Nannies & Au Pairs FAQs / Help Page

FIRST, 5 GOLDEN RULES!

1. PLEASE BE SAFE. YOU MUST READ OUR AU PAIR SAFETY PAGE 1 and AU PAIR SAFETY PAGE 2.

2. NEVER send money for ANY reason. If a family asks for money, they are scammers (criminals).

3. NEVER contact a family which has an email address, phone number, or other contact details on their profile. These people are scammers (criminals).

4. NEVER send any information to a family’s “travel agency”, “lawyer”, “border agency”, etc. Genuine families do not use these.

5. BEFORE contacting us, you must read this page and our safety pages. We cannot reply to you if your question is already answered on this website.

Click on "add to favourites" on the family’s profile. This will send them an automatic email from this website, telling them you are interested. You must then wait for them to contact you. We are sorry but if they do not contact you, we cannot contact them for you.

To start your profile and log in to New Au Pair you must register and receive an email. There is a link on the email that you must click to start your membership of the site. If you do not check your email and start your membership you will not be able to log in and use the site.

We get many emails saying "I have not received an email to log in". Emails are ALWAYS sent automatically when you register. If you think you have not received an email, there are reasons for this.

     * First, check your "spam" folder, as some email providers wrongly consider our emails to be spam.
     * Next, is your email account full? This is very common. If so, please correct this. You will then have to register again.
     * Thirdly, are you sure you typed your email address correctly when you registered? If you received an email from us but cannot see a link to click on, there is a line in that email which asks you to copy and paste the address into your browser.
     * Finally, if you received an email from us, but the message is cut short and you cannot see a link, this is because your email provider has done this. Please contact us if this is the case.

Login and go to My profile page. You can stop or delete your profile there.

You can stay with a family anything from one month to several years, but this depends on the immigration rules of each country. You may take a shorter assignment than you want and then find another family to stay with after that.

Add lots of photos to your profile and write a lot about yourself – this is all the family knows about you so make the most of it! Remember families have lots of au pairs to choose from. Look at our "improve your au pair profile" page for more ideas.

No, we are not an agency. New Au Pair shows the information that families and au pairs put in their profiles. The information is not checked. If you want to use an agency you can. Give the agency the family’s details and the agency will check them for you.

To show interest in a family add them to your favourites list. The family will automatically receive an email telling them that you are interested and they can contact you direct. The family can only view your email address if they are a Premium Family Member. This protects your information and keeps it secure.

An au pair or nanny is a girl or boy who helps a host family with childcare and sometimes housework, while living with the family. Being a nanny / au pair is an opportunity to live abroad, learn a language and see a another culture.

The term "nannies" is used in some countries, rather than "au pairs", for example in the USA. Other countries see a "nanny" as being different to an au pair. In those countries, a nanny is someone who has some professional childcare qualifications, and is generally paid much more than an au pair.

A nanny / au pair takes part in childcare and also other activities such as light housework, babysitting, or helping older children learn a new language or sport.

Nannies and au pairs often take part in many of their host family's activities and are treated as part of the family. Taking part in a nanny / au pair programme can be a very exciting and interesting experience for you and the family.

For details on the average au pair salary in different countries see our Salary Guide. As stated above, a qualified nanny will normally be paid much more.

For information on visas in different countries see our Visa Guide. To find out which countries you can work in, see Which Country.

Each family has different duties they would like their nanny or au pair to do. Some families only want you to take care of their children, other families also want their nanny or au pair to do light housework or take care of pets. Ask the host family what duties they expect you to do. Knowing your duties will avoid confusion or unhappiness later if you are asked to do more than you expect.

In most countries your host family has to take care of your living expenses. This includes your room and meals. They are also generally required to give you a private bedroom. In some countries families are also required to pay for such things as an your health and travel insurance or contribute to your language school costs. For details see Country Information.

Other personal expenses such as special dietary requirements and phone calls to your home country will normally be paid for by you.

It is up to you and your host family. However in some countries, contracts and their content are regulated by the government (see Country Information) and it is necessary for you to follow these regulations. Where there is a choice do what feels comfortable.

You could decide to have your family draw up a contract. Many families prefer a contract as it gives a sense of security. If you do decide to have a contract make sure as much as possible is put in writing to avoid confusion. For example, your contract should include the number of hours agreed, a list of duties and a notice period. Other families feel that a list of duties is sufficient. Some au pairs may feel more comfortable with this arrangement as they may find a contract to be too "formal".

If you are unhappy with your host family talk to them about how you feel. Then you can both decide if you can sort it out and carry on working there. If you have decided to leave your current host family the notice period varies from country to country and from family to family. It is a good idea to agree a notice period with your family before you start, to avoid any confusion at a later stage.

This depends on the customs of the country you are going to and what you have agreed with the family. We advise families NEVER to pay for your travel costs in advance, because of scammers (criminals) who try to get money from families by pretending to be a nanny or au pair. Generally if the family agrees to pay for part of your travel costs, you will have to pay them back over an agreed period while you are working for them.

The family will provide you with pocket money or a salary. Most nannies and au pairs find this is not enough money to pay for travel and sightseeing on their days off. Some countries are also more expensive than your home country. While the amount that a host family offers you may seem like a lot in your country, it may not be enough to live as you would like in your host country. We advise that you take a small amount of extra money with you so you can explore and live comfortably while you are there.

Many nannies and au pairs find extra jobs to earn more money, for example by doing babysitting for neighbours.

WE HAVE MANY THOUSANDS OF NICE, GENUINE FAMILIES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD ON OUR WEBSITE.

HOWEVER, please remember that a small number of scammers (criminals) try to register on our website and on ALL au pair websites. They pay using stolen credit cards and we pay back the money to the credit card company each time. We work harder than other websites to keep you safe. We delete scammers within minutes and we do this 24/7 every day of the year. Sometimes they are able to send a few emails before we do this.

If you don't get a 'You've been added to a favourites list' email from our website before they email you personally, it is 99% certain that they are scammers. If they put their contact details on their profile, it is 99% certain that they are scammers.

If they give you a membership number, you can find their profile easily. Just go to the top menu and hover over 'find family'. Then click on 'Search by membership number' in the drop-down menu. If there is no profile, it is because we deleted them. PLEASE check this again one or two days later. If the profile has been deleted, it is because WE deleted them.

99.9% of families are genuine and honest. Unfortunately a few scammers continue to try to register using many different email addresses and different names. Sometimes they are able to email you before we delete them.

Best regards,

The NAP team