How do I become an Aupair In the UK: Working Visa Edition

Dear Aupair Match UK: How do I become an Aupair In the UK

Dear Fatima,

I hear you want to come to the UK to be an Aupair, this is great as you have just turned 18 and the right age for being an Aupair is between the ages of 18 and 30.

Unfortunately, Fatima, you would need a visa to be an Aupair in the UK and it is your responsibility to get a visa, not your host family's responsibility.

Technically, you can apply for a UK work permit at all to be an Aupair here, and you are able to find those work permit types here.

However, due to the circumstances surrounding being an Aupair, I think it is illogical to be an Aupair under any of those work permits except for these 2 types. These 2 are the more logical visas you can apply for to become an Aupair in the UK

• Youth Mobility Scheme

• Student Visa

1. Youth Mobility Scheme: Some people call this a working holiday visa, a while ago it was called the Tier 5 visa or T5. Only young people from certain countries can apply to T5, and if their application is successful, they can stay in the UK for up to 2 years. The T5 scheme only applies to the nationalities of these countries:

• Australia

• Canada

• Hong Kong

• Japan

• Monaco

• New Zealand

• Republic of Korea

• San Marino

• Taiwan

Or if you are a:

• British overseas citizen

• British overseas territories citizen

• British national (overseas)

Fatima, as a Somali, you are not able to apply for this visa. However, I haven’t been able to catch up with you in many years and things might have changed for you nationality-wise, so I would go ahead and explain a bit more about this type of visa.

To apply for this visa, you would need to show these documents with your application:

• A valid passport (or any other document proving your identity and nationality)

• A blank page in your passport for the visa

• At least £2,530 in your bank account for 28 days in a row, to show you can support yourself in the UK.

• A tuberculosis test results if you’re from a country where you have to take the test.

The application process:

Fatima, contrary to your assumptions, the Host family isn’t responsible for applying for a visa for you, that’s your responsibility if you want an Aupair role.

I am assuming you already have a valid passport, your next step is finding a host family in the UK and signing a contract with them. Aupair Match UK is a reliable platform for finding host families. The contract is then submitted as part of your visa application to the embassy, amongst the other documents I mentioned previously. I have saved you a link here, it leads to the UK govt website where you can find more about this.

Please remember that all your files have to be in English or the certified translation has to be submitted along with the original file and that you have to pay the healthcare surcharge when applying for this visa.

Also, Fatima, even if you are eligible for this visa, there are some exceptions you should be aware of. You can’t apply for this visa if:

• you have minor children who live with you

• you are financially responsible for your children

• have already stayed in the UK under this visa before

2. Student Visa:

Fatima, if the above method isn’t the approach for you, then you have the option of studying in the UK.

I must warn you, this is a very expensive route, and it is not a matter of wanting to be an Aupair and then choosing to be a student because of that. It is the other way round.

What I mean is: you must have resolved that you want to study in the UK because you see it as an investment in your future and your career, after all, UK universities offer quality education and certification recognized and respected almost worldwide.

UK education isn’t cheap, you have to be able to afford the hefty financial responsibilities involved.

Being an Aupair is one, out of many ways of managing and reducing your costs of living and studying in the UK.

In other words, studying is the main goal, being an Aupair is the enabler of the goal.

The application process

These are the steps I would advise you to take towards achieving this goal:

I. Apply to an accredited college or university for full-time studies: Fatima, a lot of thought and consideration goes into this, for example: what do you want to study, which UK cities would you like to live and study in, what is your budget for college tuition, etc. Once you have noted these details, then you can go through UCAS to find a suitable university or college that offers your course. Apply to them for admission. Each university would have different requirements.

II. Apply for short term accommodation at a hostel or Airbnb: This is relevant for 2 reasons:

1. You would need to have a guaranteed accommodation to apply for a visa, UK immigration may or may not accept your host family as a guaranteed accommodation, despite any contracts signed.

2. If you do have an agreement with a host family to be an Aupair with them, and that plan falls through, then you have a place to stay until you can make arrangements with another host family.

III. Apply for a student visa: After you have secured your admission, you would need to apply for a visa and your chances of getting a visa are greatly improved by showing sufficient funds in your bank account to take care of yourself. The amount you would need to show is £1,334 per month (for up to 9 months) for courses in London or £1,023 per month (for up to 9 months) for courses outside London. You can apply for a student visa up to 3 months before the start date of your course, this would give you the best opportunity to find a host family if that is what you want to do. The cost of the visa application is roughly £348 (including a healthcare surcharge) and you will receive a decision within 3 weeks.

IV. Apply to be an Aupair: Find a UK host family to become an Aupair after your visa has been approved. We, at Aupair Match UK, can help you with that.

The Aupair application is the last thing to tick off on your list as host families are not legally allowed to sponsor a student, they are also not legally allowed to host you as an Aupair without your visa or legal right to work in the UK. Therefore, they are not able to take you on as an Aupair until they know that you have met all your legal requirements.

Finally, Fatima, although I have tried to give you as much information as I think you may need, it is almost impossible for me to cover everything you should know. You would need to do more research on your own and I have put in some helpful links throughout this letter to you.

Every bit of useful information you would need to know can be found on the UK Government website.

There’s a third option to consider if neither of the 2 options discussed works for you, I would write to you about that in my next letter. (links to next blog)

I would leave you now with one last piece of advice: a successful visa application can never be guaranteed by anyone, avoid falling into the hands of scammers who would ask you for money and guarantee you a visa.

Signing out now, peace!

I hope you had a good read-through and if not enjoyed it, at least found it useful.

If you are interested in knowing more about being an Aupair, or Aupair job vacancies in the UK, or you are already an Aupair and have good advice to give other Aupairs, you are warmly invited to join our community.

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