American au pair/nannies/childminders

I wanted to start a thread and ask some questions. Due to US/UK laws can you not get an American au pair? My DH and I were talking about childminders and child care and really wanted to take on an expat.

Mainly because of two things.. Help out a fellow expat who was looking for a job in childcare and if there was an american au pair service would be great to get another "accent" in the house.

Is this just a needle in a haystack when looking for American childcare in London?

Unfortunately it's impossible for an American to come to the UK to be an au pair.  EU citizens can be au pairs under the EU free movement and residence right, and under the Tier 5 Youth Mobility scheme nationals from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and Monaco can apply.

http://www.bapaa.org.uk/displaypage.asp?page=32

I was an au pair about 4 years ago in Germany and I remember even then I couldn't apply to UK families.  You could try finding an American with an additional citizenship in one of the eligible countries.  Or you could get an English speaking au pair (like a Canadian) or one from a country where they teach English really early on and in an American accent, like Germany.

I wouldn't' call it a total needle in the haystack. But you would have to hire someone who was here on a visa already, not one that needed you to sponsor them. Maybe a student or a students spouse?

Or look for an expat Childminder rather than an au pair.  They might exist, I know some of us work in childcare (I'm on maternity leave from a preschool playgroup myself).