In this article is the most recent information that we sent to participants and parents in line for our 2021 Summer Programs. Please use this information as a reference!

Dear Participants and Families,

As we move closer to summer, we’re reaching out to continue our efforts to keep you informed regarding the status of our short-term programs. This email contains:

• Summer Program Updates
• A Condition Review
• Our Next Steps

Summer Program Updates:

• Overall, operations within our offered destinations remain impacted by the presence of COVID-19, as countries continue to monitor and respond to the pandemic and emergence of variants.
• Unfortunately, we will be suspending our program to Argentina due to increasingly unfavorable conditions and inability to freely travel. To date, all other programs to Colombia, Denmark, France, Kenya, and Spain remain unchanged. As a reminder, our summer programs to Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, and Thailand were cancelled as of our March and April updates.

• If your program has been cancelled and you are interested in switching destinations or moving to a Summer 2022 program, please reply to this email to share your preference. 

• We have grown significantly concerned by the political unrest in Colombia that occurred last week. We are in close contact with our partners at AFS-Colombia who are assessing the extent of their potential impact on the program. Unless drastic changes occur, this program is, unfortunately, unlikely to meet our safety standards to run.
• Recently, the U.S. Department of State updated their travel recommendations to “Level 4: Do Not Travel” for more than 115 countries, in line with CDC evaluations, which included all of our program destinations. We want to make sure you’re informed with this information as well. Should a program run, we will be sharing a waiver to confirm an acknowledgement of this assessment.

Condition Review:

As previously shared, we are closely monitoring conditions and policies in the U.S. and our partner countries. No entry requirements have changed since our last update, although there are indications that the European Union (E.U.) may publicize changes in mid-May for vaccinated travels. We anticipate that vaccinations may be required by governmental bodies in the E.U. We continue to evaluate a holistic view of all conditions, but two basic conditions will need to improve in order for the programs to operate:

• Can an American enter the country as a tourist?

• Currently, the following countries allow entry by U.S. Tourists: Colombia and Kenya
• Currently, the following countries do not allow entry by U.S. Tourists: Denmark, France, and Spain

• Is a quarantine required for more than 15% of a program?

• Currently, the following countries do not require quarantines that meet this threshold: Spain (0%), Kenya (0%)
• Currently, the following countries require quarantines over this threshold: Colombia (48%), Denmark (38%), France (33%)

Our Next Steps:

Our next communication regarding program feasibility will be shared by May 24. Following this point, we will transition into country specific updates.

In preparation, we ask that you make sure that you complete all “To-Do” items in your application by May 15. 

Afterward, next steps will include:

• Individualized Country Follow-ups
• International Flight Bookings by AFS
• Domestic Flight booking to your point of international departure
• Country Specific Webinars to review and prepare for your program
• Packing information, scheduling PCR tests, and (hopefully!) looking forward to the program!

We look forward to keeping you updated, and as always, please feel free to reach out to us at StudyAbroad@afsusa.org.

Sincerely,

The Study Abroad Team at AFS-USA