Welcome letter to Inbounds W23
Multi-District Denmark looks forward to welcoming you to your new home for a year, TEAM W23 (Winter 2023) with arrival at Copenhagen (CPH) Airport in the week of 3/2023.
Below you will find some important general information, which we ask you to study carefully. First, we want to let you know that we have high expectations of you.
Our Rotary colleagues in your country, who are sponsoring you, have found you worthy of the challenge to become a Rotary exchange student. Being a Rotary exchange student means providing a good experience to your host family, your host club and your school and friends. In this way, you will help promote Rotary youth exchange as your host family, club and school will want to continue participating in the program. As an ambassador for your country, you may also contribute to mutual cultural understanding and peace.
Please remember this throughout your stay in Denmark.
By now, you should already have been able to lock into the Danish YEP database and update your personal profile with data (home address etc.)
The link to download your guarantee form is sent to you in a separate email.
ARRIVAL:
All exchange students to Denmark should arrive in Denmark in the week of 3/2023
Final Destination in Denmark: [Will be stated on your GF]
Information about your arrival airport can also be seen in the letter of acceptance or from the guarantee form (Destination Airport in the host country). Your departure will be from the same airport.
Make your flight reservations in due time. Your travel agent will assist you with the most convenient travel route to your final destination.
When you arrive at your final destination in Denmark, please wear your Rotary jacket when leaving the aeroplane as this will enable us to recognize you as a Rotary Exchange Student. When you have passed the baggage claim area and the customs authorities, your counsellor and/or your host family will meet you.
If your final destination is NOT Copenhagen, but Copenhagen is your first airport in Denmark, you will need a connecting flight to your destination airport (a domestic airport). All domestic flights depart from Copenhagen airport. See more at www.cph.dk
Whenever possible, make sure that your luggage has been checked through to the final destination airport. In most cases, customs clearance will take place at your final destination.
It is important that you log into the database and supply the information about your travel itinerary under Travel Plan no later than the 20th of December 2023. Be sure that also your host club (counsellor) is informed about your arrival.
VISA TO DENMARK:
You will need a one-year visa/residence permit from the 15th of January 2023 to the 14th of January 2024. You can apply for and obtain the visa before you arrive in Denmark.
How to apply
The application for a visa and residence permit is started by Rotary Youth Exchange in Denmark only two months before your scheduled arrival and the application is online. I will inform The Danish Official Authority for Foreigners in Denmark that you have been accepted as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. This will ease the process.
Then I will upload to the Youth Exchange Database, where you have access, a reference number and a password for you to use with the application system to continue and finish. You will find it on the tab ‘Correspondence’. It is only valid for 14 days. So be sure to lock onto the application site and make your personal profile.
A guide/manual to the application is available on our web pages at https://www.rotary.dk/yep/application-residence-permit, and you can find more answers at www.newtodenmark.dk. Probably also your Rotary district back home or the travel agent will help you in the process.
Be sure to have ALL the documents ready when you start. The Danish immigration authorities accept scanned PDF documents in good quality and in colour. If you scan your passport all pages including the cover must be scanned into one file. Files must not exceed 10 Mb in total.
The fee for applying for the visa is 80 EURO. You can pay with a credit card. (Follow the link online).
You must give a photo and fingerprint in person by going to a Danish representative in your country. The following link will show you where to go. Where to apply (http://um.dk/en/travel-and-residence/where-to-apply/). Some places will charge you for handling the application and this should not be confused with the application fee.
However, if you are allowed to enter Denmark on a tourist visa, and you have been granted the residence permit, the photo and fingerprint can be given in Denmark shortly after you arrive. Please check if you are able to enter Denmark on a tourist visa at https://www.nyidanmark.dk/
When you arrive, your first host family or Club Counselor will take you to The Danish Civil Administration in your host town. You will be given a Danish Civil Personal Number (called Central Personal Registration - CPR), which all Danish citizens have. This makes you a "Temporary Dane", including the right to use our Danish Public Health Service, free of charge! Please note that dentist treatment and medicine are not free.
You cannot get a CPR number until you are granted a residence permit, so the more prepared from home the easier the process.
INSURANCE:
We will inform you about insurance on the website. See https://www.rotary.dk/insurance
EMERGENCY FUND:
We expect you to bring 2000 DKK (approximately 270 EUR) to hand over to your counsellor for him to place in an emergency fund, which can be used in case of unexpected expenses. When you use money from the emergency fund, then the fund must be topped up to 2000 DKK again. When you leave Denmark, you will get back the emergency fund after the balance is settled.
SCHOOL:
You have been accepted at [School will be stated in your GF]
Your host club has chosen a school suitable for your age. This will be either a “Folkeskole", a "Gymnasium" or a Business School. The 10th grade of the "Folkeskole" will have students at the age of about 16, and students of the "Gymnasium" and Business School will be from 16 to l8 years old.
In the "Gymnasium" and the “Folkeskole” you may be taught English, German, French, Math, Science, World History, Biology, etc. School uniforms are not normally used in Danish Schools.
You are expected to attend school and participate in school activities. Absence without a valid reason is not accepted.
PLEASE NOTE that piercing and tattooing are not allowed when you are a Rotary Exchange Student in Denmark. If you already have piercings, you are requested to remove them before you arrive in Denmark.
VISITS BY PARENTS OR OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS:
Multi-District Denmark strongly discourages visits by your parents or other family members. It is your exchange experience and having visits from your parents may trigger homesickness or have other negative effects. Besides, it interrupts your life here, and you may not have absence from school for that reason.
It is the policy of Multi-District Denmark not to accept visits during holidays, where host families often have other plans, or in the last month of the stay (as you need this time to end your time here and say goodbye to everyone).
In any case, visits require the prior approval in writing of both the Club Counselor of the host club and the District Chair of the host district. On the other hand, we encourage you and your family to come to visit a year or two after you ended your exchange.
INTRO CAMP:
After your arrival, we look forward to welcoming you to an Intro Camp, which will take place in the town of Odense from the 3rd – the 5th of February 2023.
The Intro Camp is our Inbound Orientation, and it is mandatory for all students coming to Denmark to participate. You will meet a team of committed teachers, who will prepare you for many of the challenges you will be facing during your year in Denmark. You will be introduced to the Danish lifestyle, culture and language. This will be most helpful to you when you set out, on your life in Danish families and school.
The Intro Camp is paid for by Multi-District Denmark and is free of charge for you.
EURO BUS TOUR:
As a very good alternative to individual journeys, Multi-District Denmark offers our inbound exchange students an optional EURO BUS TOUR 2023. During approx. three weeks in May and June 2023 this tour takes you to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Venice, Nice and Paris and many other interesting places in Europe.
The EURO BUS TOUR does not require further permission.
The cost of the tour is approx. DKK 17.000 + pocket money and will not be paid by Rotary in Denmark. You will soon receive more information regarding the trip, and registration will be available. General detail can be seen at https://www.rotary.dk/yep/euro-bus-tour-2019
COMMUNICATION
The easiest way to contact anyone in your host district is to send an email. Email addresses are available in letters and on the Youth Exchange Program database. Remember to write your YEP number and name every time you write to us.
There is also a Correspondence tab in the database, where you can write to your counsellor and he/she can write to you. When there is a new message in Correspondence, you will get a notification in your email.
Communication with host family, friends and others can be made using other means ex Phone and text messages.
ADDITIONAL RULES AND GUIDELINES
Your host district will send you a document: Additional Rules and Guidelines that stipulates rules to guide you while you are an exchange student with this district. These rules are rules that are not fully covered by the application’s declaration. You are expected to read and sign together with your parents and return to the host district in due time.
We all look forward to receiving you to your "once-in-a-lifetime" stay in Denmark!
Yours in Rotary
Henrik Gildberg, Chairman Long Term