/
http://ins-experts.com/

Organizations that sponsor student exchange programs...

http://www.afs.org/
http://www.ciee.org/
http://www.isep.org/

Here is a link to about.com regarding immigration law and programs
that may be of help...

http://immigration.about.com/cs/formsselfhelp/

As far as your children attending school in Korea, that will be an
issue largely depending on the Korean equalivelent of the INS. I would
start with...

http://www.studyabroad.com/

...although you will have to deal with the Korean government
eventually.

I hope this answers your question, feel free to request additional
info or a clarification if needed and good luck with your nephew.

wayga-ga

everything i wanted plus more.  thank you wayga!