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General Information

Visas for Domestic Employees

U.S. citizens residing abroad may take a personal or domestic employee with them to the U.S. under certain conditions. If you are considering making an offer to your nanny or maid to accompany you to the United States, please consider the following visa-related guidelines, including new guidelines under the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. 

A written contract, incorporating all the conditions listed below, must accompany the domestic employee’s application for a B-1 visa. All claims must be documented to the satisfaction of the Consular Officer.
Please note that very few U.S. citizens qualify to take a domestic employee with them to the U.S.

THE CONTRACT MUST:

  • Include the employer’s agreement to abide by all Federal, State and local laws in the United States and a statement that the employer will not to withhold the passport, the employment contract or other personal property of the employee.
  • Include a guarantee by the employer that the employee will be compensated at the state or federal minimum or prevailing wage, whichever is greater;
  • Include the frequency and form of payment, work duties, weekly work hours, holidays, sick days and vacation days.
  • Provide for free room and board, or, if money is deducted, it must be a reasonable and fair amount; 
  • Include a statement by the employee that he or she will not accept any other employment while working for the employer;
  • Include a statement indicating that both parties understand that the employee cannot be required to remain on the premises after working hours without compensation;
  • Contain original signatures of the both parties, and be presented to the Consular Officer at the visa interview and to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector upon entry to the U.S.

THE EMPLOYER MUST:

  • Be subject to regular transfers outside the United States for periods of two years or more as a condition of employment. A letter from the human resources office of the headquarters of the U.S citizen’s employer is required;
  • Be returning to the United States for a period of no more than four years;
  • Have contracted the domestic employee for whom he is soliciting a visa for at least the last six months and in the same conditions under which employment is being offered in the United States; and
  • Be the sole employer of the applicant.

THE EMPLOYEE MUST:

  • Have a residence abroad that he or she has no intention of abandoning;
  • Demonstrate at least one year’s experience as a personal or domestic employee; and
  • Have been employed abroad by the employer as a personal or domestic employee for at least one year prior to the date of the employer’s admission or visit to the United States.
  • Have an interview outside the presence of the employer or recruiting agent.
  • Understand the illegality of slavery, peonage, trafficking in persons, sexual assault, extortion, blackmail and worker exploitation in the United States.
  •  Understand the legal right s of immigrant victims of trafficking in persons including: the right of access to immigrant and labor rights groups; the right to seek redress in the U.S. courts; the right to report abuses without retaliation; the right of the non immigrant not to relinquish possession of his or her passport to his or her employer; the requirement of an employment contract between the employer and the nonimmigrant; and an explanation of the rights and protections included in the mandatory employment contract.
  • Acknowledge receipt of information about nongovernmental organizations that provide services for victims of trafficking in persons and worker exploitation, including anti-trafficking in persons telephone hotlines operated by the Federal government; the operation Rescue and Restore hotline and a general description of the types of victims’ services available for individuals subject to trafficking in persons or worker exploitation.

Appointments for a B-1 visa can be made through our Visa Call Center only, at 900-6011 from a Telecom fixed telephone line or by using a “VISA USA” card, purchased from Telefónica. The applicant must pay the USD$131 in advance at any main branch of Banco Citibank de El Salvador and present an electronically-completed non immigrant visa application DS-156 (EVAF), a valid passport, a current 5x5 cm photo, and supporting documents to the Consular Officer. Please provide a copy of the employer’s passport for our records.