Questions and answers about visa and residence

Au pairs are issued with visas that are valid for the entire Schengen area.
This is important because international flights do not always go directly to the destination country.
A separate transit visa may therefore be required for each transit country. Please make sure that the first airport of entry is in a Schengen state.

Modern international airports in Europe are divided into a "Schengen area" and a "non-Schengen area".
Once entered the Schengen states, the au pair enjoys freedom of movement throughout the Schengen area.

Not necessarily. Au pairs from EU countries do not need visas to enter the country, as EU citizens have the right to freedom of movement.

However, the Federal Employment Agency may be interested in a notification to start working as an au pair, as this is an au pair activity and not a 'normal' employment relationship.

The following documents are required to apply for an AuPair-visa:

Please prepare two identical application sets with all of the following documents in the order listed.

• 1 original application forms fully filled out & signed explanation No. 1 (Visa declaration 1)

• 1 passport picture, not older than 3 months with a white background and frontal view. (Please do not tape or staple the picture to/on the application form. Digitally edited pictures are not accepted!)

• 1 copy of the data page of your passport.

• 1 copy of your AuPair contract

• 1 copy of a valid ID document of both host parents (If ID card, the front and back. If passport, only the data page.)

• 1 copy of the current‚ expanded registration certificate‘ of your future host family in Germany

• 1 copy of your motivation letter written in German

• 1 copy of your CV as well as documents that confirm the information in your CV

• 1 copy of proof of simple German language skills, at least level A1

• 1 copy oft the invitation letter from your host family

The following original documents are also required

• Your valid passport (issued within the past 10 years, which is still valid for at least 3 months after you have left the Schengen area after your AuPair year and which still has at least 2 free pages)

• Completed, signed and sealed au pair contract (If received as original by post.)

• The invitation letter from your host family (If received as original by post.)

Please do not staple the copies together before submitting them.

In principle, all documents must be submitted in the original and two simple copies.

If there are no originals, a certified copy and two simple copies must be provided.

When we send you documents by post, we always include sufficient copies up to the maximum weight of the shipment.

Please DO NOT send any documents to the embassy UNSOLICITED and BEFORE submitting your application.

Please note that the embassy reserves the right to request additional documents at any time and will do so very persistently depending on the employees' mood.

Even presenting all of the aforementioned documents does not guarantee that a visa will be granted.

The following documents are required at the latest when the visa is received:

• Proof of the health insurance taken out for you in Germany for your entire stay

• The flight reservation or the fight ticket to Germany (oneway)

• Proof of travel health insurance with a minimum coverage of EUR 30.000

The fees vary a little from country to country.
In general, however, you must expect fees of around €75 to €85, which must be paid in the currency of the country in which the embassy is located.

For a transfer au pair, their 'old' family is noted on the residence permit. The residence permit is linked to a type of 'informal permit' for au pairs from the Federal Employment Agency. However, since a transfer from one host family to another has taken place, this permit must also be renewed.

This means that your transfer au pair can only start working in your family after this permit has been reissued. This is important to note, since a violation can be considered illegal employment (undeclared work). You should definitely spare yourself and your au pair the legal consequences.

Please note that your au pair can only work in your family for the remaining time of the approved au pair year.

When applying for a visa for your au pair, a large number of documents and paperwork must be obtained before the AuPair program can even be set up and a visa can be applied for at the relevant embassy.
The processing time is relatively generous. You have to make haste slowly.
From the day of application to the visa being issued, it can take 6-8 weeks or even more.

We will inform you in good time which documents should be obtained and when, as issuing a document too early can, in the worst case, even render it invalid.

The answer is simple:

Absolute nonsense!!

No AuPair agency can speed up or influence the visa process in the embassy area in any way!

Promises such as: "We will influence the embassies..." or "We will contact the local authorities..." or "We are in contact with the local authorities to ensure that everything runs smoothly..." are only intended to attract customers, but are nothing more than "stupid talk".

In your own interest, stay away from such offers and agencies!

Absolutely not!

Applying for a visa is free of charge, with the exception of the visa fee, which is charged directly at the visa counter inside the embassy building.

No embassy works with agencies. Not even with the so-called service offices located directly next to the embassy.

Claims by people or service offices that they work with the embassy are false.

The chances of success of a visa application cannot be influenced by anyone, as the embassy staff alone decides on the applications.
If you are promised something else, you have been lied to.

Under no circumstances should you pay any money to such organizations!

What the...!!

Unfortunately, that happens too. Maybe the coffee in the embassy wasn't good that morning, or the breakfast rolls were burnt, or the clerk had a bad weekend...

Completely pointless documents are often requested, such as the cat's birth certificate or similar nonsense, just to put obstacles in the au pair's way.

But sometimes it's also because papers that are needed but were considered 'not that important' have been forgotten or lost.

Please inform us immediately so that we can clarify the circumstances.
In such a case, it is unfortunately impossible to make a serious general statement about how things will proceed. But... we'll take care of it!

Congratulations!

Now you can board the plane and start your journey. When entering the Schengen area, a passport check takes place at the airport. This is where entry into the Schengen area is registered.

The visa issued is only an entry visa, on which the purpose of entry is described. You can then start working as AuPair at the host family, which is also named there. However, this visa is only an entry visa, with a limited period of validity.