Background:

In 2021, new regulations for au pairs to obtain a residence permit in the Netherlands were introduced by the Ministry of Justice and Security. According to the new rules, au pairs must be unmarried, are not allowed to have (foster) children of their own, and must be under 25 years old at the time of the application. The new regulations apply to applications submitted after 1 October 2022. These changes aim to reduce the vulnerability of au pairs and to prevent potential misuse of the programme. The impact of the policy adaptations will be evaluated, with results expected in 2024. In this context, the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security wants to compare its au pair regulations with those of other EMN Member and Observer Countries.

Respondents:

23 EMN Member and Observer Countries (including BE) provided a public answer to this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• 13 countries indicated that they did not transpose the relevant Au pair Regulation of the Directive (EU) 2016/801 (CY, HR, CZ, GR, HU, IE, LV, LT, PL, PT, RS, SK and SI). Therefore these countries do not have any specific residence permits for this category.
   
• Facilitation by a recognised au pair agency as a sponsor is mandatory only in the Netherlands. In the other countries concerned, the host family can independently act as a recognised sponsor for the au pair.
   
• Au pairs are allowed to perform light household tasks and childcare. Restrictions relate to the number of hours these tasks may take up. This ranges from 20 hours per week in BE to 25 hours per week (EE, FI, FR, LU and SE) and 30 hours per week in DE and NL.

Furthermore, the ad hoc query looks into the main requirements for au pairs seeking to obtain a residence permit (e.g. age, marital status, previous residence statuses), the possibility for a third-country national who has minor (foster) children themselves to obtain a residence permit as an au-pair and the policies regarding the (foster) children, and the financial requirements for au pairs, like pocket money or other (financial) benefits in order to grant the residence permit.

For further details, please read the compilation of answers attached above.