More au pair questions!

[Millarkie]

Thanks for all those who have helped me so far..but I have yet more questions for you.

1. If I have an au pair from Germany (East), do I need to send her an invitation letter or can she just enter the country through whatever the 'all clear' channel is? (I don't really get the visa/non visa issues)
2. Same German au pair - can she register at our GP practice?
3. Do your au pairs need a UK bank account? (I was assuming not, pocket money paid in cash and any big expenditure (eg. language course) I can pay for and get money back somehow)
4. Do your au pairs expect a double bed (we have a double sized room but we were thinking of moving the bed out and putting in a single so there is more space in the room for all au pair's stuff.

Thanks

No idea about 1 & 2 I'm afraid. I think no need for visa as Germany is Europe, and yes they can register at your GP's.

3 - my ap doesn't have an English bank acct, but has got a card for her French one. She can draw money out of that (with fees) if she needs some money urgently. I pay cash, she pays her language course weekly.

4 - Mine has a double bed, and has limited storage - chest of drawers, dressing table, bedside table, half a double wardrobe and some shelves. She only arrived with a suitcase full, so doesn't need much space. The double has been handy for when her friends have stayed over.

Thanks Laura.
We would still have the double bed but it would be in the other spare room in case we had friends to stay - so her friends could use it if we let them stay.
Your ap room sounds like it has lots of storage to me!

East Germany no longer exists as a separate entity so assuming your au air has a German passport she does not need a visa to be in the UK.

I'm not sure what she needs to do re medical care but again, as an EU national, she is entitled to the same medical treatment here as any UK citizen. Your GP practice should be able to advise you on that one.

Don't know about the bank account, unless she is going to save lots of her money (unlikely on au pair wages), then it's probably not necessary.

I think single bed would be fine but if you have both maybe you can give her the option when she arrives. If she is flying here, she won't be able to bring much stuff with her so is unlikely to need vast quantities of wardrobe or drawer space.

Thanks Annh.

Hi
1/doesn't need a visa
2/ yes she can register, but might need to pay for consultations that she can claim back from her insurance
3/they don't need one, but can have one. My german AP just got an account at Lloyds, fee free.
4/ I think I'd probably leave the double bed, after all they spend quite a lot of time in their room..
and
yes they all come with a lot of stuff
HTH

Thanks Ingles - so should she have health insurance (like I would get travel insurance if I were going abroad) or is there a european scheme which she would automatically belong to (sorry to be so thick). I will ring the GP practice when I can, but they are hard to get through to on the phone!

I'll measure up the room again and see if we can keep the big bed in there, but still get in wardrobe, drawers and desk...it's full of furniture which we 'inherited' from the last owner's of this house at the moment, which is fine for weekend guests but we need to get more practical stuff for a long term occupant.

She will have her own health insurance in germany, but it wont cover her in the uk.
I live in germany, and use this insurance for my aupairs, it also covers german aps abroad: www.careconcept.de.
Its very reasonable, and they have paid up when my AP needed treatment.
Important though, you MUST read the small print and contact them quickly if you need to make a claim.

www.careconcept.de

Definitely don`t worry about medical insurance, entitled to free NHS care.

e111 covers you for emergency treatment, but will that be enough?
my ap is also insured for dental care, repatriation to her own country if she is ill, non-emergency treatment, pregnancy after 9 months, accidental damage in case she breaks something of ours or anyone elses, and it also includes death insurance.

Sounds good, Nighbynight, am looking at the website.

Hmm...My german is not that good - I think I have managed to get a quote for the au pair insurance but will not be able to understand the small print.
Think I might have to beg my dBIL to help (he lives in switzerland so at least has fluent swiss-german) - eek!

Oh, and a further EEK for the mention of pregnancy regarding au pairs!

For any other non-linguists reading this - here is the english explanation.