Overview
Personal or domestic servants who are accompanying or following an employer to the United States may be eligible for B-1 visas. This category of domestic employees includes, but is not limited to, cooks, butlers, chauffeurs, housemaids, valets, footmen, nannies, mothers’ helpers, gardeners, and paid companions.
Those accompanying or following to join an employer who is a foreign diplomat or government official may be eligible for an A-3 or G-5 visa, depending upon their employer’s visa status.
Qualifications
If you are a domestic employee and wish to apply for a B-1 visa, you must demonstrate that:
- The purpose of your trip is to enter the United States for work as a domestic employee.
- You plan to remain in the United States for a specific, limited period of time.
- Your employer meets certain qualifications.
- You have evidence of compelling social and economic ties outside of the United States.
- You have a residence outside the United States as well as other binding ties that will ensure you return abroad at the end of your contract.
Accompanying a Nonimmigrant Visa Holder
If you are a domestic employee and wish to accompany or join an employer who is not a United States citizen or legal permanent resident, and who seeks admission to, or who is already in, the United States under a B, E, F, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, Q, or R nonimmigrant visa then you may be eligible for a B-1 visa classification, provided:
- The employee has a residence abroad which he or she has no intention of abandoning;
- You have at least one year’s experience as a personal or domestic employee as attested to by statements from previous employers, that is:
- You have been employed outside the United States by your employer for at least one year prior to the date of your employer’s admission to the United States; OR
- If your employer-employee relationship existed immediately prior to the time of your visa application, your employer can demonstrate that he or she regularly employed (either year-round or seasonally) domestic helper over a period of years preceding the time of your visa application.
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You are in possession of an original contract or a copy of the contract, to be presented at the port of entry. The employment contract must be signed and dated by the employer and the employee. The employment contract must include the following provisions:
(a) The employer will be the only provider of employment to the domestic employee;
(b) The employer must pay the domestic’s initial travel expenses to the United States, and subsequently to the employer’s onward assignment, or to the employee’s country of normal residence at the termination of the assignment.
(c) The employee will receive free room and board;
(d) The employee will receive the greater of the minimum wage or prevailing wage under U.S. federal, state, or local law for an eight hour work-day;
(e) The employer will give at least two weeks’ notice of his or her intent to terminate the employment, and the employee need not give more than two weeks’ notice of his or her intent to leave the employment; and
(f) The employment contract must also reflect any other benefits normally required for U.S. domestic workers in the area of employment.
Accompanying an American Citizen
If you are a domestic employee and wish to accompany or join your U.S. citizen employer in the United States then you may be eligible for the B-1 visa classification if 1) your American employer ordinarily resides outside the United States and is traveling to the United States temporarily, OR 2) your U.S. citizen employer is subject to frequent international transfers lasting two years or more and who, as a condition of employment, is going to reside in the United States for a stay not to exceed six years.
If your American employer meets one of the criteria above, you may accompany him/her by qualifying as a personal or domestic employees on a B1 visa provided that:
- The employee has a residence abroad which he or she has no intention of abandoning;
- The employee has been employed abroad by the employer as a personal or domestic servant for at least six months prior to the date of the employer’s admission to the United States, OR the employer can show that while abroad the employer has regularly employed a domestic worker in the same capacity as that intended for the applicant;
- The employee can demonstrate at least one year of experience as a personal or domestic servant by producing statements or contracts from employers attesting to such experience;
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You are in possession of an original contract or a copy of the contract, to be presented at the port of entry. The employment contract must be signed and dated by the employer and the employee. The employment contract must include the following provisions:
(a) The employer will be the only provider of employment to the domestic employee;
(b) The employer will provide the employee free room and board and a round trip airfare;
(c) The employee will receive the greater of the minimum wage or prevailing wage under U.S. federal, state, or local law for an eight hour work-day;
(d) The employer will give at least two weeks’ notice of his or her intent to terminate the employment, and the employee need not give more than two weeks’ notice of his or her intent to leave the employment; and
(e) The employment contract must also reflect any other benefits normally required for U.S. domestic workers in the area of employment.
Note: You cannot qualify for a B-1 visa if the U. S. citizen will reside permanently in the United States, even if you have previously been employed by the U. S. citizen abroad.
Accompanying a U.S. Legal Permanent Resident
U.S. Legal Permanent Residents (Green card holders) are not permitted to bring their domestic workers to the United States on a B-1 visa under any circumstances.
Accompanying an A-1, A-2, or G-1 to G-4 Visa Holder (A-3 or G-5 Visas)
If you are the attendant, servant, or personal employee of someone classified A-1 or A-2 or G-1 through G-4 then you are entitled to the appropriate A-3 or G-5 classification. You must demonstrate entitlement to an A-3 or G-5 classification (e.g., letter of reference from a former employer, evidence of previous employment in that sector, etc.). Consular officers must establish the official status of the employer and the intent of both parties to enter into (or remain in) an employer-employee relationship. In addition, domestic helpers of diplomats (A3) and international organization employees (G5) must first be registered with the Department of State’s Office of Foreign Mission Management Information System (TOMIS) before applying for a visa. For details of TOMIS registration, please contact the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Foreign Missions.
A-3 and G-5 visa applicants must be interviewed by a consular officer. We are only authorized to issue a visa based upon a diplomatic note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the local consulate if the applicant is currently resident in Hong Kong or Macau. Applicant may contact us by email the required diplomatic note with personal information to https://hk.usconsulate.gov/visas/visa-inquiry-form/. A-3 and G-5 visa applicants do not required to pay the visa application fee.
The consular officer must be satisfied that the wage to be received by the A-3 or G-5 applicant is a fair wage comparable to that offered in the area of employment and sufficient to overcome public charge concerns. Applications for such visas must include an employment contract signed by the employer and the employee.
