Domestic Employee Eligibility
In order to qualify as a domestic employee, you must satisfy the following requirements:
- Experience:
You must have a minimum of one year experience as a domestic employee. - Age:
You must be at least 16 years of age or older. - Relationship:
You can not be related to the employer by familial relationship. - Stay Restriction:
The domestic employee can not travel to the U.S. before the employer does. The domestic employee can not remain in the U.S. after the employer has already departed the U.S.
Meeting the domestic employee visa requirements is the sole responsibility of the employee.
Employer Eligibility
In order to hire a foreign domestic worker, the employer must meet certain eligibility requirements, and it depends upon the employer’s legal status in the U.S.:
- U.S. Citizen
If the U.S. citizen will reside or currently resides permanently in the U.S., it is not possible to bring the domestic employee on a B-1 visa, even if that person has previously been an employee of the U.S. citizen in the foreign country. In other words, most U.S. citizens can not bring the domestic employee on B-1 visa.
U.S. citizen may bring (accompany or following to join) the domestic employee to the U.S. on a B-1 visa if:- The employer ordinarily resides outside the U.S. and is traveling to the U.S. temporarily.
- The employer is subject to frequent international transfers lasting two years or more and, as a condition of employment, is going to reside in the U.S. for a stay not to exceed four years.
- The employer-employee relationship must have existed for at least six months prior to the employer’s admission to the U.S., or, alternatively, the employer has regularly employed a domestic servant in the same capacity while abroad.
- The employee has had at least one year experience as a personal or domestic servant and is able to prove it by providing statements from previous employers attesting to such experience.
- The employer will be the only provider of employment and will provide the employee free room and board and round trip airfare, as indicated under the terms of the employment contract.
- The employer ordinarily resides outside the U.S. and is traveling to the U.S. temporarily.
- Permanent Resident (Green Card Holder)
Green card holders (legal permanent residents) are not allowed to bring domestic employees to the U.S. on a B-1 visa under any circumstances. - Non-Immigrant Visa Holder
A nonimmigrant visa holder may bring (accompany or following to join) the domestic employee to the U.S. on a B-1 visa if:- The employer has employed the employee outside the U.S. for at least one year prior to the date of the employer’s admission to the U.S.
- If the employer-employee relationship existed immediately prior to the time of application, the employer must demonstrate that they have regularly employed, either year-round or seasonally, domestic help over a period of years preceding the time of application. The employee has at least one year of experience as a personal or domestic servant as attested to by statements from the previous employer.
- The employer will be the only provider of employment and will provide the employee free room and board and round trip airfare, as indicated under the terms of the employment contract.
Such employers include B, E, F, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, Q, R or TN visa holders.
If such non-immigrant gets the permanent residence, he/she is no longer eligible to retain the domestic employee. - The employer has employed the employee outside the U.S. for at least one year prior to the date of the employer’s admission to the U.S.
- A, G or NATO visa holder
A-1, A-2, G-1 through G-4, or NATO visa holders may bring (accompany or following to join) the domestic employee to the U.S. either on a A-3,G-5, or NATO-7 visa, respectively.
While determining the eligibility as an employer, both spouses (in case of married persons) must be eligible since both exercise control over the domestic employee. Therefore, if one spouse qualifies to bring a domestic employee as described above, but the other spouse doesn’t, neither of them would qualify to bring a domestic employee. E.g., if spouse is a qualifying U.S. citizen, but the other spouse is a green card holder, they can not bring a domestic employee because green card holders are not eligible to bring a domestic employee.
