Starting July 1, Filipinos hoping to work as au pairs in the Netherlands will find the door closed, at least for now. The Philippine Embassy in The Hague is halting its approval of au pair contracts after fielding what it described as recurring complaints about excessive working hours and inadequate compensation, according to a report by Nieuwsuur.
A government spokesperson said the pause will remain in place while authorities examine the conditions au pairs face in Dutch households. Reopening visa processing will depend on what that review turns up. The same freeze is being applied to placements bound for Germany, France, and Switzerland.
Filipinos make up the bulk of the roughly 2,000 au pairs who arrive in the Netherlands each year from outside the EU. The arrangement operates under a cultural exchange premise, intended to let host families and au pairs learn about one another’s backgrounds, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) explains. A key feature of the scheme is that it cannot function without the participation of the au pairs’ countries of origin.
For the migrant labor watchdog Fairwork, Manila’s decision came as no shock. The organization argues the structure itself leaves au pairs exposed. As Franny Parren of Fairwork put it, “Au pairs are often dependent on the family for childcare and visas. The step to come to us, and usbsequently to the labor inspectorate or the IND, is a big one.”
That dependence makes speaking up difficult, yet Fairwork has still logged a modest rise in complaints across the last three years. Au pairs report grueling schedules, work beyond what they signed up for, and intimidation. Parren noted that the gravest situations involve coercion: “In the most serious cases, there are threats regarding repatriation to the home country, for example.”
The Center for Philippine Concerns (CBC) has long disputed how the program is marketed. “For years, the au pair program has been promoted as a ‘cultural exchange,’ but in practice, many Filipino women are forced to do housework and childcare for pocket money of 300 to 350 euros per month, well below the Dutch minimum wage,” the group said.
Stopping at a visa freeze, in the CBC’s view, sidesteps the real problem. “By taking this step, Philippine au pairs are effectively denied entry to the Netherlands while little is being done to address the underlying causes of exploitation and abuse,” the group argued, pressing Manila to go further.
Dutch officials were caught off guard by the announcement. The Ministry of Justice and Security said it had registered the embassy’s decision but was “not coordinated with the Ministry in advance.” A spokesperson added that the ministry treats indications of abuse within the scheme as serious matters and is now working with relevant parties to determine the implications of Manila’s move.
The current rules already bear the marks of an earlier attempt to curb mistreatment. Back in 2021, the Ministry of Justice and Security narrowed eligibility, dropping the maximum age from 30 to 25 and barring anyone who is married or has children or foster children. The reasoning was that reducing financial dependency would make abuse less likely, though officials concede those changes did not go far enough.
Enforcement gaps extend to the middlemen as well. Agencies linking au pairs with families have drawn scrutiny, and last September the IND pulled the license of Nina Care, the country’s biggest au pair agency, citing failures to vet au pairs adequately and an inability to reach families when problems arose.
On its website, the IND acknowledges that dozens of abuse reports have surfaced in recent years. Under the rules, au pairs are limited to light duties such as shopping and cooking, capped at 30 hours weekly. In practice, many are reportedly pushed past that ceiling and handed tougher jobs, from deep cleaning to tending gardens, that fall outside what the scheme permits.
