Who can become a host family?

A family does not necessarily need to consist of a wife, a husband and children. However, one person living alone cannot be a host family. The family must be resident in Italy and Italian should be the normal language spoken within the family.

The host family may either be of Italian or of foreign nationality but it is mandatory that the host family lives in Italy permanently.

Au Pair

Age: 18-30 years included. Visa application has to be made before the 30th birthday.

Duration of stay: We have contradictory information regarding the duration of the au pair stay in Italy. On the one hand, the national visa for long-term stays allows the au pair to stay in Italy for 12 months, but on the other hand, the certificate of non-objection for subordinate employment (Nulla Osta) for non-EU citizens has a limited validity of 3 months.

Working hours/spare time: Working hours and spare time depend on the scheme on which you agree.

Holidays: An au pair boy or girl is entitled to 2 weeks of paid vacation for every 6 months that he/she has worked for the host family. Furthermore, all public holidays are free.

Period of notice: A dissolution of the au pair contract can be proceeded by either contracting party´with 2 weeks period of notice. In the event of serious circumstances, the au pair contract may be terminated with immediate effect.

Language course: The au pair girl or boy has to have enough spare time which allows her/him to attend a language course. The language course has to be paid for by the au pair himself/herself.

Travel costs: The au pair has to bear the travel expenses himself/herself.

Codice fiscale (Italian tax ID): this ID is needed to

• be employed as an au pair
• register with the Italian National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale) on a voluntary basis
• open a bank account

The Italian tax ID (Codice fiscale) can be obtained from the locally competent tax authority (Ufficio provinciale delle imposte). The following documents have to be submitted:

• a valid residence permit (permesso di soggiorno)
• a copy of an ID card/passport

Health insurance: An au pair who already holds a valid health insurance of his/her home country may contact the Italian embassy or consulate in his/her country to find out if his/her health insurance is also valid in Italy. The au pair will have to obtain a declaration from the embassy or consulate which confirms the validity of the insurance in Italy and specifies the risks which will be covered as well as the duration of validity of the insurance.

Au Pairs whose health insurance is not valid in Italy may register with the Italian National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale – SSN) on a voluntary basis. The host family has to register the au pair at the SSN within 10 days after his/her arrival.
Annual fees for a registration with SSN are 228,27 euros and have to be paid for by the host family.

In order to be able to register with the SSN, au pairs need the following documents:

• a residence permit or residence card (permesso di soggiorno or carta di soggiorno)
• a health insurance registration form
• a proof of the payment of the contributions towards the SSN made by the host family
• an Italian tax ID (Codice Fiscale)

Au pairs who are registered with the Italian Natonal Health Service on a voluntary basis are entitled to the same treatment as nationals of Italy. The registration at the SSN is valid until the 31st December of each calendar year.

Au pairs from EU and EFTA member states as well as from the French Overseas Territories Réunion, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guyana and Corsica) may ask their local Health Insurance to issue an European Health Insurance Card which replaces the E-111 form.

Social Security: The host family does not have to pay social security contributions for the au pair for the entire duration of his or her stay – independently from the number of weekly working hours she does and from the monthly pocket money the au pair receives.

Liability Insurance (Assicurazione responsabilità civile privata or Polizza Responsabilità Civile del Capofamiglia): This insurance is held responsible for damage which is unintentionally caused to a third party within the context of private and family life. This insurance is also liable for harms which have been caused with malicious intent by an au pair girl or boy as well as in case of an accident that happens to the au pair boy or girl while he/she is taking care of the host family’s child/children.

Administrative procedure for EU citizens

Accession to the EU before 2007
Visa: Au pairs coming from one of the 25 EU member states which joined the EU before 2007 do not need a visa to come to Italy.

Nulla Osta (certificate of non objection): For au pairs coming from one of these 25 EU member states, the future host family does not have to apply for a certificate of non-objection.

Work permit: Au pairs from these countries don’t need a work permit (autorizzazione al lavoro).

EU Residence Card (carta di soggiorno UE):
EU citizens who stay in Italy for 3 months or less do not have to accomplish any formalities. EU-citizens who wish to stay in Italy for longer than 3 months however, will have to apply for a Residence Card for EU citizens (carta di soggiorno UE) at the locally competent Police Headquarters (Questura) or at the local post office by letter. The Residence Card for EU citizens will be issued for work purpose (dependent work/subnordinate employment).

Accession to the EU in 2007
Visa: Au pairs coming from Bulgaria and Romania do not need a visa to come to Italy. They will only need a valid passport or ID card.

Nulla Osta (certificate of non objection): There are transitorial arrangements for dependent workers from Bulgaria and Romania. There are two categories of workers. For the workers who fall into the first category, the Italian labour market has been opened with immediate effect. The workers of the first category do not have to deal with any particular formalities.

For those workers who belong to the second category, the employer has to apply for a certificate of non-objection for subordinate employment (Nulla Osta per motivi di lavoro subordinato) at the locally competent Unified Immigration Desk (Sportello Unico) of the Prefecture Territorial Office of the Government (Prefettura UTG). Applications have to be made by registered letter with confirmation of delivery.
The grant of the certificate of non-objection (Nulla Osta) is not subject to the annual quota establishing the number of persons who are allowed to immigrate.

Unfortunately, we do not know to which one of these 2 categories au pairs belong. We kindly ask you to inform yourself at the locally competent Unified Immigration Desk (Sportello Unico) of the Prefecture Territorial Office of the Government (Prefettura UTG).

Work permit: Au pairs from Bulgaria and Romania do not need a work permit.

EU Residence Card (carta di soggiorno UE):
EU citizens who stay in Italy for 3 months or less do not have to accomplish any formalities. EU citizens who wish to stay in Italy for longer than 3 months will have to apply for a Residence Card for EU citizens (carta di soggiorno UE) at the locally competent Police Headquarters (Questura) or at the local post office by letter. The Residence Card for EU citizens will be issued for work purpose (dependent work/subordinate employment).

Administrative procedure for Non-EU citizens

Before inviting an au pair to Italy who comes from outside the European Union, the future host family has to request a work permit for dependent work (autorizzazione al lavoro per motivi di lavoro subordinato) for the au pair at the the employment office of the province where they live (Ufficio Provinciale del Lavoro). The host family has to apply either in person directly at the employment office or by registered letter with confirmation of delivery. Once that the host family has obtained the work permit, they will have to apply for a certificate of non-objection for subordinate employment (Nulla Osta per motivi di lavoro subordinato) at the locally competent Unified Immigration Desk (Sportello Unico) of the Prefecture Territorial Office of the Government (Prefettura UTG).
The work permit and the certificate of non-objection have to be sent to the au pair so that she’ll be able to apply for the visa at the Italian embassy in his/her home country.
The work permit will be withdrawn if it is not used within 6 months after that it has been granted.

Visa: There are various types of visas. For a stay up to 3 months, an application for a short stay visa has to be made. If the duration of stay is of 90 days minimum up to 1 year maximum, the au pair has to apply for a long stay Visa or so called ‘national visa’ (visto nazionale di lunga durata, also visto nazionale). Visa applications have to be made at the Italian embassy or consulate in the country where the au pair girl or boy permanently resides.

In order to apply for a short stay visa, the following documents are needed:

• a passport or ID card which has to be valid at least 3 months beyond the date the visa is requested for
• a document which justifies the reason of the stay in Italy (e.g. an au pair contract)
• a return ticket or sufficient means to purchase one
• The au pair boy or girl has to have sufficient means to maintain him-/herself during his/her stay in Italy

The long stay visa (also called ‘national visa’ (visto nazionale di lunga durata, also visto nazionale) is valid for a stay of more than 90 days up to one year maximum. The au pair must apply for a visa for work purposes (dependent work/subordinate employment). This type of visa can neither be extended nor renewed.

Residence permit for work purpose (permesso di soggiorno): The au pair has to apply for a residence permit for dependent work (permesso di soggiorno per lavoro subordinato) at the locally competent Aliens’ Department of the police (Questura) within 8 days after his/her arrival in Italy.

To apply for the residence permit, the au pair girl or boy needs a work permit (autorizzazone al lavoro) and a certificate of non-objection (Nulla Osta).
To be able to apply for a residence permit, the au pair has to prove that he/she is covered by a health insurance. If the health insurance of his/her country is not valid in Italy, the au pair boy or girl may register with the Italian National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale).
The residence permit can not be renewed.