My family has an au pair from South Africa who has a J1 visa that expires September 2009 Her year with the agency is over this September. We are trying to find out if she can stay with our family as our personal au pair/nanny without an agency/au pair company. Thanks!

It is up to her to find out her status with her visa, not you. She would have the option. My question is, how much does she get paid, minimum wage, because if she decides to stay with you she should be able to negotiate. Did you know that ?

I really don't like to see au pairs/housekeepers exploited and hired through a visa agency arrangement because they really don't know their options, because of a language barrier and their rights not being explained to them properly.