Our first AP was from Ukraine in 2014. DH has a TS/SCI with lifestyle polygraph. He did not not know Ukraine was a restricted country (crazy that they are/were with current events). we still hosted her but he had to fill out a ton of paperwork. And his polygraph cycle seemed to come a lot quicker.
Luckily her dad was former military and we provide proof that he was fighting against Russia in the east during first Russian invasion. Ironically our AP is now married here in the US, lives a few miles away with her baby and her dad is fighting again in the donbas

They will ask you a lot of questions. My investigator didn’t get the concept so I had to explain a couple times. But no issue in end.

Agree with PP, China would be off my list and anyone with ties to Israel even if they are a citizen of an EU country. If you stick with Germans, Swedes, Austrians etc you should be fine.

DH and I both have clearance. We've had aps from Brazil, Thailand, and Malaysia. No issue at all.

It has not been a problem for DH but we only hire from northern europe.

I'd avoid a Chinese AP, if any still even exist

DH is a fed with a security clearance. It was not a problem.

We are looking to hire an au pair for our daughter (<1). But I am currently going through mid-level security clearance processes for a federal job. Clearly, I'd report a foreign national living in my home who is a close contact, but would like to hear if anyone here has advice or experience with this? Has this been a non-issue or has it caused issues with your clearance?

I did reach out to my clearance coordinator, but they pointed me to the federal statues, rather than giving a single answer.

I know there was a discussion about this years ago (https://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/296249.page), but I'd like to hear from anyone else who has gone through this, or gone through it more recently.

Thank you!