By Vikas Garg on 22 Dec 2025 ⏱ Reading time: 3 min.

What Visa Do I Need to Become an Au Pair in the UK? (2025 Guide)

To become an Au Pair in the UK, you’ll need a valid visa: usually the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme or the Student Visa.

Main visa requirements:

Be 18–30 years old
Have at least £2,530 in savings
Hold a valid passport
Have no dependent children
Pay the healthcare surcharge when applying

EU citizens can no longer work as Au Pairs in the UK after Brexit, but they can still participate through study programs. Always check the official UK government website for the latest immigration updates.

*** UPDATE ***

Great Britain is now officially no longer part of the European Union. This has significant implications for the Au Pair programme. Therefore, candidates from the EU can no longer officially enter the UK as Au Pairs. Alternatively, the Host Family can host the candidate as a student. We advise you to check the government’s website regularly. Please read more about the regulations for entering or returning to the UK and stay tuned in our blog post about the consequences of Brexit for the Au Pair program.

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Free Registration as Candidate

At the moment, there’s no specific visa to become an Au Pair in the UK. Depending on your country of origin, you may be eligible for the Youth Mobility Scheme Visa or the Student Visa. These are the only two legal ways to become an Au Pair in the UK in 2025. Note that working as an Au Pair on a tourist visa is illegal!

Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme

The Scheme allows young people, aged 18-30 (or 35 for some nationalities only), to stay and work in the United Kingdom for a predefined period of time. We have gathered the common requirements for all candidates and specific documents and age requirements depending on the nationality in our “Au Pair in England: Requirements” page. Click here to check it out and learn more.

Andorra
Australia
Canada
Hong Kong
Iceland
Japan
Monaco
New Zealand
Republic of Korea
San Marino
Taiwan
Uruguay

You may also apply if you are a:

British overseas citizen
British overseas territories citizen
British national (overseas)

Please note that you need to have at least £2,530 in your bank account to show you can support yourself in the UK. The British government’s website says that “you will need to have had the money available for at least 28 days in a row. Day 28 must be within 31 days of applying for this visa.”

Moreover, you need to provide those documents:

a valid passport (or any other document proving your identity and nationality)
a bank statement showing at least £2,530 in savings
a tuberculosis test results if you’re from a country where you have to take the test
a blank page in your passport for the visa

All of those documents must be translated if it’s not English or Welsh in the original version.
Don’t forget that you have to pay the healthcare surcharge when applying for this visa.

IMPORTANT: You cannot apply for this visa if

you have minor children who live with you
you are financially responsible for your children
have already stayed in the UK under this visa before

In case of applicants from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea, the government will be the sponsor during the whole stay in the UK. The number of places for both visa and sponsorship certificates is limited. Moreover, the visa application has to be submitted up to 3 months after receiving the sponsorship certificate.

Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme - visa application

The passport

The Au Pair needs to have a valid passport before the application.

The contract

The Au Pair will have to give the original signed Au Pair contract to the embassy along with the visa application.

The visa application

The Au Pair is in charge of the visa application - but it is possible to submit the application online. The Au Pair has to submit several documents to the British embassy or consulate along with the Au Pair contract:

a valid passport
a photograph meeting the Scheme requirements
a bank confirmation of the necessary savings (at least £2,530)
the results of your tuberculosis (TB) test

Note: Your fingerprints and photograph must be taken at a visa application centre (to get a biometric residence permit).
All the files have to be in English or the certified translation has to be submitted along with the original file.

AuPair.com recommends the Au Pair to contact the embassy or the consulate and discuss all the details with the authorities before the application.

What else?

The visa is usually valid for 24 months - during this period of time, the Au Pair can leave and re-enter the United Kingdom.
The work permit received along with the visa under the Scheme is also valid for 24 months.
The visa allows the Au Pair to work part-time, but immigration officials can refuse entry if the applicant intends to work full-time.

Free Registration as Candidate

Student Visa

To apply for the Student visa, the applicant needs to fulfil the following requirements:

16 years old or older (but to become an Au Pair in the UK: at least 18)
received an offer to enroll in a course in the United Kingdom
good English language skills (proven by a certificate, at least B1 or B2 depending on the course)
enough savings to pay for the course - the exact amount varies depending on the course

The course

To get a visa under this scheme, the Au Pair needs to enroll in a course that’s one of the following:

Full-time and giving a qualification that’s at least level 6
Full-time, with at least 15 hours per week of daytime study and leading to qualification that’s at least level 3
Overseas, equal to UK higher education course and being run by an overseas institution

You can find detailed information about the course on the official website of immigration authorities.

Student Visa application

The Au Pair needs to apply for a visa up to 3 months before the start date of the course. The cost of the visa application is roughly 348 GBP (+ healthcare surcharge) and the applicant will receive a decision within 3 weeks.

How long the visa allows the Au Pair to stay depends on the kind of the course. The applicant can arrive to the United Kingdom:

One week before the start date of the course, if the course lasts 6 months or less
One month before the start date of the course, if the course lasts more than 6 months

The Au Pair can extend the stay when they enroll in a course.
For this visa you must show that you are able to support yourself. The only exception is when you have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months.

How much money you need depends on where you will be studying. You’ll need either:

£1,334 per month (for up to 9 months) for courses in London
£1,023 per month (for up to 9 months) for courses outside London

What else?

Under this scheme, the applicant can both study and work in the United Kingdom as long as the visa requirements remain fulfilled
You can submit the application from inside or outside the UK. You can start the application process 6 month before the course begins.
You’ll usually get a decision on your visa within 3 weeks.
The visa can be easily extended

Free Registration as Candidate