You can apply for a visa to visit the UK with your employer if you:

• live outside the UK
• are a domestic worker in a private household
• have worked for your employer for at least one year
• meet the other eligibility requirements

Domestic workers include:

• cleaners
• chauffeurs
• cooks
• those providing personal care for the employer and their family
• nannies

How long it will take

It is possible to submit a visa application for your trip to the UK as early as three months prior to your intended travel date.

If you submit your visa application from outside of the UK, rest assured that you will receive a response regarding your visa status within a period of three weeks.

Fees

It costs £531 for an Overseas Domestic Worker visa.

How long you can stay

You can use this visa to visit the UK with your employer for up to 6 months. You must return home at the end of the 6 months.

You cannot extend an Overseas Domestic Worker visa.

You may be able to extend a Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa if you applied on or before 5 April 2012.

What you can and cannot do

You can:

• travel abroad and return to the UK to complete your stay
• change employers to another job as a domestic worker in a private household – only if you do not stay longer than the 6 months

You cannot:

• work except as a domestic worker in a private household
• live in the UK for long periods of time through frequent visits
• get public funds

You must prove that you:

• are 19 or older
• have worked for your employer for at least 1 year
• work in the same household as your employer or one they use regularly
• plan to travel to the UK with your employer, their partner or children
• intend to work as a full-time domestic worker in a UK household your employer will live in
• plan to leave the UK at the end of 6 months
• are able to support yourself in the UK without the need for public funds

Your employer

Your employer must be either a:

• British citizen who usually lives outside the UK and who does not intend to remain in the UK for more than 6 months
• foreign citizen who is coming to the UK on a visit and who does not intend to remain for more than 6 months

Your employer must also pay you at least the national minimum wage.