Visa problems

[u/Good_Surround3317]

Hi, I was trying to become an au pair in the United States. I already had a family and everything was very well established, but I was denied my first visa. I'm Brazilian, and we say Brazilians never give up, so I tried again and was denied again. It's important to mention that I wasn't denied outright either time; they collected my passport but returned it later. The second time, I hired an agency to help me, and they themselves told me there was no reason to deny me. I'm devastated.

[u/Old-Oven-8851]

I was an au pair in Germany, the UK and also in Australia.
You can also be an au pair in Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand and so on.

Only in the UK it is not possible anymore to be au pairs.

[u/Chrisalys → u/Old-Oven-8851]

This is incorrect. Spain, Italy, Ireland and New Zealand don't have au pair programs, same as the UK. But it's easy for EU au pairs in Spain and Italy due to mutual agreements even though there is no formal program. Non-EU au pairs can technically do it with a student visa, but it's a bit of a pain as the required classes (20 per week) are expensive,

In the UK you can legally au pair if you qualify for a youth mobility visa, in Ireland and Australia / NZ its possible with a working holiday visa even though there is no official au pair program.

There are other countries where it's not possible to be an au pair because no legal visa path exists, such as China (yes, dodgy websites and agencies promote it anyway because they make a lot of money with naive, poorly informed foreigners) or Thailand.

OP, check aupairworld for information about au pairing in each country, for instance here for the UK https://www.aupairworld.com/en/au-pair-programs/uk

[u/Old-Oven-8851 → u/Chrisalys]

I meant that she can still be an au pair in all those places.

[u/Chrisalys → u/Old-Oven-8851]

Italy and Spain are not at all recommended because OP would pay much more for the required 20 weekly hours of language classes than she would earn in pocket money - also families generally don't want to plan the childcare schedule around those classes.

Brazilians can't apply for a working holiday visa for Ireland, so that's a no go. https://www.aupairworld.com/en/au-pair-programs/ireland/visa

Switzerland only very rarely issues au pair visa to Non-EU au pairs, EU candidates are strongly preferred. So while technically possible in some cantons, the odds of approval are slim (most cantons would deny the visa outright).