Unpaid Internships

[Anonymous]

I understand that au pairs can't work for pay but I'm trying to figure out if they can pursue unpaid internships so long the host family is amenable to it. I looked at the federal regs for au pairs. It is a bit unclear but looks to me like J-1 visa holders can only perform activities related and pursuant to the category/program that brought them into the country.

Anyone have any insights?

-Chris

[Anonymous]

Mine did one. It wasn’t anything official (she didn’t get any kind of credit) so I’m not sure how anyone else would know. We did have a few instances where it threatened to jnterfere with child care (she had a meeting scheduled on a day kid was sick) so figure out those rules in advance. My AP was great and so it wasn’t an issue.

[Anonymous]

We had one who did and ongoing volunteer position at her country’s embassy. If no money changes hands, I don’t see how an internship is different fro volunteering.