Monthly Archives: September 2017

Travel Outside of the US During Your Au Pair Year

Oh, the places you’ll go!!! Your au pair year is full of experiences! Some even chose to travel abroad during this time! Before you travel outside the U.S. during your year, you must send your DS2019 and a travel request form to the Connecticut office for a travel validation signature. Once the form has been signed one time, it does not need to be sent in again. One signature is valid for the entire year.

**Plan to send this at least three weeks before your trip departure.*** 

If you plan to travel outside the U.S., it is very important to check with the consulate of the country you are planning to visit at least one month before your trip to find out whether you need a visitor’s visa or a transit visa for any stop-overs. Regulations change frequently, so it is important to check for current visa requirements. If you are an extension au pair planning to travel outside of the US, please see the travel visa section for more information. See the links below for more information about consulates.

For a list of all the consular offices in the United States, click here. Scroll all the way down to find a list of countries. Click on the alphabetical listing that contains the name of the country you are looking for to locate the office nearest you.

For a list of countries whose citizens require a visa to visit Canada, visit http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp. If you need a visa to visit Canada, you can find the form and further information here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/apply-how.asp.  You may need to apply for an eTA – Electronic Travel Authorization.

Please note: the Canadian consulate no longer accepts in-person applications for a temporary resident (visitor’s) visa. All visa applications for Canada must be mailed and can take more than 30 days to process. Plan your trip accordingly.

All visitors to Mexico must have a tourist card that can be obtained at the border. You can find details about this card at http://www.mexonline.com/visamex.htm. As long as you hold a valid U.S. visa (J-1) in your passport, you will not need any additional visas to travel to Mexico. Au pairs in their second year who want to travel to Mexico may need to obtain a tourist visa in advance from a Mexican consulate in the United States. You should have at least six months of validity left on your passport in order to apply for a visitor’s visa to Mexico.

Check here for the consulate closest to you. Contact them as far in advance as possible to find out if you need a visa and how long it will take to get one.

Extension Au Pairs: In your extension year, travel outside the U.S. is restricted. Please contact me before making any plans to travel outside the U.S. in your extension year.

Have a great trip!

Photo: 7th Groove {flickr}

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Going Unplugged During Work Hours

Phones, tablets, and laptops are wonderful tools to stay connected and informed, but we need to be careful not to let them become distractions from real life interactions and most importantly our responsibilities.

Au Pairs – Imagine for a moment that you went to the hospital and you were in the care of doctors and nurses.  How would you feel if those doctors and nurses who were there to care for you were more interested in texting or using their personal computer than caring for you?  How would that make you feel, about yourself and about them?  Would you think that you were getting the treatment you deserved?  Would you feel like paying the bill after your stay?

Life as an au pair, it is a fine balance between employee and family member. You live with your host family and participate with them as a member of the family, but you also have clear responsibilities as a childcare provider. Being a childcare provider is truly one of the most important jobs I can think of, because you are helping to shape our next generation.  What message are you sending them when you would rather interact with a computer than with them? How will they feel about themselves and about you? Children feel as though everything is about them. They will see this as a rejection of them and they will be more likely to act out.

It also poses a safety concern when you are not paying enough attention to the children in your care.  Accidents happen, but when an adult care giver is close by and appropriately supervising the chances of a major injury dramatically reduce.

During work hours, the following would not be considered acceptable:
-Texting*
-Talking to friends on the phone
-Chatting with friends online
-Using Skype or FaceTime
-IMing
-Emailing
-Updating your status on Facebook
-Using Snapchat, WhatsApp or any other app or social media site
-Watching videos on YouTube
-Tweeting on Twitter
-Uploading photos on Instagram
-Anything else on the computer unless it is going to Nickjr.com together with your host children

*You do want to be on the look out for texts from your host parents

Think about this — even if you work 45 hours a week, that leaves you 123 hours per week for all of that other stuff, or about 70 hours (if you are getting the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep per night.)

Host Parents – You need to be clear about what you consider acceptable during work hours to avoid misunderstandings.  Also, please understand that you are dealing with a new generation of people who are very accustomed to being plugged in at all times.  Their intention is not to be rude, they don’t necessarily realize how their actions will be perceived.  Please use this information as an opportunity to begin a dialogue on the issue.

  -Content by C. Connally