Employing an au pair

An au pair is a person who temporarily lives with a family and is paid for light household work and child minding. The purpose of the stay must be to improve his or her language skills and knowledge of Sweden.

Swedish (svenska)
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Requi­re­ments for resi­dence permit

In order to for the person you want to employ as an au pair to get a residence permit

  • he or she must be 18 but not 30 years old when the decision is made
  • you must offer a maximum of 25 hours child minding and light household work per week
  • the au pair must study Swedish for most of the rest of the time
  • you must offer room and board
  • you must offer a certain compensation for work done, a minimum salary of 10 % of the price base amount per month before tax (current price base amount is available on Statistics Sweden's website External link, opens in new window.)
  • you as an employer must have taken out accident insurance for him or her which should include accidents during working hours and illness if the au pair becomes ill from work
  • the time for household work and studies may not together exceed 40 hours per week

You must write an agreement stating the above conditions.

Checklist of what is to be in an agreement Pdf, 310.7 kB, opens in new window.

An au pair who is a citizen of a country outside the EU needs a residence permit.

Anyone who has a permit to work as an au pair may not work as a child minder or domestic help full time.

Requi­re­ments for using the e-service

In order to use the e-service provide information about the employment, you need to

  • have an e-identification
  • be able to append an agreement on au pair work
  • know the email address of the person you want to employ.

When you have provided information about the employment through the e-service, an email with a link is sent to the person you want to employ. The au pair then submits an application for a residence permit through the link.

You can follow the case by logging in to the e-service.

When a decision is made, a copy is sent to you, which states if the permit has been granted or not. If you want access to the reasons for the decision, you need an authorisation from the au pair. The permit can be granted for the period the employment pertains to, but never longer than the validity of the person’s passport. A residence permit as an au pair can be granted for a total maximum of one year. The permit must be issued before travel to Sweden.

People who are granted a permit for three months or more also receive a residence permit card that is handed out by the embassy or consulate-general. The card must be presented together with the passport upon entry and is proof of the right to be in Sweden. It takes up to four weeks to manufacture and deliver the card.

Read more about residence permit cards

If the Swedish Migra­tion Agency denies the appli­ca­tion

A decision on a residence permit can be appealed within three weeks. Information on how to appeal is provided in the au pair’s decision.

When you employ someone from a country outside the EU, you must inform the Swedish Tax Agency. You do this by filling in the form "Notification – Employment of a Foreigner SKV 1160" stating the name, address and period of employment of the person who is going to work for you. The form can be found on the Swedish Tax Agency’s website.

Form for notifying the Swedish Tax Agency External link, opens in new window.

You only need to notify the Swedish Tax Agency when you employ a person for the first time.

You must save copies of documents that show that the person has the right to be and work in Sweden. The documents must be archived for the entire period of employment and 12 months after the end of the employment.

If you cannot provide information about the employment by using our e-service, you may send the agreement on au pair work to the au pair, who submits it together with the application at the nearest embassy or consulate-general.

Application for au pairs, form number 131011 Pdf, 760.1 kB, opens in new window.

Websites of Swedish embassies and consulates-general External link, opens in new window.

If you use the e-service, you are given clear instructions on how to provide information about the employment and what you have to send in with it. It is easy to do it right from the beginning, which increases your chances of getting a decision faster.

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