My F2 wife wants to work as a volunteer in a lab

M

mitradipanjan

New Member
Hi my wife is a F2 visa holder at Virginia Tech. She wants to work in a research lab at VTech on a volunteer basis. She WILL NOT take any MONEY or WILL NOT USE THE TIME SPENT IN LAB FOR CREDIT HOURS FOR A DEGREE. However she would like to use the time spent in lab as experience when she applies for her graduate study. The research lab rejected her saying that she can only work in charitable organization like YMCA. My question is that Is she within her legal status to work as a volunteer in a research lab specially if she is not taking any money or using the time as credit hours. Why is the lab rejecting her? Do they have any legal ground to reject her.

Please help me if you can.
 
yes. they were right to reject her. SHe cannot volunteer for a for-profit organization in a position that is usually paid for. That is, if they were to get a person legally authorized to work in the States for this position, would this person be paid? if the answer is yes, your wife cannot work there, even if she volunteers.
 
It depends on the university as well as the lab. I am in California at Berkeley and my wife works as a volunteer in a laboratory at UC Berkeley. However, Stanford said they were not allowed to take volunteers.
 
I suggest that your wife try in the state universities and not in private universities as only "Educational Institutions" that are not for profit are allowed to take volunteers.
 
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