Summer camp abroad: how a holiday study trip works

What a summer camp is

It is the easiest way to do a first study trip abroad. Instead of spending months away, the student uses the holidays to study English in a new country, meet people from all over the world and live the routine of another city.

The day usually has two parts:

Who it is for

Summer camps are very popular with teenagers, but they are not only for them. At NEW, programs start from age 8, and there are also options for adults who want to use their holidays to study abroad.

The three formats

NEW works with three summer camp formats. The difference is who the student travels with:

• NEW Summer Camp: NEW’s own group, which goes to Canada. A NEW staff member travels with the group from Brazil, goes along to every activity and flies back with the group.
• Partner school summer camp: NEW’s partner schools in Brazil, such as language schools and high schools, put together their own group to take their students abroad.
• Individual summer camp: the student travels alone during the summer camp period, without joining a group.

Where the student stays

During the summer camp, the student stays in one of these two options:

• Homestay: living with a host family, which helps a lot with practising English every day;
• Student residence: at a local high school or a university.

In every format, the accommodation goes through a NEW approval process before it hosts a NEW student.

Where to go

NEW’s own group, with a NEW staff member along, goes to Canada. In other countries, the student goes without a NEW staff member travelling along. In the other formats, NEW has summer camps in countries such as Canada, the United States, Ireland and England, among others. The choice depends on the student’s age, the format and the travel time. NEW helps you choose the right destination.

Minors leaving Brazil: the travel authorization

If the student is a Brazilian under 18 travelling without one of the parents or alone, as in every group summer camp, they need an international travel authorization. According to Brazil’s Federal Police, it is checked on the day of travel.

It can be done in two ways:

• In the passport itself: when applying for the passport, the parents can ask for the authorization to be printed in it;
• As a separate document: signed by the parents, with the signatures certified by a notary.

The rules for this authorization come from Brazil’s National Council of Justice (CNJ). The official links are in the sources at the end of the article.

Going to Canada: visa, eTA and the parents’ letter

Visa or eTA. Brazilians need a visitor visa to go to Canada. The exception is someone travelling by air who has held a Canadian visa in the past 10 years or holds a valid US visa: in that case, an eTA, an electronic travel authorization, is enough. Other nationalities have their own rules.

No study permit needed. According to the Government of Canada, you don’t need a study permit for a program that lasts 6 months or less. That covers a summer camp.

Biometrics. Visitor visa applicants need to give their fingerprints and photo, known as biometrics. Children under 14 don’t need to.

The parents’ letter. The Government of Canada recommends that a minor travelling alone carries:

• their own passport;
• a copy of their birth certificate;
• a letter of authorization signed by both parents, with the parents’ address and phone number, and the name, address and phone number of the adult who will look after the child in Canada.

When to start planning

What usually weighs most on the timeline is the visa. The time the Government of Canada takes to process an application changes during the year. See today’s time, updated every day, on Canada visa processing times. For the United States, the wait for an interview is on US visa interview wait times.

With the visa on track, there is time to think calmly about the school, the accommodation, the flight and the insurance.