Least expensive au pair agency?
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Anonymous
| Just curious, has anyone done the research on the relative costs of au pair agency fees? Wondering how much the differences are. |
Anonymous
| I am with InterExchange. When I looked to switch agencies a few years ago, I was amazed that APC and CC were almost $1000 more expensive once all the discounts were applied. I am not sure how it compares now... |
Anonymous
I should also add that IE, unlike CC, APC and IPIA is a non-profit. |
Anonymous
| I did see that some AP agencies charge less, but they also seemed to have less detailed profiles, it wasn't clear if their screening of candidates was the same, and I assumed that the reduced program fee for me came from increased applicant fees to the AP - perhaps that's not true, if one agency is a non-profit, but at the time, it was the most obvious explanation for the cost differential that I could infer. |
Anonymous
|
Well all I can say is that my German AP said the screening process was "miserable " and her other friend who interviewed at the same time was rejected by CCAP.
I saw that as a good sign. |
Anonymous
| I haven't ever used an agency. I had three au pairs until now and I've always used a website for au pairs, it's called FindAuPair. I'm very pleased of the profiles found there. I guess websites are less expensive than agencies. |
Anonymous
Perhaps you are outside the USA? There are a limited number of agencies who are approved to sponsor J1 visas, which is required for an au pair to come legally to America. It's not really an option here, unless you are willing to bring someone over to work on a tourist visa, which technically is illegal. But of course it would also be cheaper. |
Anonymous
I think you've posted before about this and I'm not clear what you mean by not using an agency. Are you saying that you first find the AP via FindAuPair, and then use whatever agency she's with, ie - you don't rely on the agency for matching? Or, are you saying that you don't use an agency at all in the process? Not for matching, not for the visa, not for health insurance, and not for establishing the structure of the relationship (salary, hours, educational stipend, the definition of what's included in room & board)? If the latter, then where are you located? I can see this being easier in some countries than others. |
Anonymous
New poster here. I have used 3rd party sites to prematch with APs and then get a J1 through an approved agency. I save about $300 doing the prematch myself. Nice discount, but hardly 'much cheaper'. |
Anonymous
| We've only had APIA since we started, but APC and CCAP were both cheaper when we were looking. We liked APIA overall better. |
Anonymous
| CCAP was a good 900 cheaper than APIA even with all the discounts and everything taken into account. I got APIA to lower their fee by 500 by asking but they wouldn't come down the last 400. We ended up picking someone from CCAP this year, but other years it's been APIA, and I just figure it's a "cost of doing business." The main thing is the LCC and the support you can get if something goes wrong. We find CCAP and APIA to have equal support, so we are agnostic, but if I liked one LCC more than the other, I'd go with that person over saving 400. Good luck, OP. |
Anonymous
|
Cheapest way is to prematch with an Au pair then go with Expert Au Pair out of Florida.
The big agencies all cost about the same after everything. |
Anonymous
| OP here -- thanks so much, everyone! Very helpful. |
Anonymous
| How do I match with an au pair first? |
Anonymous
You find one off the grid. Either through personal connections, or on 3rd party sites like aupairworld. |