Au Pair Age Requirements - Am I too old?
Most Government regulated au pair programs do have age restrictions: The United States Au Pair Program requires aupairs to be between the ages of 18 and 26. The UK program requires au pairs to be between the ages of 18 and 30 years old.
If you are over the age limits, you may consider a nanny position in your home country or Canada, where there is no age restriction for the Live-in Caregiver program.
For more details on age limits by country and Au Pair Programs around the world, see our information pages at: Au Pair Programs Around the World.
What if I don't qualify for other reasons?
If you are interested in coming to the US as an AuPair and you live in a country that is not serviced by a US State Department Agency, you will not be eligible for a J-1 visa. However, it is possible to obtain other types of visas that would allow you to travel to the US. There are many factors involved in a consulate approving or disallowing the issuance of a visa. The political climate between nations changes frequently, the economic status of a country along with the personal conditions of each visa applicant comes into consideration when visa decisions are made.
GreatAuPair works with AuPair agencies around the world and is continually developing new relationships to offer more opportunities to potential AuPairs from developing nations. If you don't see your country's name in the list of supported countries, it simply means that right now, visas are not being issued through one of our Agency Partners through your country's consulate. This can change at any time based on the changing political climate. So check frequently for changes to the approved-country list and in the meantime, look at other visa options.
You can always contact the embassy of the country where you are interested in working. They may be aware of new visa programs for aupairs, caregivers, students or working holiday programs that would allow you to work for local host families.