TexasHM came across an interesting fact about extension application fees — it turns out, not all agencies automatically make these fees the responsibility of the Host Family.
Depending on the practices of your particular Au Pair Agency, your family might choose to pay the fee yourself, split it with your Au Pair, or even have your extending Au Pair pay it herself or himself. There’s even another option– have your Au Pair put the extension fee ‘in escrow’, to be earned back once s/he successfully completes the extension.
TexasHM writes:
Another Host Mom (with CCAP) told me that her extension paperwork “recommended” that the Host Family cover the cost of extension app fees (usually $365ish), it’s not required that the Host Family pay it themselves. This Host Mom and several others have had their Au Pairs pay the fee themselves.
At first I thought this seemed unfair — and then, after I thought about it longer, I began to wonder if it isn’t genius.
Here’s my reasoning:
1. Paying the extension application fee would be an important indication that the Au Pair is truly serious about extending. (That sum is almost two weeks of stipend– a lot of money for an Au Pair.)
Having Au Pairs pay the extension application fee also makes sense because Au Pairs pay agency fees and insurance to come to the US for their first year. Why would they not expect to pay agency fees and insurance for year 2? Being asked to pay the fee might help Au Pairs decide that they really aren’t totally interested in extending– doing themselves and their Host Families a favor.
2. If Au Pairs paid $365 to extend they might be more motivated to stick it out. They’d have some skin in the game.
3. If for some reason things went south during the extension, the Host Family would not lose this nonrefundable fee themselves. (We had two extensions finish early for a wedding and a burnout/family emergency, and got stuck with the costs).
4. Having the Au Pair pay the extension application fee would allow the Host Family the option of paying it back to the Au Pair at the completion of a successful extension. This would work like the “bonus” (aka ‘completion payment’) that some agencies used to use to encourage completion.
This would be either automatic (upon completion) or at the discretion of the Host Family. If the au pair was just barely holding things together the last month, they might not earn it all back. On the other hand, for a stellar Au Pair, that money could come back to them to help them pay taxes, ship a box, pay luggage fees, throw a party, or manage any number of last minute expenses right before they go.
So many Host Families have stories about Au Pairs extending… and then seeing a rapid decline in their commitment to their work, or having a family emergency back home, or going into rematch … all of which left the Host Family losing out on their rematch application fee along with all the other related disappointments.
What do Host Parents and Au Pairs think of this idea?
Let’s take a poll:
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{ 38 comments }
Is there a reason CCAP charges this to the AP? Is it because the HF already has an annual fee?
I generally think the HF should pay the fee but our APs pay $3-6k in agency fees so another $365 is unpalatable to me.
This post reminded me that we needed to handle the extension paperwork with CCAP for our AP. I logged in and it said she had already paid the fee. We will reimburse her, though. If she ends the extension year early or her performance flags, she’s still provided my girls with better care than we hoped for so I wouldn’t feel too bad about losing the fee.
I think each case should be handled individually. In a perfect world, the HF would pay this fee and then the extending AP would stay a second (full) year and continue to provide the stellar performance that got her invited to stay in the first place. Unfortunately, we all know that variations from this perfect scenerio are common and leave the HF holding the bag more often than the AP.
I like the idea of asking the AP to pay the fee up front and then returning it (plus some if you can afford it) at the end of another stellar year.
I’ve stayed (nearly) two full years here, and there aren’t agency fees, so it’s very different. Having said that, if someone had said “if you want to stay with our family, please pay two weeks wages for the opportunity”, I don’t think I’d have felt very valued… This is another thing that’s going to be fought over the “au pairs as employees, providing a paid for service” or “au pairs getting a free holiday and adventure and place to live for a year with our wonderful family” distinction. My view is that the latter is perfectly valid if the former is respected to the absolute letter, and regardless of legalities and regulations, making an employee pay to *be* an employee is not respectful in my view. Incidental things such as plane fares to get there, yes. Agency fees, no. In the same way that when I worked with kids in England, my employers always paid for my CRB check.
In any case, when I came back it was as a favour to the family, so it’s perhaps a little different. But if I’d got a “thanks for pulling us out of this mess your supposed successor put us in… Now pay even more to be here.” I would have been sincerely unimpressed.
APP- Would it make a difference to know that if the family wants to extend with this AP, the family needs to pay 7000-8000k (depending on the agency). To me, our agency fees also mean ‘you are very valued’. I have never extended with an AP (7 years in the program), but if we did, I like TexasMom’s suggestion to have AP also have a little bit of skin in the game. I’d gladly reimbursed at the end of a successful year.
I’ll also add that there are also other ways to provide incentives, and it doesn’t have to be the agency fee. Some families provide an weekly stipend increase, or a sign in bonus. But in spirit, the idea of AP planning/saving for her extension seems like a good sign that she is serious about making her second year successful.
I think those agency fees are massively expensive, actually. But I don’t think they have very much to do with the AP herself. That is, if having an AP is too expensive because of agency fees, that’s something to take up with the agencies. The AP is only seeing her salary, (incl rent and food) out of all that – and so the massive expense of it all is not benefiting her. I accept that having to pay an extra agency fee is “proof” of an AP’s dedication, but to me it seems like a punishment for the fact that agency fees are high. I also think that if my doing my absolute best in my job is not sufficient evidence that I “deserve” to be kept on, then I am probably not with an employer who values me.
(And yeah, there are APs who take advantage. But if you have no evidence that your current AP is one, it seems rather unfair to make her *prove* it, beyond her job performance…)
One of the most common patterns we read here and elsewhere, is the seemingly very good AP who flakes out in year 2. I wonder if the fact there there are zero incentive to stay in their second year is perhaps the main reason for so many rematches during extension year. AP is already entitled to her flight home, and perhaps her HF is paying for the extension fee, and giving her a raise/bonus. It is a clearly uneven situation, and unless AP truly feels a sense of dedication, there is nothing motivating AP to meet her obligation.
I get that. Like I said, I’m still here because an AP flaked out, and I see first hand the anxiety of my HM. I sympathise. But at the same time… Innocent until proven guilty? I mean, I feel like getting APs to prove their dedication by giving up two weeks’ salary is like a fine for something you haven’t even done yet…
In any case, I guess the conclusion is that oftentimes you *can* do this, legally, and some APs will even put up with it. What I think is fair and moral is very different from the feelings of many other people on this board, probably due to class, culture and upbringing. I really ought to stop fighting the same fight!
Just for clarity – the fee is called the SEVIS fee and it’s paid to the US State Department. It’s not an “agency fee,” if that makes a difference to the discussion.
I’d love to know whether other families commonly pay their AP more during the extension year. I estimate that we’ll save about $1,500 by extending so we’re thinking of either a modest raise or paying for our AP to take a trip during her travel month. The trip idea appeals to me because we are going to want to do something extra special for her anyway when she leaves after bringing so much awesome into our home, and I can justify the extravagance to HD by reminding him of the costs we saved by extending.
WarmStateMomma – When I extended for six months, it actually cost me more – it cost me about $4,000, whereas starting over with a new au pair cost about $7,500. I did not give my au pair a raise, because from the time we signed the extension agreement to the time the extension period kicked in, she already started to flake out a bit. I had thought of giving her a raise when the extension period started, but when she started to slack off I didn’t see a reason to pay more.
I think if there is a way to pay her quarterly bonuses, that would be better than a weekly increase. I’m thinking out loud here, but perhaps a quarterly bonus would provide an incentive and also make her feel rewarded for her work.
@NJ:
We save a bit on agency fees, including the $450 they charge for our location. (One-way flights with connections and crappy agency-style timing only cost $100-150 for my city, so that’s just a profit item for the agency.). We also save on not having to pay for driving lessons again or other costs that we incur when a new AP arrives.
Agreed that the shorter extensions don’t provide much – if any – savings.
We gave our extension AP a 10% raise — $20 increase/week.
And, yes, a 10% raise seems like a lot when one thinks of it in terms of percents — I certainly didn’t get a 10% raise that year! But since the base is so small, we felt that <$20 more per week seemed to paltry…so we went with $20. But she was a beloved rockstar AP, so we didn't regret it and it seemed eminently fair compensation for her excellent, and continued, hard work.
I paid the fee – it was my way of saying “We value you so much – we’ll pay it!” I was with ACP at the time, and I believe they also charged the au pairs but suggested to the families that they pick up the cost. In fact, when I went to extend I had to pay the fee then and there.
Looking back, I think if I had not volunteered to pay the fee, I do not think my au pair would have extended. And if she had not extended, I wouldn’t have had her ditch me two months into her six-month extension.
Then again, the extension brought me the story of the Bridezilla. Not really worth the $365 or all of the craziness that ensued, but at least I am left with my story.
I think this is a great idea. However, I don’t think I will ever extend with an au pair again (we are coming to an end with our time in the program anyway). And if I did, I think I’d feel funny asking her to pay. A great idea in theory – but would be tough for me to do. It would be better if the agencies took the lead in doing it that way — charge the au pairs, but instead of encouraging families to pay the fee, encourage families to reimburse the au pairs at the end of their extension period.
As I am an au pair it is perhaps unsuprising that I would be in favour of the family paying. We do not have such fees in Europe… In principle I would be fine with paying and then the family paying me back at the end of my time. However in reality I cannot imagine a conversation in which parents whom I feel on a level with would ask me to pay for something like that and me feeling comfortable with it. It would feel uncomfortable knowing the relative pay of me compared to them and the fact that it wouldn’t be so much money to them but would be two weeks salary to me.
I think the Europe-based Au Pairs are missing the point that American-based APs pay 2k/year for the program. It is expected that there is a cost to participate. Asking for an additional $300 for changing the visa is a bargain.
Having said that, I paid for my AP. We can afford it and she is careful with her money.
Also to reiterate what WarmStateMomma said – the extension fee is a fee that the U.S. State Department charges au pairs to extend. It’s not supposed to be paid by families, although many agencies encourage families to pay it – and many families do pay it whether or not the agency encourages them to do so. So families aren’t charging au pairs extra. The question is should families voluntarily pay it up front or voluntarily reimburse an au pair at the end of the extension period.
In my case I regret paying the extension fee because in retrospect, I think it would have prompted my au pair to think a little more about the reasons she wanted to extend and perhaps she would not have agreed to do so if she was the one paying up front. It cost me more at the outset to extend for six months rather than matching with a new au pair for a year. And in the end it cost me A LOT more because she ditched me two months into the extension. I did get a partial refund – but certainly not the $365 I paid on her behalf. That money was not refundable
I just checked my agency’s website, and it looks like the fee is charged to families for that agency– so it’s not something I have to worry about. If it were optional, I suppose how i handled it would depend. I like the idea of holding it back as a bonus, but only if it truly is the AP’s expense that I am choosing to cover. If it’s maybe mine, it seems more like I’d just be depriving the AP of the benefit of his/her money for some possible promise to pay it back in the future (with interest?). Seems unfair to me.
I’m surprised by those who say they were planning to pay more as a raise in year two, though. I already feel like I’m paying the limit of what I want to pay (and I have a great AP). I wouldn’t want him to feel I didn’t appreciate him if I didn’t offer a raise in year 2, but that’s just not in the cards. Our AP sees me waste a lot of money, so i could understand his feeling slighted, but i have calculated the amount I want to spend on “waste” into my budget, and I’m not willing to shift it to another category– that’s my “me” money!
Maybe the quarterly bonus is the way to go…
We have not extended with an AP since 2007 (we have asked – almost every year). I imagine our agency discount on extending was more than offset by the official salary increase for APs (required then, seemingly not now). I always figured that any extra money spent on an extension AP was saved in my training time.
The best option, that I could see (if it were not required by my agency) was to tell the AP to pay the fee up front, and that I would reimburse her after the successful completion of her extension term).
For the record, APs 1-3 successfully extended. AP #1 only fell apart once she made the decision to leave (and quite frankly she was better with infants and toddlers than preschoolers). AP #2 did the typical 6-week countdown grouchies. AP #3 would have completed her extension had her sister not attempted suicide, forcing her to return home. None of them took the extension for granted.
We have paid the fee in the past. I never even thought of charging the au pair this fee. AP#3 just asked us to extend until she must return for her last year of school (a 6-month extension) which works well for us. She was adamant about only being able to work for a year at interview (and in the beginning) so this was a surprise. Our carrot for good behavior has thus far been that we will pay the AP’s taxes if she extends and continues to work hard. The end of the AP year for us has always been at tax time so I’m not sure how this will play out incentive wise with a 6-month extension. When AP#3 asked to extend, I said I’d offer her 1/2 tax for 1/2 year and pay the fees. Second year has traditionally come with s $25 raise as well. I didn’t think this was generous but perhaps I will evaluate performance on a case-by-case basis instead of making this the norm. I’ve just been really lucky to have fantastic APs despite some isolated random incidents over the past 4 years and not all one person (crashed the car, getting stranded in DC on a work night, victim of fraud over the Internet, etc). Indeed AP#2 and her hubby are traveling to spend Thanksgiving with us and is invited to spend a few weeks over Christmas at the beach with us. I do not think she would have been able to afford the fees and we would have lost a fantastic AP and not bonded as family as did in the second year.
May we all get the extensions we want and say farewell to those who aren’t the greatest.
I would be inclined to split the fee 50-50 since we are getting a reduced Y2 fee for extending and continuity, and AP is getting the benefit of staying with a known family/schedule/routine (and ideally a family she likes to be with, tho I know there are all sorts out there). I like the idea of refunding the AP’s 50 percent at the end as a bonus but I wouldn’t want an unhappy au pair dragging around doing a half-way job all year just so she could get that money back. It’s been a few years since we have extended so I don’t remember how our agency structured fees, but both girls we extended with were the sort that would have chipped in and paid part as goodwill toward our family and the experience. If you view it as an au pair “paying to be an employee for another year,” then that’s out of line with the spirit of the program. Yes that may be the reality for some girls and families who don’t follow the spirit of the program, but let’s not structure things using that as a model. It is a joint contract.
I would pay the fee. I was wondering if others offered a raise for the 2nd year. We are 2+ months in with our new AP and just love her. We’d love for her to stay a 2nd year, but we haven’t brought it up yet. We were thinking of offering her a raise because she truly deserves it, if she would like to stay a 2nd year. In the meantime we’ve been giving her a small bonus here and there, buying some things for her, paying for stuff we’d normally have her pay for like gas for personal use because she’s just been so fantastic.
DH and I often give a cash bonus to our APs for Christmas. Over the past 14 3/4 years it has varied from $50 to $150, depending on the AP’s level of commitment to the job. There are other non-monetary rewards for a great AP. Figure out what she really likes. One AP hated fancy chocolate, but loved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. A day off to do something special with friends is also highly valued. An award doesn’t have to be big and splashy.
Personally, I wouldn’t offer an extension year until month 6. Even when most of our APs say no, we offer one more time at month 8 (when they receive their extension paperwork) before starting our search for a successor).
I probably wont pay this Visa (SEVIS) extension fee. We have never really had to think too much about this yet. AP#1 was a rematch AP who extended with us. She was very good and her extension paperwork came quite soon after she arrived at our home so us paying this never even came up. She never expected us to pay for this and we didnt offer. She had told me during the interview that she was going to extend after her 1st year because she felt she needed more time to work on her English among other reasons. We decided to rematch with AP#2 and current AP#3 is amazing but just 3 months in. IMHO, I think an AP should extend because they want to stay another 6, 9 or 12 months in the US for whatever reason and as such should save and pay for the SEVIS fee and that way they dont make that decision lightly. We as the HF already offer a lot of other perks and if my not offering to pay this extension fee makes the AP feel like we are not a good fit, then perhaps we are not. For all our APs, we pay for everything including gas for all personal trips in the dedicated AP car. For AP#1, we took her on a quite a few trips including vacation to UK and while there, paid for her to go on a weekend trip to Paris because we knew that she enjoyed travelling just like we do and she had never been to Europe so we took her with us. In addition to all the trips that she took with us (she didnt work while on these vacations and wanted to come), we also helped her take many other weekend trips across the US, some i used my miles ( we have a ton) to pay for her to go and some others, I arranged for her and sometimes her friends to stay with friends of ours instead of paying for hotels and some others I just helped her find the cheapest tickets, or gave her multiple fridays or mondays off so she could travel during less peak periods. We did the same for AP#2 before the rematch and AP#3 has already taken 3 weekend trips in her 3 months here, all of which involved us juggling schedules to make it happen for them. Also we typically plan / give a sizable bonus at the end of their time with us.
Just as we dont pay for extension fees, we also do not increase the stipend during the 2nd year. All our APs including rematch AP have appreciated what we offer / dont offer
I want to be sure and clarify a few things. First, I didn’t think this was a great idea because I am looking to save $365 and put hardship on my AP. As others have noted there are two separate fees. Fees to the US government to extend the APs paperwork (DS2019) and allow her to stay longer which by the way, is transferable if she rematches or goes to another family and then agency fees which the host family can get partially refunded or refunded or credit for depending on the agency.
Every AP we have hosted has asked to extend. The first extended a second year but finished early because she married an American and we paid the fees. Second extended a second year but I don’t think thought it completely through and didn’t have concrete plans so when things got tough (bestie left, family cant visit afterall) she started to spiral. Family emergency ended up ending it but we had been looking for replacement already (she was in the loop) so she left about 7 weeks into year two and we completely lost the $365 SEVIS fees and had to find a new AP who was a first year rematch so there was no second year cost savings for us period. That combined with a last minute car/garage accident and we were hit hard by year 2 not working out there. AP3 had an awesome opportunity that we pushed her to pursue instead.
I talked to AP4 about this topic before I emailed CV and her response was “wait – why would a HF pay that?” I explained that at our previous agency it was just rolled into all the second year agency fees and before I could finish she said “but then what happens if the AP rematches or goes to another family – do you get the $ back?” No. She then talked about how they pay a lot to get into the program in the first place and a $365 SEVIS fee is super cheap compared to what they pay first year into the program and that she would expect to have to pay something year 2 to extend.
We all know there are extenuating circumstances sometimes, I just liked the idea of the extension being more balanced in terms of investment (financial and otherwise). If agencies roll the fee in then APs of course want to extend – it doesn’t cost them anything. We have not had this happen but I have seen APs extend and then rematch into other families or go home for superficial reasons (literally my bestie changed her mind and didn’t extend so I am going home now too or I changed my mind I am homesick and ready to leave or I found a better job etc) and at least if they had to buy in (literally) I hope they would take the decision a little more seriously and then if they bailed out superficially then the family would not be left having paid the whole sum for nothing and trying to find/fund a new AP.
We don’t round up the stipend. Instead we do “bonuses” as others have said. I see this as being similar in concept. If you truly want to extend then $365 won’t be a deal breaker and I would happily pay it back at the end of a successful term (and then some). Its more conceptual – maybe the better way to phrase it would be is it fair for APs to be able to extend for free and then not have any repercussions for an incomplete or should they pay to get their own documentation extended and then whatever happens, happens?
Also, I’ve never heard of anyone paying the initial visa fees for the AP to get here. APs all pay that themselves, right? Maybe it’s just that we have established a relationship with the AP that makes us feel responsible for her AP bills down the road?
We were invoiced a separate SEVIS fee for OOC this year with InterExchange. First time I ever see this broken up on my bill.
Ehm, in my country an au pair cannot pay more than approx $30 in fees and expenses. Visa, agency costs, insurance and everything is picked up by the host family.
I think you’re lucky because this does cause the au pair to think twice rather than just try out to be an au pair and no money lost if you don’t like it.
The SEVIS fee has been itemized on our APIA bill every year for the past five years, I think. I don’t remember if it was there for our one extension (from another family in her first year). I DO remember it being there the first time because our LCC had a scripted line she was supposed to tell us that the SEVIS fee isn’t a *service* fee levied by APIA, and therefore can’t be waived. I guess they got that one asked a few times by people who didn’t read carefully…
Some of the agencies – I think APIA included – over here advertise with “Übernahme der Sevis-Gebühr in Höhe von USD 35,-” (Sevis-Fee of $35 included), in which case it would make sense that they passed it on to the family. The APs still need to pay the visa application fee (which I think is around $160?).
@ WestMom and Nova:
You aren’t paying the visa fee for an overseas AP, right? That’s what I’m getting at. American host families don’t pay visa fees for an AP’s first year but for some reason the second year feels different. At least CCAP, APC and API don’t have the host family pay initial visa fees.
No, when the au pair goes to the US embassy to get her visa, I think she pays the fees herself. I can’t think of a mechanism for APIA to have paid that on her behalf.
With APIA – The host family pays the SEVRIS fees (I think) and the Au Pair has to pay for their insurance when you extend. There was a 20% discount on the HF fees from the rate without an extension and the prorated seemed all be the same cost per month (so the 6 months was half of the year, etc). We had our AP pay her insurance payment and we will be paying the rest of the fees (close to 4K for 6 months) and I think the almost $400 in health insurance (which doesn’t include the travel month) is all our AP will pay.
Also with APIA here, and we’ve extended twice and done the same thing as ChiHostMom. We pay the SEVIS fee, she pays for her insurance (which is not cheap! even for a 6 month extension). The insurance which was somewhere around $400 this time if I’m not mistaken) feels like skin in the game to the AP who has to pay it as part of the extension paperwork.
We have not passed along the savings on the discounted HF rate to the AP but we have both times given a generous Christmas gift/bonus.
We paid the extension fee for our au pair and then she had a car accident with 3 kids in the car. We no longer allowed or required her to drive but still wished to extend with her. She decided not to extend with us because she can’t drive and is looking for another family. The agency CCAP told us they could not reimburse us as the fee was paid to the State Department and that we should discuss reimbursement with our au pair. She told me she needed to pay the fee again and therefore could not reimburse us.
She didn’t need to pay the fee again. You can only file once with the state dept. She is probably referring to the insurance. That’s why APs can’t change from 6 to 12 months or 12 to 6 mos once they have filed their paperwork. The state dept only reviews/approves an extension once the end. I would contest this big time. You absolutely are not responsible for funding her extension with another family and this is exactly what I was talking about (situations like these). This seals it for me. AP will pay it from now on and we can always pay it back after. Best of luck to you and push the agency hard to fix this!
Wait if she’s finishing her term with you then I would insist she pay you back in the next two stipends. If she leaves you’ll never get paid back. Depending on scenario you could even discuss rematch. She decided to match with another family not you, therefore she is required to pay back the money you fronted for her extension – period. My blood is boiling for you. Especially after forgiving an accident with kids in the car!
I don’t see any problem about the au pair pay some of it. I don’t know you guys, but me as an au pair , know that everybody work hard to have money, and since the extension are a both sides decision, its not a problem the au pair helps the Host Family to pay it , but also we need considerate that we au pairs have 195,75 per week , and the value need be compatible with it.
195,75 could be ok, if we think that we don’t pay for food or place to live, but its a really short money, but also I thinks is not a big deal open hand from 365 of that money to stay with one amazing host family, with who you really feel as part of the family :)
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