Frequently Asked Questions by Au Pairs
Who can become an Au Pair? If you are between 18 and 30 years and come from one of the EU member states you will be able to become an Au Pair in the United Kingdom. However, if you come from Romania or Bulgaria there are some restrictions.
Basically, you would need to be between 18 and 27 years old and have no dependants. Also, you would need to complete and return a BR3 form in order to obtain the purple accession workers card, which then enables you to work as an Au Pair. This process usually takes around 6 to 8 weeks. Once you have been an Au Pair with a UK family for 12 months you are free to work anywhere in the UK.
If you are from Australia, New Zealand, Canada or Japan, you can become an Au Pair under the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme which is administered by the Home Office and consists of a points based quota system.
All other countries, such as Turkey, the Philippines, South Africa are not part of this scheme and hence we cannot accept candidates from these countries as they are no longer able to work as an Au Pair in the UK unless they were granted a visa to work as Au Pair during 2008, these visas will be expiring during next year and we understand that they cannot be renewed.
How do you match Au Pairs and Families? We use the information provided as part of the registration process as a starting point. This is why our registration forms are quite long and detailed. We compare requirements, likes and dislikes, and general expectations, between host families and the Au Pairs in our database.
We follow every new registration up with a telephone call for an informal chat. This helps us to find out more about you, and enables you to ask questions, give us further information, or discuss any specific requirements. At this stage we might already have an idea if we have a potential family for you. At this point we also discuss which other information we need from you.
If we think that we have a possible match, we speak to you and the potential host family, to get initial reactions. If this is positive, we provide the family with more extensive information about you and you with more extensive information about the family.
It is also important at this stage to ensure that we have received all your papers we need for vetting. If both you and the family are happy to proceed we arrange for a telephone call or video call. We can suggest questions both for you and the family to make this phone call as informative as possible for all of you.
Once we have received positive feedback from both of you following this call we will ask the family to send us a ‘Letter of Invitation’ which we check and then send to you and discuss with you. At this stage we will finalise the necessary paperwork for the placement, start dates, travel arrangements, etc.
What information do I need to provide to become an Au Pair? To ensure that we find the right family for you we need to fully understand what you are looking for and what you are able to offer. So we need you to fill in the Au Pair registration form. We also need you to provide us with:
1) a photo of yourself;
2) a Certificate of Good Conduct (sometimes referred to as a Police Certificate or enhanced CRB);
3) a Medical Certificate stating that you are fit and healthy and able to look after children in your care;
4) a General Character reference;
5) a Childcare Reference;
6) two forms of Identification (e.g. driving licence, ID card or passport);
7) a ‘Dear Family’ letter.
We verify this information and handle it in accordance with the Data Protection Act in the UK. We only share this information with the family after having discussed this with you and only once the family is ready to make you a placement offer. Unlike some of the internet agencies we do not email this highly sensitive information to families who you have not spoken with and who have not shown a clear commitment to you.
What is a 'Dear Family' letter? This is a short letter written in English in which you tell a bit about yourself, your experience looking after children (for example, how old they were, how you played with them) and why you would like to become an Au Pair in the UK.
How much does it cost to become an Au Pair in the UK? Our services are COMPLETELY FREE FOR AU PAIRS who want to become au pair with a family in the UK. If we find the right family for you, then the family pays our placement fee. However, you pay for your travel to the UK (and back home after your placement or for Holidays) and whilst here you normally pay for language classes if you want to attend such classes, although some community colleges offer free classes to young people from EU member states. You also pay for travelling in your spare time (for example, if you go sight seeing with friends during the weekends).
How much does it cost to become an Au Pair in another EU country such as France, Germany, Italy, etc? We can also help you find a suitable family in other EU countries. We charge you a £150 flat fee (irrespective of the duration of the placement) to cover our costs. We will liaise with other agencies to find the best possible family for you. You will generally also have to pay for your travel to the country in question (and back home after your placement or for Holidays).
What does an au pair do? See our "What is an Au Pair" page.
Do you provide any follow up? Yes. In our experience the key to a successful experience both for the family and for you is a happy family and a happy Au Pair. We appreciate that it might be the first time that you are away from home, your friends and your family. We also appreciate that it might be the first time that the family has an Au Pair. Both of you might need a little time to settle in and might feel uncertain about a number of things. Especially during the first few weeks it is important to ensure good communication between yourself and the family and if we can help with this, including clarifying expectations, we will certainly do so.
Also, especially in the first few weeks it is quite normal to feel homesick, after all you are in a different country, different culture, without having friends and family close by. Therefore, we will try to bring you in touch with other Au Pairs, help with language courses if necessary, and provide a listening ear.
We also provide you with an information pack which contains information about language classes, sightseeing, making friends, other activities, etc. Finally, we aim to have regular contact with you and you can ALWAYS contact us if you have any questions or if there are any issues you want to discuss with us.
What if things do not work out? If things don’t work out, then we first try to resolve what the issues are with you and the family. If this is not possible then we will try to find a more suitable family for you.
How much holiday would I have? For every 6 months you work as an Au Pair you will have 1 week paid holiday. If you would like to have more holiday then this will be unpaid and you will need to discuss this with your family, ideally before you agree your placement.
What is the advantage of using an agency like yours rather than finding my own family over the internet? We ensure that we know our families. If you find a family over the internet and then go to a strange country you might find that it works out well, but it is equally possible that you end up in an awkward and potentially unsafe situation. Furthermore, we provide support during your placement and all this COST YOU NOTHING, BUT IT GIVES YOU AND YOUR FAMILY NO DOUBT PEACE OF MIND.
What about your logo? Our Logo is a drawing of a curious Ladybird. It was made by our daughter and is inspired by the ERIC CARLE 'THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR' book.