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After my involvement with the Department for International Development came to an end I was determined to maintain an involvement in Romania if only because my fiancee, an interpreter who looks after visiting politicians and the like, and who oversees my business interests in Romania, remained there. In 2000 I started training and recruiting Romanian social workers to take up employment in the UK. I also operate in Albania, Zimbabwe and Kenya. So far over 30 Romanians have started employment here. Everyone who comes to the UK for interviews gets a job without exception. I had been thinking about the possibility of bringing Romanians to the UK as au pairs for some time and even wrote to the British Embassy in Bucharest about it only to receive a discouraging response. Then one day to my surprise I discovered that Romania was to be brought into the Au Pair Visa Scheme as from December 18th 2002. AA works with partners who are based in Bucharest, Iasi and Cluj-Napoca. These are well established colleagues who have assisted AA over the years in relation to other activity in Romania. In the UK AA operates in partnership with Romanian and other social workers who have taken up employment in this country but act as AA agents as part of the au pair business. Upon receipt of an application from a potential host family you will be contacted by a local agent who will discuss your requirements personally with you. You will then be forwarded details of potentially suitable au pairs and a time will be arranged for you to phone those in whom you are interested. Once an au pair has arrived in the UK to take up placement your local agent will contact you to see that all is well after the first few days and then again a few weeks later. In the rare event that the placement is at risk of breakdown the agent will assist to overcome any difficulties. In addition the agent will maintain contact with the au pair introducing her to other Romanians and helping her adapt to life in the UK. Romanians can only stay in the UK for a maximum of 2 years under the au pair visa scheme.
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