Embassy of the United States

Non-Immigrant Visas

Personal/Domestic Employees (from 9 FAM 41.31 N6.3)

Personal/Domestic Employees of U.S. Citizens on Temporary Assignment in United States

a. Personal or domestic employees who are accompanying or following to join U.S. citizen employers temporarily assigned to the United States provided the consular officer is satisfied that:

    (1) The employee has a residence abroad which he or she has no intention of abandoning;

    (2) The alien 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;

    (3) In the alternative, the employer can show that while abroad the employer has regularly employed a domestic servant in the same capacity as that intended for the applicant;

    (4) The employee can demonstrate at least one year experience as a personal or domestic servant by producing statements from previous employers attesting to such experience; and

    (5) The employee is in possession of an original contract or a copy of the contract, to be presented at the port of entry, which contains the original signatures of both the employer and the employee.

b. The U.S. citizen employer is subject to frequent international transfers lasting two years or more as a condition of the job as confirmed by the employer's personnel office, and is returning to the United States for a stay of no more than four years. The employer will be the only provider of employment to the domestic employee, and will provide the employee free room and board and a round trip airfare as indicated under the terms of the employment contract; and

c. The required employment contract has been signed and dated by the employer and employee and contains a guarantee from the employer that, in addition to the provisions listed in item (b) above, the employee will receive the minimum or prevailing wages whichever is greater for an eight hour work-day. The employment contract shall also reflect any other benefits normally required for U.S. domestic workers in the area of employment. 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 intent to leave the employment.

Personal Employees of Foreign Nationals in Nonimmigrant Status

A personal or domestic employee who accompany or follows to join an employer who is seeking admission into or, is already in the United States in B, E, F, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, or Q nonimmigrant status, provided that:

(1) The employee has a residence abroad which he or she has no intention of abandoning (notwithstanding the fact that the employer may be in a non immigrant status which does not require such a showing);

(2) The employee can demonstrate at least one year's experience as a personal or domestic employee; and

(3) The employee has 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 to the United States; or

(4) If the employee-employer relationship existed immediately prior to the time of visa application, the employer can demonstrate that he or she has regularly employed (either year-round or seasonally) personal or domestic employees over a period of several years preceding the domestic employee's visa application for a nonimmigrant B-1 visa.

(5) The employer and the employee have signed an employment contract which contains statements that the employer is guaranteed the minimum or prevailing wages, whichever is greater, and free room and board, and the employer will be the only provider of employment to the employee [See 9 FAM 41.31 N14 of this section.]

(6) 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.

Personal Employees/Domestics of Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs)

Personal employees of all lawful permanent residents (LPRs), including conditional permanent residents and LPRs who have filed a Form N-470, Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes, must obtain permanent resident status, as it is contemplated that the employing LPR is a resident of the United States.