UK Au Pair Visa

The UK Au Pair visa has been replaced by the Tier 5, Youth Mobility Scheme.

The UK Au Pair visa service is a class of UK visa for immigration on a temporary basis, which is issued for a placement within a British family. Under the arrangement, a single person may live and work in the UK for a period of up to two years, studying English and living with a British family whilst contributing to the running of the household.

UK immigration consultants at Global Visas can assist you at all stages of your application for a British visa, whichever of the range of immigration services is right for you.

Our immigration consultants can offer advice on the wide range of UK visas for immigration and UK work permits available and can take care of every aspect of your relocation to the UK, from initial advice on making your visa application, through to on arrival services to help you adjust to the United Kingdom.

Benefits

Applying for a UK Au pair visa allows a person aged between 17 and 27 whom is unmarried and without dependants to learn English and to live with an English-speaking family.

Holders of Au Pair visas are required to assist with housework and take care of any children in the household. An Au Pair may work for up to 5 hours a day, 5 days a week for the family and will normally receive an allowance, generally in the region of £55 per week.

An Au pair will also receive lodgings and would be expected to attend an educational institute at least twice a week to gain further English language skills.

The Au pair scheme does not require a points based assessment like the Highly Skilled Migrant Program or HSMP; it simply requires that an appropriate Au Pair opportunity should be in place. Unlike a UK visitor visa, the Au Pair system allows you to work during your time in Great Britain and unlike the Training and Work experience scheme or TWES, you will not be required to spend a set amount of time outside the country before being allowed to re-enter the country on a UK work permit.

Duration

Au Pair visas are issued for a maximum of two years. If your initial grant was for less than this, you may be able to apply to extend your stay. However, you cannot extend your stay beyond the 2-year limit and you are obliged to leave the country after you have finished working as an Au Pair.

The Aupair visa is not intended as a route to settlement in the United Kingdom and will not lead to indefinite leave to remain in the UK (ILR) often referred to as permanent residence. The Au Pair scheme will not lead to the opportunity to under go British Naturalization as a UK citizen; however, it may be possible to switch to another visa immigration service whilst in the United Kingdom.

Holders of an Au Pair visa may switch to a UK Visit visa often known as a travel visa or tourist visa, although this will be subject to the standard 6-month duration and working will not be permitted. Alternatively, candidates may switch to a Student visa to under go a degree level course of study in the UK, or in some cases a spouse visa.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to qualify for a UK Au Pair visa, you must be able to fulfil the following requirements:

You must be aged between 17 and 27
You must not be married
You must not have any dependants
You must not plan to stay in Britain for more than two years as an Au Pair
You must be able to support and accommodate yourself without help from public funds
You must plan to leave the country when you complete your stay as an Au Pair

Nationality

Only citizens of the following countries are eligible to apply

Andorra
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Republic of Bulgaria
Croatia
Faroe Islands
Greenland
Macedonia
Monaco
Romania
San Marino
Turkey

(N.B. Although members of the European Economic Area (EEA) are not included in the Au Pair Scheme, they are free to come to the United Kingdom in order to take Au Pair placements).

Additional Information

Switching Hosts

Au Pairs may transfer their services from one family to another during their two-year stay, so long as the new arrangements continue to satisfy the criteria of the immigration rules.

Relationships

An Au Pair visa in the UK is specifically designed as a temporary immigration service to allow single people to under go English language tuition. As such, the scheme does not make provision for spouse immigration or dependent immigration. Unlike a UK marriage visa or a De Facto visa, often referred to as an unmarried partner visa, this visa service does not permit you to bring relatives with you and dependency visas are not valid under the scheme.

The Au pair programme specifically requires that candidates are unmarried and without dependents in order to qualify.

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