Has anyone used an au pair outside EU - costs, arrangements?

[Echobelly]

What with difficulties in EU, I was wondering if anyone who had experience of using non-EU au pairs?

How much were visas and how much work was it to getting one? Or is it for them to sort out? Do people generally do this through agencies who sort out the visa side?

This thread explains it well. It's an old thread but not mucj has changed:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childminders_nannies_au_pairs_etc/975927-Ukrainian-au-pair-how-difficult-to-get-a-visa-for

Essentially an au pair who needs a visa is limited to working 20 hours.and must attend a specific category of college if on a student visa (also expensive).

I'm currently looking for a September start date. I've had quite a few non EU au pairs contact me but I've turned them all down as 20 hours au pair work isn't enough for me.

Thanks... that doesn't look very encouraging then!

I've seen a few people having or talking about having Brazilian au pairs - are they all just cheating the system then?!

Australian or Canadian?

I've mentioned on this forum a few times this week that I've had quite a few Brazilians contact me this year. But I haven't hired them! I don't want an au pair that is restricted to a maximum of 20 hours.

roses2 - that info is really out of date now. The au pair would have to be doing a degree level course in order be able to work 20 hours. I linked the regulations on the Chinese au pair thread further down. If they attend one of the few authorised language centres they are limited to 10 hours/week.

Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders (in the main although there a few other countries) can get a 2 year Youth mobility Visa that allows them to visit and work in the UK.
www.gov.uk/tier-5-youth-mobility/eligibility
The visa is £300 and they also have to pay a health surcharge - this was around £250 when my Australian au pair did hers. They also need to have around £1,800 in savings.

We also had a South African au pair, who was able to travel her on an ancestry visa. These are available to commonwealth countries who have a grandparent who was born in the UK.
www.gov.uk/ancestry-visa This is slightly more expensive around £500 and they also need to pay the health surcharge.

The au pair needs to sort their own visa out online, it's very straightforward.

Thanks @underneaththeash - that sounds like it might be worth looking into if we're really stuck