Au Pair Visa USA: J-1 Requirements, Sponsors, and Interview

The au pair visa for the USA is a J-1 exchange visitor visa issued under 22 CFR § 62.31, and you can only get one by being placed with an American host family through a sponsor agency the U.S. Department of State has designated for the au pair category. The program runs 12 months, with possible extensions of 6, 9, or 12 months, and treats you as a cultural exchange participant living with the family while providing up to 45 hours of childcare a week. You cannot apply on your own; the sponsor agency screens you, trains you, matches you with a family, and issues the Certificate of Eligibility you need before a consular officer will even look at your case.

Who Can Apply

Federal regulations draw a narrow eligibility box. You must be between 18 and 26 years old, have completed secondary school or its equivalent, and speak English well enough to function in a household and respond in emergencies.¹ The English check is usually an interview conducted by your sponsor’s representative, not a written test, and the interviewer’s report goes to prospective host families.

Screening is heavier than most first-time applicants expect. Your sponsor must verify your school records, collect three non-family personal or employment references, run a criminal background check, and administer a personality profile based on a psychometric test. You also need a physical exam confirming you are fit to care for children. If you intend to care for a child under two, you need at least 200 hours of documented infant childcare experience.² Miss one item and you’re out before the paperwork starts.

Sponsor Agencies Are the Only Route

Every au pair visa runs through a Department of State-designated sponsor organization. The sponsor handles placement, orientation, monitoring, and compliance for the whole program.³ The State Department publishes the list of approved sponsors on its BridgeUSA site. If your sponsor loses its designation, or you leave without transferring to another approved sponsor, your legal status in the country ends.

Before you depart, the host family must conduct a phone interview with you. It’s a regulatory requirement, not a nicety, and it’s where both sides decide whether the match works.

The Forms and the Fees

The application has two documents that matter most. The first is Form DS-2019, the Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status. Your sponsor generates it through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) and it lists your program dates, sponsor, and category.⁴ Without an original DS-2019, no consular officer can process your J-1 application.

The second is Form DS-160, the online nonimmigrant visa application, filed through the Consular Electronic Application Center.⁵ It asks for personal history, prior U.S. travel, family details, and every social media identifier you’ve used in the past five years.⁶ Complete it in English using standard characters. When you submit, save the confirmation page with the barcode; every later step asks for it.

Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your intended stay, though citizens of many countries have agreements with the United States that exempt them from this rule.⁷ Bring the medical reports from your physical, your childcare references, and a photo that meets State Department specifications.

Two government fees are due before your interview:

SEVIS I-901 fee: $35 for au pairs, a subsidized rate that also applies to camp counselors and summer work/travel participants.⁸
Nonimmigrant visa application fee (MRV): $185, non-refundable. It may be waived if you’re on an official U.S. government-sponsored exchange.⁹

Bring both receipts to your appointment.

The Consular Interview

The interview happens at a U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country. The consular officer is checking two things: whether you meet the program’s requirements and whether you actually intend to return home when the program ends. That second part is where applicants stumble. Under U.S. immigration law, every nonimmigrant visa applicant is presumed to have immigrant intent until they prove otherwise. You overcome that presumption with concrete ties at home: a university spot you plan to resume, family obligations, career plans. Vague answers invite denial.

If the officer approves you, the consulate keeps your passport for several business days to add the visa foil. Processing can take a few days to two weeks depending on the post, and you’ll either collect the passport at a designated location or get it by courier.

Training You Complete Before You Start

Federal regulations require two blocks of instruction before you take charge of any child. You must complete at least eight hours of child safety training, with at least four hours focused on infants, plus at least 24 hours of child development instruction, of which at least four hours must cover children under age two.¹⁰ That’s a minimum of 32 hours of structured training.

Sponsors usually bundle this into an orientation that also covers American culture, emergency procedures, and program rules. Some require CPR and first aid certification. Timing depends on the sponsor, but most training is done before you leave home.

Hours, Pay, and Time Off

The standard au pair program caps your childcare at 10 hours a day and 45 hours a week.¹ EduCare drops the weekly cap to 30 hours. Your written agreement with the host family, signed before you leave home, has to state these limits, and your sponsor monitors compliance.

You’re also entitled to at least one and a half days off per week, one full weekend off each month, and two weeks of paid vacation across your 12-month program.¹ If a family blurs the line between on-duty and off-duty hours, your sponsor’s local coordinator is the first person to contact.

Your weekly stipend is calculated from the federal minimum wage for 45 hours, minus a 40% credit for room and board. At the current federal minimum of $7.25 per hour, that comes to $195.75 per week. Some sponsors set a higher floor. EduCare participants receive 75% of the standard rate.¹ The host family pays you directly, each week.

The Coursework Requirement

The educational component is a condition of the program, not a bonus. During your initial 12 months, you must complete at least six semester hours of academic credit at an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution. EduCare participants must complete 12 semester hours. The host family has to help you enroll and attend, and must contribute up to $500 toward tuition for standard au pairs or up to $1,000 for EduCare participants.¹

If you extend, more coursework is required. A six-month extension adds three semester hours (with the family paying up to $250). A nine- or 12-month extension adds six semester hours (up to $500 from the family).¹ You generally need at least three completed credits before your sponsor will submit an extension request.

What to Expect from a Host Family

Families are screened too. Host parents must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, speak fluent English, and every adult in the household must pass a background investigation and sit for a personal interview with the sponsor.¹⁰ They must show adequate financial resources.

Practically, you’re entitled to a suitable private bedroom. A parent or other responsible adult has to be in the home for your first three days after arrival. If the family has a child younger than three months, a parent or responsible adult must be present at all times. Families with a special-needs child can only host an au pair who has documented special-needs experience, and both sides have to acknowledge that in writing.¹⁰

Extensions

If you’re in good standing and have completed the initial educational requirement, you can apply to extend for 6, 9, or 12 months.¹ The extension request must reach the Department of State at least 30 calendar days before your current end date. Your sponsor files it through SEVIS with a letter confirming your name, SEVIS ID, date of birth, extension length, and completion of the initial coursework. Approval is discretionary, not automatic.

Standard Au Pair vs. EduCare

The regulations create two tracks with real differences:

Standard: up to 45 hours of childcare weekly, six semester hours of coursework, host family contributes up to $500 in tuition, full weekly stipend of $195.75.
EduCare: up to 30 hours of childcare weekly, 12 semester hours of coursework, host family contributes up to $1,000 in tuition, stipend at 75% of the standard rate.¹

EduCare has one extra placement rule: you cannot be placed with a family that has preschool-age children unless the family already has separate full-time childcare arrangements for those children.¹⁰

Taxes and Social Security Number

Your stipend counts as wages for U.S. tax purposes. Most au pairs on J-1 visas are nonresident aliens because their days in the country generally don’t count toward the Substantial Presence Test.¹¹ As a nonresident alien, you typically can’t claim the standard deduction, so you’ll likely owe federal income tax.

You have two ways to handle it during the year. You can make estimated payments yourself using Form 1040-ES (NR), or you and the host family can agree to voluntary withholding: you file a W-4, the family withholds and reports on Schedule H of their Form 1040, and they issue you a W-2. For the family to withhold, they need an Employer Identification Number and you need a Social Security number. Nonresident alien au pairs are generally exempt from Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes; if your status changes to resident alien, that exemption may end.¹¹

To get a Social Security number, wait at least 10 days after arrival, then visit an SSA office with your passport and visa, DS-2019, and I-94. Approved applicants receive a card marked “Valid for work only with DHS Authorization.”

When the Program Ends

You get a 30-day grace period after your program end date to settle affairs, travel within the United States, and prepare to leave. You are no longer in J-1 status during this window and cannot work or continue exchange activities.¹² Leaving the country during the grace period usually means you can’t come back on the same visa.

Some J-1 holders are subject to a two-year home-country physical presence requirement under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If it applies to you, you must live in your home country for two years before you can apply for a green card, an H-1B, a K fiancé visa, or an L intracompany transfer. Au pairs are not automatically subject to it. It typically applies if your program received government funding from your home country or the U.S., if you received funding from certain international organizations, or if your skills appear on the Exchange Visitor Skills List as essential to your home country. Your visa stamp or DS-2019 may note whether it applies, though those annotations aren’t always accurate, and you can request an advisory opinion from the State Department if you’re unsure.¹³

1
eCFR. 22 CFR 62.31 – Au Pairs
2
U.S. Government Publishing Office. 22 CFR 62.31 – Au Pairs
3
BridgeUSA. Au Pair
4
BridgeUSA. About DS-2019
5
U.S. Department of State Electronic Application Center. Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application
6
U.S. Department of State. FAQs on Social Media Collection
7
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Six-Month Validity Update
8
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I-901 SEVIS Fee
9
U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
10
eCFR. 22 CFR 62.31 – Au Pairs
11
Internal Revenue Service. Au Pairs
12
BridgeUSA. Adjustments and Extensions
13
U.S. Department of State. Waiver of the Exchange Visitor Two-Year Home-Country Physical Presence Requirement