Seven gates. Most people don’t get through.
Screening is only worth something if it can fail someone. Here is exactly where ours does — and, at the bottom, exactly what it cannot do.
What each one is, and what it fails people on.
Application and the first call
Role, years, languages, availability and the salary she expects — taken down in writing, in her words. We ask why she left the last two households before we ask anything else.
Identity and address
Government photo ID and PAN, seen in the original — not a photograph forwarded on WhatsApp. Current and previous addresses, each supported by a document we keep on file.
Two employers, telephoned by us
We ring two named people who actually employed her, and we write down what they said in their words. Not a letter of recommendation she brought with her; those are worth nothing and everyone in this market knows it.
Work history and the gaps in it
Dated and in order. Where a year is missing we ask why, and the answer goes into the profile whether or not it flatters her. A gap is not a disqualification. An unexplained gap is.
Interviewed, as a conversation
Usually the first one over video call, so she is not losing a day’s pay and a day’s travel to reach us. Handling, feeding, hygiene, sleep, and what she would actually do in an emergency — scored against a fixed rubric, not a feeling.
Registration and health
For nurses, the State Nursing Council register, checked as current — not read off the certificate she shows us. For everyone, a signed health declaration and a fitness certificate where the role calls for one.
Consent and a signed declaration
She signs to say her answers are true, consents to police verification being filed in your name, and consents to us sharing the profile with families considering hiring her. Nothing leaves us without it.
Every line is labelled, or it doesn’t go in.
This is a real profile structure, with the details changed. It is what arrives in your inbox before you meet anyone.
Employer 3 (2017–2019) has moved abroad and the number is unreachable. Police verification is submitted but not yet returned. We have not verified anything about her family or her finances, and we have not tested her for anything we do not list above.
The last box is the one that matters. Every profile ends with what we could not confirm — and it is never empty.
Filed in your name, because that is the only way it works.
In Maharashtra, domestic-help police verification is applied for by the employing household, at your local police station or through the Mumbai Police citizen portal. An agency cannot file it for you, and any agency that says it already has one on file for her is describing something else.
What we do
- Collect her signed consent to verification before we ever send you her profile
- Prepare the complete file — the form, her photographs, ID and address proofs, and both previous addresses
- Walk you through the submission, and tell you the day it comes back
- Record the submission date on the profile, so a pending check is visible rather than implied
What we cannot do
- File it in our own name, or hand you a certificate that is not addressed to your household
- Promise a turnaround — stations vary from days to several weeks
- Search a national criminal-records database, because no such database is open to private companies in India
What screening cannot do.
We would rather lose the enquiry than let you believe something that is not true. So, plainly:
India has no criminal-records database a private company may search. Anyone promising you a “complete criminal check” or a “fully verified” caregiver is overstating what exists.
Two employers telling us she was reliable for four years is real evidence. It is not a prediction. We quote them to you exactly, so you can weigh them yourself.
We present findings. We do not guarantee behaviour, honesty or performance, and no honest agency can. Screening reduces risk; it cannot remove it.
You engage her directly, you pay her directly, and you supervise her. Dear One is a search and introduction service, and the written agreement says so before you pay us anything.
An employer who has moved abroad. A number that no longer connects. A year she cannot document. Each one is written into the profile under What we could not confirm.
If a placement goes badly we want to hear it, and if she leaves within 30 days we run one replacement search at no further fee. That is a replacement search — not an unlimited guarantee.
Questions about screening
Do you do background checks on nannies in Mumbai?
We do everything a private company lawfully can: government photo ID and PAN seen in the original, both addresses documented, two previous employers telephoned by us and quoted to you in their own words, a scored in-person interview, a signed health declaration, and for nurses a State Council registration checked as current. What we cannot do is search a national criminal-records database, because India does not have one open to private companies.
Is police verification included?
We prepare the entire file and walk you through the submission, but the application is filed by your household at your local station or through the Mumbai Police citizen portal — that is the only form of it that is real. We record the date it was submitted on the profile and tell you the day it returns.
How many applicants actually get through?
A minority. The most common failures are a reference who cannot be reached, an account that changes between the first call and the second, and an unexplained gap in the work history that stays unexplained.
What does “pending” mean on a profile?
Requested, not yet returned — and dated, so you can see how long it has been waiting. We would rather show you a dated pending item than quietly leave it off.
Can I speak to her references myself?
Yes. We telephone them and write down what they said, and if you want to ring them yourself we will ask her consent and pass on the numbers. Nothing about her is shared without her written consent.
What happens if something is wrong after she starts?
Tell us immediately. If she leaves within 30 days of starting we run one replacement search at no further fee. If something serious comes to light we will tell you what we knew, when we knew it, and what we missed.
Tell us about your family.
Five minutes, and we call you within one working day.