{"id":2981,"date":"2026-06-24T13:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/?page_id=2981"},"modified":"2026-06-24T13:30:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:30:33","slug":"volunteering","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/international-students\/off-campus-student-employment-training\/volunteering\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteering"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Not all off-campus or external activities require ISSO or USCIS authorization.<\/p>\n<p>Students may volunteer for civic, charitable, or religious organizations without pay (e.g., charity events, nonprofits, places of worship). Volunteering can build community and professional connections.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few guidelines to help you determine if the service you wish to perform is an appropriate volunteer opportunity:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Service is for civic, charitable, or humanitarian purposes<\/li>\n<li>Work primarily benefits the organization (not you)<\/li>\n<li>No compensation or items of value are provided (i.e. housing)<\/li>\n<li>No expectation of future employment or payment<\/li>\n<li>Role is not typically paid and does not displace a U.S. worker<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If unsure, contact your ISSO advisor or an immigration attorney before starting.<\/p>\n<p>Note: Required internships or course-related placements may not qualify as volunteering and may require <a href=\"\/isso\/international-students\/off-campus-student-employment-training\/curricular-practical-training-cpt\/\">CPT<\/a> or other authorization\u2014even if unpaid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not all off-campus or external activities require ISSO or USCIS authorization. Students may volunteer for civic, charitable, or religious organizations without pay (e.g., charity events, nonprofits, places of worship). Volunteering can build community and professional connections. There are a few guidelines to help you determine if the service you wish to perform is an appropriate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10133,"featured_media":0,"parent":2031,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2981"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4026,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2981\/revisions\/4026"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}