Domestic Workers in a Private Household Visa

Domestic workers travelling to the UK with their employer will need to know more about the Domestic Workers in a Private Household visa.

You can apply if you are a domestic worker in a private household (a cleaner, chauffeur, cook, nanny or someone working to provide personal care for their employer and their family), have worked for your employer for at least one year, and meet the eligibility requirements.

You can apply up to three months before you travel. You should get a decision within three weeks and it will cost £516.

How long can I stay?

This visa can be used to visit the UK with your employer for up to six months.You must return home at the end of the six months, or when your employer returns home if that comes first. If your employer takes a short trip outside the UK, you can remain.

You can also travel abroad and return to the UK, but you must be able to prove that you still work for your employer. A letter from them counts as proof.

This visa also allows you to work for someone else as a domestic worker in a private household. Again, you cannot stay longer than six months.You cannot change your job for the employer you came to the UK with, nor live in the UK for long periods of time through frequent visits.

Family members cannot be brought here on this visa and you cannot access public funds.

Eligibility

To be eligible you must prove you are at least 18, have worked for your employer for at least one year and that you work in the same household as your employer, or one they regularly use.

You must also prove that you plan to travel to the UK with your employer, their partner or their children, that you intend to work as a full-time domestic worker in a UK household your employer will live in, that you plan to leave the UK at the end of six months or when your employer leaves if sooner, and that you are able to support yourself without public funds.

Your employer must be a British who usually lives outside the UK and who does not intend to remain for more than six months OR a foreign national who is coming to the UK on a visit and does not intend to remain for more than six months.

They must also pay you at least national minimum wage.

Documentation

You will need a current passport or other valid travel identification. You will need a blank page in your passport to put the visa on.

You must prove you can support yourself here so be ready to provide six months’ worth of payslips or bank statements.

You must provide details of where you will be staying and of your return travel booking.

Applications should also include a letter from your employer confirming you’ve worked for them in the same job for at least one year, as well as a completed, signed statement of your terms and conditions of employment.

You must also provide one of the following, covering the same period of your employment:

If the documents are not in English or Welsh you will have to provide a certified translation.

How to apply

You must apply online and you will need to have your fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre.If you are in North Korea you cannot apply online and must download a form from the UK Government website.

Finding out exactly what you need to apply can be tricky, but we are here to help. So book an appointment with us and save yourself time, money and stress trying to figure it out on your own.