FAQ & contact us

You can read more about Servas under the [About Servas] tab at https://servas.org. If your Servas Country or Group has a website, you can find more specific information about how your Servas Group works. To find out if your country/group has a website, check Servas Group Websites under Quick links in the red band at the bottom of any page.

Members join the Servas Group that covers the country where they reside. To join your local Servas Group, click on JOIN at the upper right hand corner of the the Home page or click here: JOIN

After clicking on the [Join] button, enter your Country name. Some countries manage membership on their own websites. If you are a resident of one of these, you'll be directed to the Group's website.

Residents of all other countries will be directed to an application form. Submitting this form sends a message to someone in your local group, who will contact you.

You will receive an email with instructions for logging in to the Servas website and completing your profile. Once you are approved by your local group, you will receive full access to the Servas International website and all member profiles.

Servas is an international organization, but you apply to, and are a member of, your local Servas Group. There are common principles and procedures for all Servas Groups, but each group can have different business practices, such as how you join, membership and travel fees, etc.

Every country in the world is assigned to a Servas Group. In most cases, this is your Country. In some cases, the group can include more than one country. Members in countries without administrative representatives are assigned to multi-country Areas that are administered by our Development Committee.

Check your Spam or Junk email folders. If the email isn't there, go to [Contact us by email] at the bottom of this page.

You can find out whether there are Servas hosts at your destination by checking Servas Group Websites under Quick links in the red band at the bottom of the home page. The Hosts column lists the number of hosting households.

Many of your questions will be answered on our website, using the links provided above. If your question isn't answered, go to [Contact us by email] below to send a message to Servas.

An Amiko is either:

• An applicant who has not yet been admitted to Servas.
• A member whose membership has lapsed (not renewed before the Grace period has expired)

As an Amiko you can:

• login to the website
• create or edit your profile
• see your dashboard and view notifications that you have received

You cannot:

• see other members' profiles
• be found in a search by other members

• If you are an applicant, your membership status will change automatically when you are approved as a member.
• If you are a lapsed member, your status will change when your Group Administration renews the membership. After you have paid your membership fees, it may take a few days for them to change the status on Servas.org.

There are several possibilities:

• Are you logging into the correct website? 
  • Several countries are managing memberships with their own websites (USA, Italy, Germany, Japan, Israel,  Belgium and Luxemburg) and then creating accounts for members  on the Servas.org site.  Be sure that you are using the correct password for each site (or use the same password on both to avoid confusion). If you have just applied or renewed via the Servas group website, be patient–there can be a delay in getting your profile created or renewed on the Servas International website (this website)
• Have you forgotten your password?
  • Use [forgot password] underneath the password field on the login page.The system will send you a link to reset your password.

• Has your email address changed?
  • Try logging in with your username, or, if you still have access to your old email address, try logging in with that.  You can change the address once you are logged in. If you can’t get email at your old address anymore, you won’t be able to re-set your password. In that case, go to [Contact Us by email] below and fill out the contact form.

• Has your membership expired? 
  • In most countries, membership is renewed annually.  If your membership has lapsed, you will still have access to your account for some time (varying by country), but won’t be able to see other members' information. 
  • If your account has been in Lapsed status for a longer time, you will need to renew your membership with your Servas Group  before getting access to this website.  
  • You may find renewal instructions on your country's website. If you can't find instructions for renewal, use [Contact Us by email] below to send us a message. To find out if your country/group has a website, check Servas Group Websites under Quick links in the red band at the bottom of any page

Click on your profile picture in the upper right corner. You will see a menu of options, including [Logout].

You can edit almost all the information in your profile by doing the following:

• Login to your account and go to [Edit profile] in the black bar near the top of the page.
• You'll see a menu on the left. (At the bottom of the page for phone users).

• You can edit any information in the profile (except the Servas Group) and change or add a location on the map. Edit each section (Household, Members, Children and others, Address and hosting, and Travel): 1. Click on the menu item or icon. 2. Click on "Edit (household, member, etc.)" to get the form to enter your information. On the "member" page, you have two sections: In "Edit member" you change information about you. In "Edit account, password and email" you change information about your account.

• For more instructions on how to edit each menu item, click the [?help] icon in the top right corner of each screen

On a phone and most tablets, you’ll find a white menu bar for editing different parts of your profile at the bottom of your screen.  The Red icon takes you to the Profile confirmation screen.  In order, the other icons represent:  Household, Members, Children and Others, Address and Hosting, and Travel.

To edit member details, click on the Member icon, then scroll down the page to find the red Edit Member button to enter or change details, and the blue Edit account, password & email button.

If you have moved temporarily and wish to keep your membership with your home country or Group, you can change your address and your map location. You will remain a member of your home Servas Group. You will receive communications from your home group, but not from the Servas group where you currently live.

If you want to become of member of the Servas group in your new country, you will need to contact Servas in your new country. You can find a Member Admin volunteer by selecting [Key People] from the black menu bar on your Dashboard page, selecting your Servas Group and Region, and using Member Admin as the Servas Title. They will request that a Servas International administrator change your group membership.

Memberships are handled by each country or Servas Group. Members from most countries will receive notifications from the Servas International website before your renewal date (and reminders after that) with instructions on how to renew. If you missed the emails but can still log into your account, you can view these notifications in your [Dashboard].

If your country handles renewals through their own website, check their website for renewal instructions. To find out if your country/group has a website, check Servas Group Websites under Quick links in the red band at the bottom of any page. Note: in some cases, these are just Facebook pages and may not include membership information details.

If you are not able to login to the Servas International website or have questions about renewal, contact your Servas Group or use the [Contact us by email] form below to send us a message.

You can create your Letter of Introduction and request an eStamp from your Servas.org account.

• Login and select [Edit Profile] from the drop down list under your picture. Then select [Travel] from the Edit menu. *Using a phone or tablet? Find the globe (last icon) in the white band at the bottom of the screen.

• Use the green [edit] button to edit your LOI or [+Add letter of introduction] to add a new LOI. Using a phone or tablet? Just click on the "+".

• Click [?Help] near the top of the page for more instructions.

• Login to your account, and click on [Members] in the grey bar at the top of the screen.

• Enter the name and country of the person you are searching for and click [Apply].

• Their membership status will appear in the left column under the contact details. If they have a valid LOI, you will see a [Letter of introduction] section near the bottom of the left column. (Just below Organizations). You can view it by clicking the green [View] button or download it by clicking [PDF]. You'll see the estamp image with Approved below it.

Login to your account and click on [Hosts] in the black menu bar and follow the instructions under the [Help] link.

You will be able to see host locations on the map, read profiles online, and download pdf lists.

• Are you using filters (number of travellers, etc.)? If you are, make sure you’ve reset all filters. Do a new search. Try using fewer filters or no filters at all. 

• If you have expanded  (or contracted)  your search by zooming to a bigger (or smaller) area, make sure you’ve clicked [search this area] again.

• It’s possible that there are no hosts.   Are you looking for hosts in a city?  using just the map (reset all filters if you’ve been using them), enter the name of the city in [where do you want to go].   You can zoom out to make sure you get a larger area around the city.  Click [Search this area].  If there are no hosts shown, there are no hosts in the area.

• Not all countries have Servas members. Click on [More filters] above the map. Enter just the country name, and click the green [Search] button at the bottom of the page. If there are hosts in the country, they will appear on the map and you'll see the total number of hosts in the country to the right of the map.

• For a quick overview of Group size, select [Statistics] from the menu under your picture. Note: some groups with only a few members will not appear on this list, as they may be included in the Servas Area groupings at the bottom of the page. 

• The map search will find people in a circle around the place that you specified in your search.
• You can narrow the search area by zooming in so you have less of the surrounding area (don't forget to click [Search this area]). It will be very difficult to totally isolate a country or a state or province.
• If you want to visit hosts ONLY in a specific country, enter the country name in the map, but also click on [more search filters] and select the Servas Group there.

When you search for hosts in a larger area (country, state) results will include hosts in a circle around the area, including other states or countries. Bubbles on the map will be displayed randomly in this area, so it's possible that not all the hosts in your area will appear on the map. To ensure that you see all the hosts in an area, limit the size of the area till number of hosts shown is less than 200.

To limit your search to a country, find the country on the map. Then click on "more search filters" and select the country name. Click on [Search this area] on the map.

Better still, start with a smaller area, such as a city.

Once you have logged into your account, click on [Key people] in the black menu bar at the top of the page. Search by title, or search for all administrative people in your Servas group or Region. (If you are searching by [Title], note that the title "Coordinator" isn't used anymore. Instead, choose Member Admin or Regional Admin or search by function (Travel Admin, Renewal Admin, Applicant Admin). If you can't find the role you are looking for, use [Contact us by email] below to send us a message.

From the main menu, select ABOUT SERVAS > What is Servas? or click HERE to read about the types of programs Servas offers.

For a list of actual events, select [Events] from the home page menu.

All of these things are managed by your local Servas Group. If they have a website, you may be able to find the answers yourself. To find out if your country/group has a website, check Servas Group Websites under Quick links in the red band at the bottom of any page. If you can't find the answer on their website, use their contact form to send a message.

If your Group does not have a website, use the email form below to send us a message.

Servas is staffed by volunteers, and you may need to wait a day or two for a response from us.  We've tried to provide enough "help" directly on the website, so you can quickly find most answers yourself.

• Read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) posted above,

• Click the blue [?Help] in the top right corner of each screen in the website for instructions.

• If you still have questions, use the form below to send us a message. Please tell us what your question is about (Subject) and describe your problem in as much detail as you can to help us direct it to the right person and answer it efficiently.

You have been assigned a role or roles which each have different permissions. You may not have the role required. The Role administrator for your Servas Group can add the role for you. If you don't know who the Role administrator for your group is, select the menu item Search Servas roles.

There are a few possible reasons:

1. There are two places to search for members by admin role.  All members have access to Search key people on the Search bar.  This list does not include some of the upper level roles such as Superadmin. From the list under your photo, use Search Servas roles to search for any Admininistrative role.
2. Not all groups use all the administrative roles.  A small group may assign one person to the Region Admin role and not use Member Admin, Travel Admin, etc. Another Group may use individual roles but not the Region Admin role.  Try searching using different roles.
3. Sometimes a member has only been assigned responsibility at the Group level, and not for a region. This makes it more difficult to find an admin for the region, and the only option is to search for all people with that role at the Group level.  Checking their profile may be the only way to find where they live, which could provide a clue to their region of responsibility.  Ideally, all groups would specify regional responsibilities

You can  manage admin roles for your region on the Servas Role Admin screen. Complete instructions can be found in the “?help” on that page.

Household Admin: includes all active members and Amikos (both applicants and lapsed members). It  also lets you access deactivated members to renew or delete them.  No download.

Member Admin: includes only members (Active, expired, lapsed and suspended). Does not include applicants or deactivated records.  It can also be sorted by profile confirmation status.  It has a CSV/Excel download.

Servas Group members: (access from Servas Group Admin):  still being worked on.

Member  admin by location: (access from Member Admin screen) finds members with any status (excluding applicants or deactivated members) and plots them on the map. Allows filtering by several factors, including host status. Allows list to be downloaded in pdf format but not CSV/Excel

Application: finds records of all those who have applied in any date range. Can be filtered the status of the request:  Request is in progress includes all that have not yet been approved; Request is complete: includes all members approved within the date range specified (these now have the status of Member). Does not include rejected applicants (These have been deleted from the system).

Possible reasons and solutions:

1. This could be a member who has used Servas.org v.1 and is logging into Servas.org v.2 for the first time.  They need to reset their password with [Forgot password].
2. They may be trying to login with a different email address than  they  used to  register for Servas.org. If they still have access to this address, they can use it to reset their password.  If they can no longer access it, you will need to change the email address in the system (use Member Admin>Edit Member>Edit account, password and email]. Then they can use [forgot password] to reset the password.  Alternatively, if they know their username, they can login with that, and change their password in the system. 
3. They may be a former member whose account has already been deactivated.  Deactivated members are still in the system, but are not able to log in to their profile. Use Household Admin to Reactivate, then renew, their membership.  Their profile will be recovered.
4. Their account may have been deleted.   Use Household Admin to find applicants or members with any status by name.  If you can’t find them there, check the Deactivated members.  If they are not there, they are no longer in the system. 
5. Some countries still have separate secure websites.  Members may be trying to log into one system, using the password for another. 
6. They get an error message saying “ Access denied", but they can see the edit member icon. For users of some devices, there is a bug in the system that prompts this message, even though they actually are logged in.  They can ignore it and continue using the system.  This is on our list of items to fix.
7. There could be two members in a household who have applied using the same email address.  The system is not preventing this, but is preventing both members from logging in. Ask the applicant/member for another email address and enter it in the 2nd member’s profile.
8. There is a typo in the email address. Correct the typo in Member Admin>Edit profile.

Possible problems:

1. They have already applied, and are trying to apply again, using the same email address.  Check the Applications screen to see if they already have an application.
2. They are a Deactivated member:  they can no longer log in, but the email address is blocked because the record is still in the system.   From the Household Admin screen, access the Deactivated members.  Reactivate, then use the Renewal screen to renew them. 

You can’t add an applicant to an existing household.  Go through the application and admission process and then move them to the household.

You can move a  member from one household to another, move a member to a new household, or delete a member from a household, using the Household Admin screen. 

See ?help in Household admin for details.

While Members are automatically moved to Lapsed status after the Grace period epires, Lapsed members are not automatically deactivated by the system after they pass a certain date. However, you can use the Bulk deactivate lapsed members function found on the Renewal screen to deactivate multiple members at one time. Note that this does not delete members. At this time there is not a bulk delete process for Deactivated members.

There is no automatic deletion for Applications. You can use Bulk delete applications found on the Applications screen to delete multiple applications.

For more details on how to use these functions see ?Help on the relevant pages.

You can find instructions on each screen by clicking on [?Help].

Don't know which screen to use for an administrative function? This chart lists all the admin functions, which screen to use, and the roles needed to perform it.

If you need an overview of the processes, we have tutorials available. We are also happy to provide personal training for administrators. Contact help@servas.org anytime.

Only a member of the Support team can change the Group/country of a member. This is because the new country needs to know about and approve the change, but will not have access to the member's account until the Group is changed. However, the member can change their address.

Either the member or an Administrator from the current country can contact an administrator in the new country and request the transfer. Once approved, the new Group's administrator can contact help@Servas.org, providing the name, country, region and subregion to request the change. Alternatively, once the country is changed, the Admin can change the region themselves.

Members can change their email address and password,via Edit profile>Edit member> edit account password and email.

You can do it for them using Member Admin>Edit Profile 

Members cannot change their name, but administrators can.

Usernames are assigned by the system and cannot be changed by members or

If your question relates to the member screens of Servas.org, you may find the answer either in the Frequently Asked Questions above, or in the Help on the relevant Servas.org screen. If not, please send us a message at help@servas.org. (For Admins only--members and non-members, please use the contact form below).