Couple upset after overseas agency charges would-be nanny $3,500 fee
The Province
July 17, 2008 
By: Ian Austin

A Richmond couple is slamming as "ludicrous" a $3,500 fee their would-be Filipina nanny must pay before she can come to Canada to look after their nine-month-old daughter.

Teachers Ramon and Verena Klose paid $500 to … to find them a nanny. After interviewing four prospects, Verena chose Bingclaire Castillo, a Filipina maid working in Singapore.

Verena says she was shocked when she found out that Castillo won't be allowed to come until she has paid an agency in Asia a $3,500 "relocation fee."

"I'm quite outraged," said Verena, who has had to put off plans to teach summer school and now may be faced with finding another child-care solution for daughter Keira before returning to teaching full-time in September. "That's ludicrous, absolutely ludicrous.

"She's essentially paying to work even before she's got the job."…

Immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said the government could make life simpler for would-be nannies and families looking for nannies by adding a nanny category to the Service Canada website.

"The solution is so technically simple it's embarrassing," said Kurland. "If you go to the Service Canada website, you can advertise jobs or look for jobs -- that's it.

"Why can't they simply include nannies?"

He said the website could also warn families and nannies not to pay huge fees….