With Fourth of July coming soon, I wanted to remind everyone about program rules on holidays and vacations.

Holidays

• Host families are NOT REQUIRED to give au pairs any specific holidays.
• Each host family will make different arrangements on holidays, some au pairs will be off and others will be required to work.
• Au pairs should NOT make plans for holidays without checking with your host family FIRST.

Vacation

• Au pair earns 2 weeks of paid vacation during the course of her year.
• The host family can pick a week and the au pair can pick a week, if an agreement is not reached.
• All vacation should be preplanned (at least 4 weeks in advance.)
• All au pair’s friends and/or family visits/vacations should be pre-approved prior to purchasing a ticket.
• If an au pair travels with their host family, it should be discussed UP FRONT whether this is the au pair’s vacation or if she is working.
• If an au pair travels with the host family to work, the host family is required to pay for her transportation, lodging and meals.

Important: An au pair MUST have her DS2019 signed PRIOR to her departure from the US. More info. about this can be found on the right side of this page under “Travel Links for Au Pairs.”

Links to the Department of Motor Vehicles for all states can be found here.

http://aupairinamerica.com/state/index.asp

A US driver’s license is a requirement in some states and it makes a great souvenir!
Illinois does not accept the International Driving Permit.  Once you have your Social Security card, your next adventure is to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles closest to you.

~Drivers moving to Illinois may use their valid driver’s license from their home state or country for 90 days.  There are two parts to getting an Illinois drivers license.  The written test and a road test.  If you are from Germany or France you do not need to take the tests, call your community counselor to get details of what you need to do.  If you have a car accident, you can be asked to pay a deductible of up to $500.  Parking tickets are expensive and are you pay for them, so pay attention to parking restrictions.

Bring your DS 2019, passport, Social Security card, two pieces of mail showing your  address (use the envelope with your Social Security card and mail yourself a letter) driver’s license from your home country and all papers you have received from APIA that have your name on them.

An au pair’s last work day is the date before her arrival in New York. For example, if an au pair arrives on May 14, her last work day would be May 13 of the following year.