Checked September 2026
Au pair in the Netherlands with an EU, EEA or Swiss passport
Everything the Dutch au pair permit asks of you, in the order it will ask. Read it before you pay an agency anything.
Your passport
No residence permit
Free movement covers you. Register with your municipality once you arrive and you are done.
No MVV, no TB test
Both are permit steps, and you are not applying for a permit.
Applies to everyone
You are at least 18 and no more than 25
Measured at the moment the application is filed, not when you arrive. This is the condition that disqualifies the most people, and agencies advertising "18 to 30" are describing their own rules, not the IND’s.
You are unmarried and have no children
Including foster children. You sign a declaration to that effect; a false one costs you the permit.
You have never held a Dutch residence permit
Any previous permit, for any purpose, closes this route.
You have never worked for this host family
In the Netherlands or anywhere else.
You are not related to the host family
Parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, uncles and aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews, great-grandparents and great-grandchildren all count.
The host family has at least two members
Each with Dutch nationality or a valid Dutch residence permit, and registered in the Personal Records Database (BRP). You live with them.
A recognised sponsor files the application
Only an au pair agency on the IND’s recognised sponsor list can apply for you. You cannot file this permit yourself, and neither can the family.
The work stays inside 30 hours a week
Maximum 8 hours a day, at most 30 hours a week, at least 2 days off every week, and light household tasks only. Caring for someone who needs specialised care is not allowed, and exceeding the hours is treated as abuse of the scheme.
You have one year, and it cannot be extended
The permit runs for a maximum of one year. There is no renewal — the scheme is cultural exchange, not a route to staying.
Sources
- IND — residence permit au pair — Every shared condition, the one-year limit and the €423 fee.
- IND — au pairs, background — What counts as light household work, and what happens when the hours are exceeded.
- IND appendix 7644 — TB test exemption list — Which nationalities skip the tuberculosis test. Valid from 30 May 2025.
- IND — MVV exemptions — Which nationalities travel without an entry visa.
Checked September 2026. This is information, not legal advice: the recognised sponsor files the application and the IND decides. Conditions and fees are revised, so check the sources before you act on this.