Has anyone used Au Pair World?

[lovely123]

Hi There,

I am an experienced au pair host but usually go through agencies or personal recommendation from my au pair who is leaving.
However I have just discovered au pair world and wondered if anyone could share advice, experiences, tips etc

Thanks

Hi Blueshoes can I also jump on the bandwagon and ask for your questions?

I've always gone through an agency previously but am wondering if there's any merit in going direct to source.

Blueshoes, just joined. Any chance of getting your list of questions please?

Ive used this site twice over the years and always had APs who stay at least a year. I ask all the usual questions (I think Blue has these covered) and also have a rule that anyone we interview has to want to stay at least a year (evidenced by their career/education plans) and also that they have an interest in working and being with children, and living as part of a family. Sounds so obvious but amazing how many are not remotely interested in kids, not even pretending to be so and just looking for an easy option to live well in London and learn English, these are not the ones I want around my children if possible.

We live in zone 2 in London, and I always put this fact in the first lines of the profile, have been inundated with applications each time. I pay £100 per week, plus phone/data package and 8 weeks holiday. 25 hours per week. I have a written contract so that all expectations are clear when they start, which is really important.

Our current AP is moving out this year (she's staying in London though and has trained to be a TA at college while she's been with us) and we will be extremely sad to see her move out, we've become very close in the 2 years she's been here.

I missed Mellissande's post - yy to asking questions about experience of travel and how they will feel far from home, and all the other things she said

Hi, I am also just going through the process of looking for an au pair too.. this is our first time and we have signed up to Au Pair World.
Can I also please have some ideas on questions to ask.. it is definitely quiet over whelming.. thanks for your help ladies. x

BLUESHOES, can I also please have the question list.. thanks in advance..

BLUESHOES - me too please.
Tks

My dd found an au pair position in Spain recently using au pair world. The family she chose put her through a fairly detailed vetting process (and quite rightly too). The family also held discussions with me to find out more about dd's background which I did not mind. The only issue dd has had was that the family did not let her know that one of the children has aspergers and has extreme behavior problems. That said, the family are very kind to dd and have done all that they can to make her feel settled and supported and she will see out her contract.

Dd speaks Spanish fluently and had a lot of interest on au pair world but did not choose a family offering the plushest home, highest pay, gym membership and other frills, but made her choice based on how well she got on with the family. Dh and I plus dd2 have been to see dd and host family this weekend and I can see that she has made the right choice.

Anyone else in the midst of this torrid process? Honestly - "We cannot consider au pair couples" seems to have been interpreted as "Au Pair couples only." It's really quite bizarre. I can understand if we weren't drawing candidates because au pairs just didn't like the look of us for some reason, or what we were offering. But to actually completely ignore something stated on the profile and then go into a detailed explanation of why their suitable.

I was actually sent a message with another person's name at the top just now, making reference to how great it would be to be in a bilingual family (we aren't.)

Anyone else found a decent alternative to this outfit? The agency I used, back in the day, has shut.

they're not their -

Yes.

Perhaps 'couple' is being searched for and throwing up your profile?! I've not had a couple apply, ever.

Oh I hadn't thought of that. Interesting. But - I had one couple apply, which sparked me to actually add that part to my profile to avoid wasting people's time. Then I got another. It's only happened one other time in my nearly eight years of recruiting for them...

Has anyone actually been sent a list of questions recently. I've realised the original post is going back some time so may not be on people's radars anymore.
I am registered with au pair world recently and have been contacted by a few Americans although one girl is now saying that US girls can not au pair in the UK. Can anyone shed light on this ?

Kelly I live in the US and a lot of families don't use an au pair because the cost works out to be about $25k a year. Au pairs can only go through an agency, I think there are 6 or 10 of them, and the hiring family pay $6k for the visa annually per au pair (part of the $25k cost). If you just need afterschool care it is so much easier and cheaper to hire a local on $15/hr and send your kids to the camps which are plentiful and reasonably priced for school holidays.

The Louise Woodward case woke up authorities here that families were using au pairs instead of daycare or a nanny. Personally I would never leave my 8 week old baby with an 18 year old, but with the high cost of childcare I can understand why people do it as the savings are life changing.

It would not surprise me if the UK has, in retaliation, made it difficult for American au pairs to go to the UK

No, US nationals can't au pair in the UK.

The Louise Woodward case has nothing to do with it, it's a straightforward immigration matter. US nationals need work permits to come here to work and there is no au pair visa (I am originally from the US).

I mean - girls who come here as students I think can still work up to 20 hours a week but you'd need to look into this. It tends not to be worth it.

Au pairs in the UK are about £100 p/w. Anyone can call themselves an au pair and they don't have to go through a regulated agency. The system is totally different here.

Interesting OVienna - the DWP is pretty clear that au-pairing isn't working, so you'd think you didn't need a work visa. But then there's the implicit tone that it's supposed to be cultural exchange and they expect to learn English (which wouldn't apply to the US).

I know, the government websites are all over the place regarding au pairs. I am 100% per cent sure, though, that if you turned up at customs and immigration at Heathrow saying that you were planning to stay for a year to work as an au pair for 25 hours a week of childcare you'd be turned away. I can't be bothered to dig out the info around this to be honest as I am too busy vetting tens of EU candidates.

A really determined person could lie and say they were here for a holiday, I guess.

Canadians, OZ, and KIWI are eligible for what I think is called at Tier 5 Visa. If you want an English speaking person, this is a route that you can be sure is bona fide.

Anyway, after Brexit who knows what will happen.

Yeah :( Are you putting a Brexit clause into any new contract? We are also looking for an EU au pair (our existing one has done a fabulous job of ensuring DS speaks another language fluently, and we want to keep that up), but I'm concerned what may happen when another idiotic politician does something stupid. I have no idea what such a clause would say, obviously, but feel the need to at least flag to the au pair that something could.

Do you mean do you think we need to clarify we wouldn't pay for a work permit or something? (Unless you would.) It's likely to be far too expensive. I've never had an au pair stay longer than a year so it's sort of something I think I can probably keep my head in the sand about until next year. They've never stayed less than a year, that said, and I do worry that ominous next steps from the HoC could make them want to go back earlier than they might have. But I am really not sure what we could offer to help them realistically.

One way to mitigate the risk is possibly to go for a Tier 5 person as that situation would probably not change. I can't see au pair visas being top of anyone's list in the negotiations. I've never had any luck recruiting someone from that scheme previously but I know others have.

Yeah, maybe I'm overthinking it. Politicians lately seem so unstable I can just see them declaring all EU citizens who weren't here pre-referendum need to go home immediately or something else disastrous.

Gosh I am completely confused now. There is much conflicting advise online. I was always aware that no au pair regardless of country was allowed to 'work' hence it being classed as is hosting an au pair as part of the family and given pocket money in exchange for helping with the children. If for example US are not allowed to au pair in the UK why does au pair works which the site I am on allow me to choose that we are specifically looking from someone from the states. Also vec versa. Most of the US girls who have contacted me are only looking in the UK. Hope that makes sense.

In addition to this I have been speaking a lot to a girl on FaceTime and what's app one I've met through APW and she is from Australia. She said she has been granted a two year tourist visa so can au pair and live with us based on that. Is that correct. Sorry for the questions. We are au pair virgina in this house

You are very much allowed to au pair in the US. You just need a specialist visa through one of the approved au pair agencies who handle all au pairs coming into the US. It is tightly regulated and the regulations that are in place today were instituted shortly after the Louise Woodward case as everyone here in the US was horrified that someone would think it ok to leave two very small children with an 18 year old who was merely a child themselves.

It is a J-1 visa you apply for through one of the approved agencies. [https://j1visa.state.gov/programs/au-pair/#program-sponsors Here] is the link to the rules for the visa and requirements which include no au pairs looking after babies younger than 3 and au pairs having an educational requirement if looking after a child younger than 2.

Here even!