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Are you thinking about traveling to the United States as an Au Pair or nanny with a J-1 visa? Many Au Pairs have wonderful experiences—but sometimes people find themselves in difficult situations.  Read below before you go to learn about your rights in the United States and resources where you can turn for support if you need it.

What is a J-1 visa? What is the Au Pair program?

The J-1 visa allows foreign nationals to enter the United States on a temporary basis to participate in work or study-based exchange programs.  These programs are intended to encourage cultural exchange and learning.

Under the Au Pair program, participant live with a host family for 12 months, with the option to extend for up to 12 more months, and provide childcare and complete at least six hours of academic credit at an accredited University.

What are the wages and benefit requirements of the Au Pair program?

• You must earn at least $4.35 per hour.
• You may only provide 10 hours per day and a total of 45 hours per week of childcare services
• You must be given at least 1.5 days off per week, and 1 weekend off per month. You must also be given 2 weeks of paid vacation per year

Other protections and benefits of full-time Au Pairs:

• Receive room and board
• Receive a minimum of 32 hours of childcare training before you start
• Complete at least six hours of academic credit or equivalent in formal educational settings at an accredited U.S. post-secondary educational institution.
• Receive up to $500 toward the cost of required academic course work

The EduCare program gives Au Pairs the opportunity to take a minimum of 12 hours of academic credit (university level) while working part-time. Au Pairs primarily provide childcare service before and after school.

EduCare Au Pairs have some unique protections:

• You must earn at least $4.89 per hour
• You may not work more than 10 hours per day and a maximum of 30 hours per week providing childcare services
• Your host family is required to provide $1,000 toward the cost of the your required academic course work

J1 Program participants have the right to report abuse without retaliation or threat of program cancellation. Among other prohibitions, your sponsor cannot threaten program termination, or otherwise retaliate against you solely because he or she has instituted a complaint or taken action to gain assistance from an outside entity regarding a complaint.

If you are mistreated or believe your rights are being violated, call the toll-free numbers listed below.

• Centro de los Derechos del Migrante/Center for Migrant Rights:
  • In the U.S.: 1-855-234-9699
  • In Mexico: 01-800-590-1773
• National Human Trafficking Resource Center: 1-888-373-7888
• Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force: 1-888-428-7581
• U.S. State Department helpline: 1-866-283-9090 or [email protected]

If you have experienced unpaid wages or other violations of your rights, share your story anonymously on Contratados.org to help others protect themselves, defend their rights and prevent misconduct by dishonest recruiters and abusive employers.

Image: Anne Larie Valentin, Flickr