Home Office Letters and Job Centre Plus volunteering documents
Since 2000 it has been Home Office policy that asylum seekers are allowed to volunteer.
Asylum seekers are not allowed to do ‘Unpaid Work’ but ‘Volunteering’ is different. You are allowed to volunteer as much as you want. Contact us if you have any questions, as this can seem confusing.
We have scanned in letters from the Home Office that confirm asylum seekers can volunteer.
- Letter from the Home Office in 2002 confirming that asylum seekers can volunteer
- Home Office policy bulletin 72 (February 2005) re-affirming asylum seekers can volunteer (this is a training bulletin for staff)
Asylum seeker threatened for volunteering
In March 2009 South Yorkshire Immigration officers told an asylum seeker that she was not allowed to volunteer and that she could be deported for volunteering. This is incorrect information and we wrote to our MP explaining that asylum seekers are allowed to volunteer and asking that immigration officers be made aware of this. Richard Caborn MP took up our complaint with Liam Byrne who was the Home Office Minister at the time and this is the letter we received:
Apology letter from Liam Byrne re asylum seekers volunteering
Volunteering whilst claiming benefits
You can volunteer as many hours as you like while you are on benefits, as long as you still meet the terms for getting them.
If you are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance you need to be
- actively looking for work
- willing to stop volunteering if you get a job (you must be free to start a job with one weeks notice)
It is always a good idea to discuss your volunteering with your benefit agency so they are in the picture. If your adviser is unsure about you being allowed to volunteer whilst claiming benefits you can download the JobCentre Plus guide JCP – Volunteering on Benefits and show them this. You can also suggest they contact the Volunteer Centre.