Can au pair extend beyond two years?
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Anonymous
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Hi! Does anyone know if my au pair who is completing her second year in us can extend or get a new Visa for a third year? Or is au pair only for two years without exception? What are options? Can she get student or tourist or even working Visa through me? She is from China.
Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
| Your AP is required to go back home for 2 years before she can obtain any other type of visa. The alternative is to obtain a waiver from the AP’s home country. However, my understanding is that China rarely issues the waivers. |
Anonymous
| No. Period. |
Anonymous
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There is a return program that allows an AP to become a return AP IF they successfully completed their first year (or more) and lived outside the US for at least two years (nothing to do with the two-year rule the visa might require; these two years are for every return AP, two-year rule or not).
But no, there is no legal way for your AP to continue working for you after she has completed her first two years (other than marriage and a green card and work permit...). She can't work on a student/tourist visa and there is no work visa to become an AP/nanny. She can return home (if the two-year home residency rule applies to her) or go anywhere else (if it doesn't) and then come back in two years if she still qualifies (age limit) and gets the necessary J1 visa again. As a return AP she could return to your family and work for you again, again for a maximum of two years. |
Anonymous
| No. We hired a lawyer to try to do it legally. Didn’t work. |
Anonymous
| Thanks so much for replies! She wants to take classes and get a student Visa. Is she able to convert to student Visa from her au pair Visa? How would she do this? And if she is not allowed to work, how does she pay for schooling? This is all new to me so I really appreciate the info. |
Anonymous
I am the PP and the answer is unchanged: Your AP is required to go back home for 2 years before she can obtain any other type of visa. The alternative is to obtain a waiver from the AP’s home country. However, my understanding is that China rarely issues the waivers. There is no harm in applying for the waiver. If the waiver is granted, she can then apply for a student visa. If the waiver is denied, she will have to go home for 2 years. |
Anonymous
| Great info. Thank you. Do you know how she applies for waiver? What it is called so I can help her look? Assume it's a form she can download offline and submit? Thanks again |
Anonymous
Here you go, OP. Good luck! https://j1visawaiverrecommendation.state.gov/ |
Anonymous
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No.
She can apply for a student visa, but only if she has a sponsor willing to pay all of her education costs (and prove it on a bank statement with $20,000-$70,000 in the bank- depending on what the school requires) A sponsor is usually the student's family. A student visa DOES NOT ALLOW THE STUDENT TO WORK at anything but a part-time campus job. Full stop. She cannot work for you at all. |
Anonymous
When my former AP applied for a student visa recently, it was denied. |
Anonymous
THIS. |
Anonymous
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J-1 visa is max 2 years. If she is not older than 26 after returning home and waiting 2 years, than she can reapply for a new J-1.
There is no extension after completing the 2nd year on the same J-1 visa. No exception. She can try to get a tourist visa but cannot legally work. I know of an AP who completed her 2 years as an AP and successfully got an F-1 and is now a legit graduate student at a university. She is not working for any family in a childcare capacity. Working (legally) under an F-1 is very restrictive. Work visas are for people who have qualifying skills. Caring for children is not one of them. AP can be a domestic employee or nanny on a B-1 visa but she must be accompanying a foreign national employer (you). Since you are a US host family, you are likely not a foreign national as well - not sure how dual citizenship would play here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/all-visa-categories.html This has been discussed many times. If there was a (legal) magic bullet for an AP to stay beyond year 2, you would have found it mentioned all over the internet. |
Anonymous
How would anyone know that she’s still watching the kids if she’s paid in cash? |
Anonymous
Yeah, you do not live in DC. Those of that live in DC have to (mostly) play by the rules (i.e. laws) as we have security clearances/polygraphs/jobs that will ask questions about this type of stuff. Of course you can break the law, some of us do not have that luxury. Good luck. |