Visa status of foreign nannies

[fruitcorner]

How do I check whether nanny can legally work in UK or not? The nannies that I have interviewed and liked all seem to have "problems" with their work -status, i.e student visa, "self-employed" bulgarians etc.

What is the country?

For a nanny outside of the EU, they need to have a domestic worker visa (this is not something that is likely to apply to many families) or a working holidaymaker visa (Commonwealth citizens). Romanian and Bulgarian citizens are not eligible to take up childcare positions at this time.

You have to ask the prospective nanny for a copy of their visa, then you can check what it allows them to do on the Home Office website.

UKVisas is a useful website to use to see what visa requirements are for those entering the UK.
Click on: Do I Need A Visa?
Purpose of Visit: Work Permit Longer Than 6 Months, Working Holidaymaker, Au-Pair
There are differences between these visa types, but if you select one, then after selecting the location of the nanny (ie. of which country they are a national) then the site will tell you if can come in to the UK on that visa type, plus provide more information about the visa type.

For someone from Bulgaria (or Romaina) see Working In The UK information from the HomeOffice.
Looks like to be a Domestic Worker, they will require an Accession Worker Card.

Thanks for taking the time to post your replies - I will do some research using those links.