If you are an international student coming to UCL,and you are interested in volunteering then there are a few things you can do before you arrive to make the process a bit easier.

1. Get a copy of your police record from your home country

UK regulations require anyone working with children, young people or vulnerable adults to produce evidence that they have no relevant criminal convictions. If you wish to volunteer on projects working with these groups, it will be very much quicker if you have a copy of your record.

2. Ensure that you have a student visa that entitles you to work

Under Home Office regulations, volunteering counts as 'work'. This means that if you do not have the right to work, you will not be able to volunteer.

The Home Office have recently revised their rules and introduced a new category of 'Student Visitor' for students who are in the UK for less than six months. You will be unable to work or volunteer with a Student Visitor visa. Please ensure that you have a full student visa before you travel - if you want to change your status once you are in the UK, you will be required to return to your country of origin. Each year we see several students who are unable to volunteer because they do not have the correct visa.

For more information, visit UCL's International Office

Alternatively, contact the Union's Rights and Advice Centre: uclu-rights.advice@ucl.ac.uk

3. Get contact details from three referees

All of our projects ask for references for their volunteers. Before you come, ask three people if they can act as referees. These should be people who have known you in a professional capacity for at least two years, and they should be people who are easy to contact - get an up to date postal and email address, phone and fax number.

You can contact us before you arrive simply by emailing volunteering@ucl.ac.uk.

The VSU is open to everyone, and we've got hundreds of community projects just waiting for you.

To find out what other international students say about volunteering, click on the links below.

Saadetu Yahaya
Ammar Humadi