How to host or work as an au pair

Have your children looked after by a young Au Pair

Would you like to host an au pair in your home to take care of your children? This is possible, if you have at least one child under 13 years old at home.

Are you ready to consider the young person as a full member of your family? If you also want to discover another culture and share your own, then hosting an Au Pair is a great opportunity for the whole family.

The process to benefit from an Au Pair in Luxembourg is done in several steps:

Process for hosting an “Au Pair” or working as an “Au Pair

Ministry of Youth’s approval for the host family

In order to receive a young man or woman in your home to look after your children under the age of 13, the first step is to obtain the approval of the Ministry of Youth. This approval authorizes you to receive a young Au Pair.

The application for approval to host a young au pair must be submitted to the Ministry of Youth . You will have to provide certain documents including a certificate of household composition(issued by your municipality of residence) and an extract from your criminal record. If you have a child under the age of 6, you must also provide proof of other day care. A declaration on honour may suffice.

Ministry approval for the “Au Pair” youth

At the same time, the future Au Pair must obtain approval from the Ministry of Youth to become an Au Pair. To do so, he or she must meet the following conditions :

• Be between 18 and 29 years old (girl or boy)
• Have obtained a diploma allowing him/her to access education in his/her country of origin or bring proof that he/she has followed an education system until at least 17 years of age
• Have a basic knowledge of at least one of the languages spoken in the host family, and at least either English, French, German or Luxembourgish
• Have a medical certificate dated less than 3 months prior to arrival that indicates that the Au Pair is able to perform the simple tasks of daily life, including caring for children
• Have a signed contract with the future host family
• Not to have a salary or a self-employed job for the duration of the Au Pair‘s stay.

As soon as the family and the future Au Pair receive the various authorizations from the Ministry of Youth, the young Au Pair must apply for a temporary residence permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Application for a temporary residence permit

The application for a temporary residence permit must include the identity of the future Au Pair (name, surname, address etc.) and must be accompanied by additional documents and information available at www.guichet.lu.

The application must be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After a few weeks, the young Au Pair will receive a temporary residence permit in his or her country of origin. From that moment on, he/she can apply for an entry visa to Luxembourg, if applicable.

With his temporary residence permit and his visa (if applicable) he is allowed to enter Luxembourg.

Within the next 90 days, the Au Pair mustregister with the municipality of residence, undergo medical examinations and reapply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an Au Pair residence permit (this step is mandatory, as the temporary permit is only valid for 90 days).

Once welcomed in Luxembourg, the young “au pair” must follow an information session with the National Youth Service in order to know their rights and duties. This session also allows them to meet other au-pairs. For more information, please visit the website au-pair.lu.A copy of the ministerial approval obtained by the family and a copy of the approval for the Au Pair must be sent to Common Center for Social Security when registering the au pair with the social security system.

Attention: if the young “Au pair” participates in the family’s daily tasks, this cannot exceed 5 hours per day on average over the week, i.e. 25 hours on average per week.

To find other childcare solutions in Luxembourg, click here.

You can download the brochure on hosting an au pair by following this link.