UCB Parents Advice about Childcare
Visa and Work Permits for Nanny
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March 2002
I am looking for advice on how to bring a nanny over from my home country. The
nanny is really my cousin and she would like to be nanny to our child for about a
year. I need advice on dealing with immigration. Does anyone know of INS
provisions for this sort of situation? Has anyone else done this? Any advice will be
greatly appreciated.
Edna
I know of two ways of doing this. One is with a tourist
visa. Since she is your cousin, she may be able to obtain a
6-month visa, although it's at the discretion of the
consulate and lately they have been stingy with those. She
would have to go back to her country halfway through her
stay and get another visa. Otherwise, she can only stay
three month at a time before she needs to go out of the
country (further than Canada or Mexico) and get a new one.
The other way is through an au-pair agency, which will cost
you around $5000 but includes part of the trip (to NY, which
may not save much these days), some orientation, and medical
insurance. Then she gets a one-year J1 visa.
It may be possible to get a temporary work visa, but I
suspect it would be much harder.
Luigi
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