Employment
Refugees have permission to work. Asylum seekers arriving before 23rd July 2002 may also have permission to work, but those arriving after this date generally do not. The statement of permission to work or prohibition from working is on the Home Office documents or the ARC. The Home Office currently makes an initial decision about most asylum claims within 2 months. However, if they have not made this decision in one year and the delay is not the applicant’s fault, he/she can apply to the Home Office for permission to work at this time. This can also be done at a later stage (even during the appeal process) as long as it took more than 12 months for the initial decision to be made.Applications should be made in writing and should include the asylum seeker’s Home Office reference number. The address is:
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Lunar House, 40 Wellesley Road Croydon, Surrey CR9 2BY |
Once an asylum seeker has permission to work, they retain this permission until the final decision is made about their claim (including through the appeal process).
Volunteering
Refugees and asylum seekers are allowed to volunteer. In fact, the Home Office is keen to encourage asylum seekers and refugees to volunteer. They emphasise, however, that in the case of asylum seekers, it is important to understand that there is no connection between volunteering and a positive decision on a claim for asylum. Also there are some restrictions for asylum seekers volunteering (see below). There are no restrictions for refugees.
They also emphasise that organisations that have asylum seekers as volunteers need to ensure that the activity being undertaken by an asylum seeker is genuinely voluntary and does not amount to employment. If the work involved is unpaid and is carried out on behalf of a charity, voluntary organisation or body that raises funds for either or if it is in the public sector then it will be accepted for immigration law purposes as volunteering. The volunteer can be paid for travel, lunch and other costs actually incurred, but cannot be paid a flat-rate allowance. It is a good idea for asylum seekers who are doing voluntary work to inform NASS of this activity.
If you have any queries about this, you can contact:
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Refugee Integration Section (Volunteering) 6th Floor, Apollo House 36 Wellesley Road, Croydon, CR9 3RR |
Two useful practical sites for volunteering:
