About visits
With visits, Compassion will coordinate the logistics of your visit day and provide a trained Compassion host to facilitate your time with your Compassion child. Sponsors are responsible for arranging all international travel details outside of the visit day. If you are not comfortable travelling on your own, we encourage you to consider joining one of Compassion’s Exposure Trips instead.
When you are ready to arrange a visit, please submit a Visit Request Form. Meeting your Compassion child in person is guaranteed to be a lasting memory, and we are excited to come alongside you on this wonderful journey!
An Individual Visit is when one sponsor visits one or more children they sponsor. The sponsor may bring other family or friends as guests on their visit. A Group Visit is when two or more sponsors are visiting two or more children who they sponsor separately. If you would like to arrange a group visit,please fill out the form on this page.
Plan your visit
- Eight Weeks Advance Notice: Compassion requests that you submit a visit request form with a minimum of eight weeks’ notice prior to the date of your visit.
- Visits Are Typically Conducted Monday through Friday: Visits are typically limited to weekdays during regular business hours.
- Location and Activity: Our in-country trips and visits specialists will make a recommendation on the best location and activities for a visit, considering any preferences you may have. A visit may include a tour of your child’s Compassion child development centre, a visit to your child’s home, a shared meal or a local attraction such as a park or zoo where you can get to know each other. If you are not able to travel to your child’s community, you may have the opportunity to spend time with your child at your in-country location instead.
- Starting the Process: : Once you have firm dates for arriving in the country and have selected a date when you would like to visit your child, please fill out a visit Request Form to initiate your visit request.
How it works
- Review Process: A Visit Specialist will review your visit request form and follow-up with you.
- Necessary Documents: Each adult visitor (legal age in your province) must complete a background check, and every visitor (both adult and minor) must sign the Visit Travel Release Form.
- International Travel Arrangements: When you have registered, and everyone in your party has completed all visit requirements, your Field Experience Planner will submit your request to our National Office in the country you are travelling to. Although no visit date can be guaranteed in advance, Compassion will make every effort to arrange your visit accordingly. If you decide to make travel arrangements (such as purchasing flight tickets) in advance, and your visit is subsequently declined by our field office, Compassion is not responsible for your costs.
- Admin Fee: In order to cover the administrative costs associated with planning your visit, there is an admin fee of $70 for the main contact and $20 for any adult guests. Instructions on how to pay this will be provided to you by your Field Experience Planner.
- Arranging Logistics: Once dates are decided on, our Visits Specialist will begin communicating with our local staff to arrange the logistics.
Cost and expenses
- Cost estimate: The expenses involved in a visit depend on the logistics necessary, and may include transportation, host/translator services, activities and meals on your visit day. We are unable to provide an estimate of your visit day costs prior to your registration because each visit is unique, and only our coworkers in the country where your Compassion child lives are able to provide an accurate estimate of the costs in that area. Once you have registered, and everyone in your party has completed the necessary documents, your Visit Specialist will submit your request and the field office will provide an estimate of any anticipated costs specific to your visit arrangements.
- Detailed Itinerary: When the information is received from the National Office, your Visit Specialist will send you an email containing your detailed itinerary, an explanation of expenses due prior to your visit, and expenses that you will need to pay during your visit.
- Confirmations and trip contacts: : Your Visit Specialist will send a final confirmation to you with contact information for your in-country host, as well as any other relevant contact details for the field office staff.
- Important guidelines/policies: Please read our visit Guidelines and our Expense and Cancellation Policy prior to submitting your visit request.
- FAQs — If you have additional questions, please refer to our visit FAQs, filled with commonly asked questions. We also welcome your questions by phone at 1 (800) 563-5437, or by email at fieldexperience@compassion.ca