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What is an au pair visa ? When do you need a visa and where do you apply for it?
These are important questions for future au pairs, especially if you found your host family through an au pair website . On the other hand, if you paid an agency to find a host family for you, it is the agency’s responsibility to take care of the paperwork and get you a visa .
This might seem easier at first, but it is much more expensive than getting the visa yourself.
Do not worry! Applying for a visa is easier than it looks. We’ll explain the process step by step.
For your information: a visa is an official certificate that allows you to travel to a foreign country and work there as an au pair. Also, your visa regulates how long you can stay abroad. The visa regulations, if you actually need an au pair visa or what documents you need for your application varies from country to country.
You apply for your au pair visa at the embassy or the consulate of the country you are traveling to. If, for example, you would want to spend a year as an au pair in South Africa, you have to apply for your visa at the South African embassy or at the consulate in Berlin (or any other city where the respective country has an international office).
As a general rule, you can say: if you are from a country of the European Union and want to spend a year abroad as an au pair in another country of the EU or in an EFTA country (European Free Trade Association), you won’t need a visa. If you go to a country that is not a member of the EU or EFTA, you will need a visa.
We recommend asking about the procedure for getting an au pair visa as soon as possible at the corresponding consulate or embassy. The approval can take weeks or even months, so make sure you ask right away how long the visa process takes
If you go to the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) you will find a list of all embassies and consulates in Germany and their contact information. If you are from Austria, you can find the contact information on the website of the Austrian State Department.
If you are a citizen of the European Union and your host family lives in the EU or in a country that is a member of the EFTA, these are the regulations for entering the country as an au pair:
After your arrival, you should register with the Residents Registration Office.
The costs for an au pair visa depend on the country you are going to. Please ask for more information at the corresponding embassy or consulate.
