Homestay Family
Homestay Family
Thank you for your interest in becoming a local homestay family for our international and out of town students.
The majority of our homestay guests are participating in an internship, work experience or volunteer program and have a keen interest in learning about the local culture and way of life while they are here.
Accommodation with a local family is a key element to our programs, as a positive home-life for our participants plays a huge role in their overall experience.
Being a homestay host is more than just providing meals and a place to sleep. You will often be the first people they will meet and their experience with you is one that will ensure they have a positive experience in your local community and one that will stay with them a lifetime.
If you would like to share your home and become a positive influence to our participants then we would love to learn more about you and send some homestay guests your way.
INTERNeX is one of the world’s first dedicated internship companies and has been placing participants in programs with host organisations since 1999. Since opening our first office we have placed over 20,000 participants in Internships and other programs across Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
We offer all international and out of towners assistance with visas, flights, insurance, airport transfers, accommodation, social activities, travel advice, and an emergency contact number so they’re well-supported by us on the practical details of moving to a new location. You can read more About Us here.
All Homestay students need to have applied and been accepted into one of our programs. To be accepted into one of our programs they must go through a detailed application process which includes an online interview with one of our placement supervisors. After they have been accepted into the program we search for a suitable placement. When a placement has been found, we find a homestay family within approx. 40 minutes public transport from the organisation. We also ensure that participant is a good fit for your family and meets all the expectations you have for someone coming into your home.
We will send you a brief summary of the student, including age, name, nationality and details on the program they are taking. This will include any information about allergies and dietary preferences. Should you want to accept the participant we will then send your profile to them along with any other arrival details.
Once they accept the placement, we will plan their arrival transfer and liaise with you to ensure you will be home when they arrive at your front door. Interns must strictly adhere to the policies, procedures and rules of living in a homestay and must behave in a caring and responsible manner at all times.
You will receive $340.00 NZD per/week paid fortnightly in advance. In return you must provide the homestay guest with meals (breakfast & dinner) and accommodation. The homestay guest bedroom must be a private, clean and warm bedroom with a window and furniture. Meals include breakfast, dinner and some snacks every day (guests arrange their own lunch). You must provide your guest with respect and tolerance and consistently provide all aspects of hospitality. On or before your guests first day in their program we ask that homestay families show their guest how to use public transit in the area to get to their placement.
Most of our homestay guests are international visitors, with some out of town students travelling to the cities for their internship and requiring accommodation.
They usually attend our partner university programs and are required to undertake an internship as part of their courses; however, they may also be graduates looking to advance their careers or students currently taking a break from their studies.
Our international interns usually come from our international partner network of universities and agencies, stretching across 30+ countries with our primary markets including New Zealand, Australia, USA, UK, Europe and Asia.
These interns are usually taking the internship as part of their studies or their gap year abroad. All our interns are looking to gain valuable work experience that will help them stand out in an increasingly competitive global job market.
We put care and effort into ensuring our interns are placed with suitable families and we are confident you will find them appropriate. However, should and issues arise, we are here to help.
In the instance that an issue arises we ask that you make a good-faith attempt to resolve minor difficulties directly with your homestay guest. If things remain unresolved after you have made this attempt please contact our team so we can step in to assist with resolving the problem, or we can start the process of removing the guest from your home and making other accommodation arrangements with them.
For any more serious transgression by the homestay guest please advise Internex immediately and we will make arrangements to remove the guest from your home.
If an Intern guest request to depart prematurely without valid reasons, they must give a minimum two weeks’ notice. If they choose to leave during this 2-week period the host family will still receive their payment for that fortnight.
In most cases, issues can be resolved internally. When they cannot, we are here to help.
1. The host hereby agrees to provide the participant with a clean, warm and tidy room with a window. Basic furniture should include a bed, closet, desk (or access to one in the house) chair and the room should be well lit. Bed sheets are to be changed bi-weekly. There should not be more than one participant per room and there should not be other participants of the same nationality residing in the same household.
2. The Homestay host agrees to provide breakfast every day and dinner every day and to have some snack like fruit available for in between meal times. Dinner must be a well balanced meal, generally consisting of meat, vegetables, potatoes, rice. Fast food dinners such as pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs etc. are acceptable on an occasional basis. Dinner should generally be a sit down meal, or as your family generally eats. Participants usually grab their own breakfast in the morning. In the evening if no-one is going to be home, if there is something they can heat up and eat is no problem. Participants should help with cleaning up and on occasion may want to help in the kitchen as well, just like any family member may.
3. The Homestay family hereby agrees to treat the participants with respect and tolerance and consistently provide all aspects of hospitality. If improper physical advances towards a participant occur, the participant will be removed from the home and legal action taken. No member of the household should abuse alcohol or drugs.
4. The family must speak English when the participant is present and provide each participant with a key to the house.
5. On or before the first day of courses, it is asked that the host show the participant how to use public transit in the area to get to the city, internship, school or Internex office.
6. We ask that the host give the participant some information about local places of interest and include the participant in the host’s activities for the duration of the participant’s stay.
7. The host may either do their participants’ laundry or make laundry facilities available to them.
8. Internex or the host family does not assume any responsibilities for any injuries suffered by the participant while in the host’s care. However, obviously please assist and ensure the participant becomes ill or injured and need medical attention. All international participants have medical insurance on our programs and they will have a copy of this insurance with them. Please contact Internex as soon as possible.
9. We do try to keep homestay families full, however we cannot always guarantee we have people available. Please notify us if you would like another homestay person or if you would like to take a break for a while.
10. Please inform the participant about how the household functions work and where items are in the kitchen, bedroom, laundry and other areas in the home. It is a good idea to explain the dynamics of the household in order to avoid problems, e.g. if it is ok or not ok to have friends over / partners over to stay / tinder dates collecting them from the house etc. Please be clear and make sure your participant is aware of the rules and regulations of your household so there are less possible issues later on.
11. Please be tolerant of the participant’s foreign customs and habits.
12. We cannot guarantee the participant will stay for their full duration of their homestay. They may want to get a flat or share house accommodation with friends. However, they must give two weeks notice to Internex and to you, if they want to move out. Please Notify Internex if a participant moves out of your home.
13. If Internex finds the placement unsuitable (not meeting these terms and conditions) we may choose to remove the candidate without further notice. In this case the family is obliged to pay back the remaining Homestay fee.
14. If the participant is accompanying the Homestay family on holiday then accommodations and food should still be provided, and if not, then alternative and similar homestay arrangements made for the participant with Internex approval
15. It is important for all Homestay families who wish to participate in our program understand that Internex programs are typically more complex and involving than with typical language courses. Some candidates may become anxious as to the status of their internship or work experience placement. Some families, in an effort to assist their student occasionally and inadvertently provide the candidate with over-optimistic or misleading information about this process and positions available and this causes even more issues. It is of vital importance that well-meaning homestay families allow Internex program participants the ability to contact us directly to assist them with any concerns or questions they may have. If a host family has concerns about the candidates’ placement, it is key that the family not raise these concerns with the candidate, but rather have the candidate contact Internex to express these concerns. These concerns will then be addressed.
16. If you have any problems or concerns with the participant please do not hesitate to contact an INTERNeX representative.
17. Internex provides $320NZD per week for homestay. The host family is not allowed to add any additional charges to the homestay rate (excluding international telephone charges). The participant must not be asked to pay a deposit.
18. If a participant takes a holiday the Homestay family is not obliged to reduce the Homestay fee.
Ready to become a homestay host?
If you would like to join Internex and become a homestay family, please read the host family terms and conditions above and then continue to the registration form. In this form you can let us know more about you and your family and the type of guest you would like to host. Please also upload some photographs to include in your family profile (please include a photo of the guest bedroom and a family photo in your selection of photographs). When this is complete we will then make contact with you to discuss your application and to advise when we may have a suitable guest for you.
Benefits of becoming a host family
Share your local community with guests from all over the world
Earn some extra income as a host family
Share meals and stories with your new guests
Learn about other cultures and traditions
Contribute to the idea of cultural exchange
Gain a new family member