Brazilian Au Pair & Travel Ban
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Anonymous
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We matched with an extremely qualified Brazilian au pair pre-pandemic. She is slated to arrive mid-August; however, with the new restrictions on travel from Brazil announced yesterday, it's clear that she might be delayed. She still needs a visa so cannot come early since US embassies are closed in her country.
Our current au pair has been a trooper and stayed with us despite the fact that literally all of her friends returned home early. She will leave in early August and does not want to extend, and we don't want to try to persuade her to stay longer. We have three kids at home (including a baby) who are normally in daycare/preschool/elementary school. In a normal situation, our au pair helps with mornings, afternoons/evenings and occasional weekend days. I am prepared to wait and see what happens for a month or so, but curious if others are now in a similar situation. Am I crazy to think our new au pair could make it by August/September? Or should I just anticipate a longer delay and make alternate arrangements? We have no family in the area, so options include hiring a nanny/babysitter temporarily (through the end of the year?) or praying that schools and daycare are back up and running by the end of the summer and alternating work schedules until she can arrive. Budget is an issue, so switching to a nanny permanently would require us to take the baby and 4.5 year old out of daycare/preschool. What would you do? Anything I am not thinking of? |
Anonymous
| I think you need to look into a different au pair. not sure what banning Brazilian aps is really going to do--we have more cases than they do at this point, but I digress. Look for an ap who is currently in country, extending. |
Anonymous
| I agree. I would look for a different au pair. I know a few seeking rematch or extending with a different family because of their current circumstances. Not feeling supported. Being given no freedoms even thought the host family Goes out, has guests, etc |
Anonymous
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OP I could have written this. Our very qualified Brazilian AP is supposed to arrive in mid-August and current AP is already matched with another family starting in July. We were supposed to travel for a month, then welcome new AP. Tbh I feel bad cancelling with our new AP, and I am not sure what to do. From what I have heard, the ban that was imposed to China is still effective although they have way less case than we do, if that is correct, there is no way our APs will be able to come this year.
So my plan is to wait and see what the agency say. I will reevaluate in 1 month. Also I have already paid a deposit for this AP not sure if that would just be transferred to another AP or if I will loose the money if I decide not to wait. Also OP which agency are you with? I am with APC, I will update here if I hear anything from them but I am not holding my breath. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks for these responses. I had not considered cancelling the match, and my initial reaction is that - like the PP - I would feel bad to do so as we think she will be a great fit for our family. On the other hand, we need the help.
We are with CCAP, and I will follow up with them tomorrow to get their take on the situation. We might start browsing Year 2/rematch candidates and perhaps ask our current au pair to put some feelers out in her Whats App groups to see if there is local interest. |
Anonymous
| I'm in the same position - our Brazilian au pair was supposed to join us in April and would be absolutely heartbroken if we cancelled the match. I'm going to try to hang on as long as I can. |
Anonymous
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This is OP again. CCAP advised to wait until mid-July to see where we are at with the travel ban, and depending on the situation, fill in the gap with a local sitter and/or a rematch au pair. Understandably, they don't know much right now.
PP - was your au pair not able to come in April because of a visa issue? |
Anonymous
There was a 2 month ban on entries. There were no out-of-country APs coming in during April. |
Anonymous
That's correct. Our au pair actually has her visa, but was hit first with the two month pause on entries and then the travel ban. Exactly one week's worth of au pairs were able to enter the country. FWIW, we are getting a six month visitor's visa for our current au pair - that's how we're filling the gap. We had actually already offered to let her stay with us even before the travel ban given the situation in Brazil, but now it means we'll just have one extra person instead of two. |
Anonymous
| Op does your au pair have a visa appointment already? Mine one for early August, I wonder if they will just be canceled. |
Anonymous
| Yes, she has an appointment in early August. I assume it will be cancelled, as well. |
Anonymous
yeah what a mess, please update here if there is anything new, I will do the same. For now we will also wait till mid-july and take it from there. But tbh I am getting tired of the AP program, btw the Brazil Ban, the imminent J1 Visa Ban, Domestic worker bill fight I am exhausted lol |
Anonymous
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My advice is to stay in close contact with your agency. They will know what the chances are for your new AP to arrive, but also what other options may be open to you among in-country APs, either long or short term.
Some young women are yearning to get home. Others are yearning to come. And others are seeking a "perfect" extension match. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| This is OP. Our AP will age out of the program with the new visa ban. So we are taking a break and going in a different direction with childcare. We really liked her and I don't have the energy to try to compete for an in country au pair. Good luck to everyone. |
Anonymous
| OP, we are at the same boat and thinking the same. We are just exausted with all the current challenges and “ fighting” for an au pair. We will go into another direction too. |