Volunteering

Last updated on: 22 February 2024

Volunteering can be very rewarding and beneficial to your career progression, development and integration.

Migrants with permission to be in the UK can volunteer. Asylum-seekers and people without a current immigration status can also volunteer without obtaining permission to work.

If you have a restriction on your permission to work (as is the case for most asylum-seekers), it is important that any volunteering you undertake is not considered work. The Home Office has produced guidance about this which says:

“Key elements in establishing whether someone is a volunteer rather than an employee or worker are whether there is an obligation on the individual to perform the work, and an obligation on the organisation to provide it; and whether the individual is rewarded for the work, through money or benefits in kind.

Volunteers may be reimbursed for expenses incurred whilst volunteering, for example, for travel and food but should not receive any other payment. If any other payment is received the role may be classed as an employee or worker.”

See the government website on volunteer opportunities, rights and expenses for more information.