Au pair in the USA
If you love children and you want to work in the USA for a year, the Au Pair program is a great opportunity to open new horizons to your future and have a good salary.
According to the USA government’s program, an Au Pair must be between 18 and 26 years old. The au pair lives in the host family’s home and takes care of the children. Relevant studies are not required.
You can apply to the program any time, because there are constantly new position openings.
Participating in the Au pair in the USA program through Athens Home Services, guarantees you will have priority for relevant jobs in Greece, once you are back from the USA.
Requirements for participation in the program:Requirements for participation in the program:
- Women with a Greek passport and excellent skills in the Greek language
- Ability to communicate in English
- At least 200 hours of experience caring for children
Watch the video for more information:
FAQs
According to the U.S. Department of State’s visa requirements, you must stay with your host family for at least 12 months. You can later extend your au pair stay by 6, 9 or 12 months to spend more time with your host family. The idea is that a full year is a good basis for a real cultural exchange.
Au pairs are between 18-26 years old and live on equal terms with their host family. Both the au pair and the host family are interested in cultural exchange, learning each other’s lifestyle and customs. An au pair must have experience caring for children, but formal qualifications are not required. In contrast, a nanny does not have to be of a specific age, usually has gained formal qualifications in childcare, does not always live with the family and often does more household duties than an au pair.
We suggest an au pair to a family who decides if you are the right person for their needs. If a family matches with you, you get the family’s basic information from us. You can then make phone calls, Skype and email each other in order to make sure it is a good fit.
Our agency will give you all the necessary application forms and documents needed. These include the au pair contract, forms for your doctor and for the persons providing your personal references. You also need to provide a criminal record check and a copy of your passport. When you have found a host family our agency will provide you the application form needed for the J-1 Au Pair Visa.
A driving license makes it easier and faster to find a host family for you. Many host families need their au pair to drive children to kindergarten, school, sports, music lessons, doctors, friends.
A childcare reference can be given to you by any adult who can confirm that you had a certain childcare experience. You can get a childcare reference for example from parents whose children you took care of, an educator at the nursery in which you had an internship or even members of your own family if you babysat for younger siblings.
An au pair stay can start at any time of the year. However, the majority of the au pairs take their flight to the USA during the summer months.
All au pairs must enroll in a post-secondary study program during their stay in the USA. It is a great opportunity to meet people of your age, whilst studying a subject that will be useful in your future life and career. You should keep in mind that your studies schedule should fit around your childcare duties.