What is an au pair, and how does the J-1 program actually work?
An au pair is a young adult, 18 to 26, from another country who lives with a U.S. host family for a year and provides up to 45 hours a week of childcare as a participant in the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program, a cultural exchange regulated by the U.S. Department of State. She is not a nanny you hire, not an employee of an agency, and not on a path to immigration. The program began in 1986 as a government pilot, and the rules that govern it today, 22 CFR 62.31, decide almost everything about how the year works. Here are the main rules in plain language.
The five parties, and who does what
| Who | What they do |
|---|---|
| The au pair | A young adult, 18 to 26, from another country. Lives with you, cares for your children within the program's limits, takes a college course, and is part of your household for the year |
| The host family | You. U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, fluent in English, with a private bedroom to offer. You pay the stipend and up to $500 toward coursework, and you sign a childcare agreement with the au pair before she travels |
| The designated sponsor | An organization designated by the State Department. It screens both sides, approves the placement, issues the DS-2019 for the visa application, provides a local counselor, monitors the year, and handles rematches |
| Israel Au Pair | We recruit candidates in Israel, screen them in Hebrew and English, match on language, culture, schedule, and household fit, prepare both sides, and stay close through the year. We are not a sponsor |
| The U.S. government | Decides the visa. No sponsor, agency, or family can promise it |
What the federal rules require
The whole program sits on one regulation, 22 CFR 62.31, and most of what families want to know is in it. The limits exist to protect both sides, and they are not negotiable by anyone.
| Rule | What it means in your house |
|---|---|
| 10 hours a day, 45 hours a week | The ceiling on childcare. The schedule is agreed in advance and written down |
| A day and a half off each week, one full weekend off each month, two weeks of paid vacation | Her time off is part of the deal, not a favor |
| Childcare only | Her duties are the children: their meals, their laundry, their rooms, school runs, homework, bedtime. Not the household |
| A private bedroom | Required. A shared room or a converted corner does not qualify |
| Six semester hours of coursework, up to $500 from you | She takes a college course during the year and you help her get there |
| 200 documented infant hours for a child under two | The sponsor checks this. We only introduce candidates who meet it when it applies |
| A parent or responsible adult at home for a baby under three months | A placement cannot be made otherwise |
| Training before placement | At least 8 hours of child safety instruction and 24 hours of child development instruction, arranged by the sponsor |
| A local counselor within an hour's drive, with monthly contact | Someone near you who checks in with both of you every month and more often at the start |
| One year, extensions of 6, 9, or 12 months | The sponsor may request an extension, subject to approval and more coursework |
Rules from 22 CFR 62.31 as published on eCFR, reviewed October 2026. A 2023 State Department proposal to change pay and hours has not been finalized as of this writing.
Who can be an au pair
The regulation sets the floor: between 18 and 26, a secondary school graduate or equivalent, proficient in spoken English, in good health with a completed physical, personally interviewed in English, and past a background investigation that verifies school, references, and a criminal record check. For a placement with a child under two, 200 documented hours of infant care on top. Every sponsor applies those rules in its own screening, and the sponsor's decision is the one that counts.
Israel Au Pair screens before the sponsor does, and for more than the floor. We look for real, verifiable childcare experience, a live English conversation that would hold up with your kids, references we actually call, a clear reason for wanting the year, and the household preferences that make a match work: Hebrew at home or not, religious practice, driving, city or suburb, how much family time versus independence. Who we look for, in detail.
Who can host
Host parents must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents and fluent in spoken English. Every adult in the home is interviewed in person, and the family passes a background investigation that includes employment and personal character references. You need a private bedroom for the au pair, you agree to the stipend and the education contribution, and before she travels you sign a written agreement that spells out her childcare obligations and schedule. A parent or another responsible adult stays home for her first three days. The sponsor's local counselor contacts both of you within 48 hours of arrival, meets you both in person within two weeks, and then checks in every month, and host families attend at least one family day conference the sponsor runs during the year. If a child has special needs, the au pair must identify relevant prior experience, skills, or training, and you review and acknowledge those qualifications in writing before the placement.
Beyond the paperwork, the families who do well with an au pair have a few things in common: more than one child, a schedule that moves, a spare room they are glad to give up, and a real appetite for another adult at the table. If you are weighing it against a nanny, this comparison is the honest version.
How the process runs, step by step
- Fit check and conversation. You tell us about your family. We talk through whether an Israeli au pair is likely to work and what you want in a match.
- Introductions and mutual choice. We introduce candidates who fit. You meet on video, ask everything, and both sides decide. Nobody is placed with a family they have not chosen.
- Sponsor screening and approval. The designated sponsor runs its own screening of the candidate and your family and approves the placement. This is the step that makes it official.
- DS-2019 and visa. The sponsor issues the DS-2019. The sponsor pays the SEVIS fee ($35, the reduced rate for au pairs) and sends the receipt with the DS-2019; the candidate pays the $185 visa application fee, attends a visa interview at the U.S. embassy, and the U.S. government decides, sometimes after the interview rather than at it.
- Training and arrival. Child safety and child development training before placement, then the flight and the first weeks with your family and the local counselor's first visit.
- The year. Childcare on the agreed schedule, a college course, time off, holidays, and a local counselor and our team a message away.
- The end, or an extension. Twelve months, then home, or an extension of 6, 9, or 12 months if both sides want it, the sponsor requests it, and the State Department approves. After completing the program there is a 30-day period to prepare to leave; childcare authorization has ended by then.
Timing depends on matching, the sponsor's screening, visa appointment availability, and travel. We do not quote timelines because nobody in that chain controls all of it, and we would rather tell you that than invent a number. How it works, from our side.
What it costs
With Israel Au Pair, plan on $40,000 to $50,000 for the year all in: a $20,000 family program fee that includes the sponsor's program fee, a stipend of $400 a week paid to your au pair, up to $500 for her coursework, and the cost of one more adult at home. The federal minimum stipend is $195.75 a week, and the large national sponsors publish program fees of roughly $10,700 to $11,300. Every cost line, with sources, is in the cost guide.
What an au pair is not
- Not a housekeeper. Her work is the children. Household chores are outside the program.
- Not an employee you manage alone. The sponsor sets and monitors the terms, and the local counselor is part of your year.
- Not a path to immigration. The J-1 is temporary. It ends, and everyone involved knows it from the start.
- Not guaranteed. No sponsor, agency, or family can promise a visa, a match, or an arrival date. Anyone who does is telling you something the rules do not allow.
Why an Israeli au pair, specifically
Everything above describes the standard au pair program, which is what Israel Au Pair works with (there is a smaller EduCare variant with fewer hours and more coursework). What changes with an Israeli au pair is what comes into your house with her: Hebrew at the level your family wants, Friday night dinner as a lived thing, the holidays with someone who grew up inside them, and a young adult who has often just finished national service and carries a kind of responsibility that shows up at 7 a.m. with a toddler. That is the match we make, and why families come to us rather than to a general program.
Frequently asked questions
What does au pair mean?
It is French for "on equal terms" or "at par." In the U.S. it is a specific category of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program: a young adult from abroad who lives with a host family, provides childcare within federal limits, and takes college coursework, for one year with possible extensions.
Is an au pair the same as a nanny?
No. A nanny is an employee you hire on your own terms. An au pair is a participant in a regulated cultural exchange with capped hours, childcare-only duties, a required private bedroom, required coursework, and a sponsor that approves and monitors the placement.
Who is the sponsor, and why does it matter?
A sponsor is an organization designated by the State Department to run an au pair exchange. It screens both sides, issues the DS-2019 that the visa application depends on, assigns a local counselor within an hour's drive of your home, and handles problems and rematches. Israel Au Pair is not a sponsor; we work with a designated sponsor, named to you during matching.
Can we choose our au pair?
Yes. Matching is mutual: you and the candidate meet on video, ask questions, and both decide. The sponsor then does its own screening and approves the placement.
How long does the process take?
It depends on matching, the sponsor's screening, visa appointment availability, and travel. We do not quote timelines because nobody in the chain controls all of them. Families who start early have the most choice.
Can an au pair stay longer than a year?
The sponsor may request an extension of 6, 9, or 12 months, which the State Department approves at its discretion, with additional coursework. After completing the program, exchange visitors have a 30-day period to prepare to leave; childcare work authorization has ended by then.
Is this a path to a green card?
No. The J-1 au pair program is temporary and regulated. It is a cultural exchange with authorized childcare, and it ends.
Sources. U.S. Department of State, BridgeUSA au pair program and 22 CFR 62.31 (selection, training, host family requirements, hours, time off, education, local counselor, monitoring, extensions). State Department minimum weekly stipend of $195.75. SEVIS I-901 fee for J-1 au pairs, 8 CFR 214.13(c). U.S. Department of State nonimmigrant visa application fee for J visas, in effect since June 17, 2023. Federal Register, Exchange Visitor Program, Au Pairs, proposed rule of October 30, 2023. Designated sponsor's partner information guide, October 2026 (SEVIS fee, insurance, flight, training, references, rematch). Israel Au Pair figures as of October 2026.
Israel Au Pair is a recruiting, evaluation, matching, and preparation service, not a J-1 sponsor. Placements are approved and administered by a U.S. Department of State-designated au pair sponsor, and visa decisions are made by the U.S. government. This article is general information, not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Figures change; check current numbers before you decide. How the process works.