Volunteering & Unpaid Internships

As an F-1 student, the primary purpose of your immigration status is to study within your academic program. However, you may find opportunities to work, volunteer, or participate in internships outside of Tulane. Immigration regulations and labor laws limit the kind of activities that you can do, so it is extremely important to understand the difference between employment, volunteering, and unpaid internships before you even begin looking for opportunities like this. Unauthorized work activities can cause you to lose your student immigration status. Read the information below carefully and make an appointment with the OISS whenever you have questions about employment, volunteering, or internships or if you think you need any kind of work authorization.
 

What is an Employee?

The definition of an employee used in the context of immigration regulations is as follows: “An individual who provides services or labor for an employer for wages or other remuneration.” Please note that the term “remuneration” is very broad and includes a variety of non-monetary benefits, such as free housing, food, gifts, etc.  This type of activity would definitely require authorization from OISS via CPT or OPT, unless it is on campus.
 

What is a Volunteer?

According to the Department of Labor, a volunteer is: an “individual who performs hours of service… for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation or receipt of compensation for services rendered.”

Volunteering is a great way to “make a difference,” to help people where there is need and participate in your community. As an F-1 student, you may volunteer while you study in the United States, but you must maintain your nonimmigrant student status by complying with Department of Homeland Security rules and regulations.

• To be considered a volunteer, the individual must meet the following criteria:
• No expectation of compensation
• The volunteer cannot displace a genuine employee,
• The services provided by the volunteer should not be the same services for which he or she was previously paid and/or expects to be hired and paid for in the future
• Services are performed for a non-profit organization for public service, religious or humanitarian objective.

If your opportunity qualifies as volunteering, it would not require authorization. If you are not sure, please check with OISS.
 

Unpaid Internships

Unpaid internships do not usually qualify as “volunteer” activity. Internships, both paid and unpaid, are primarily offered by the private sector and related to the intern’s major field of study. Courts have used the "primary beneficiary test" to determine whether an intern or student is, in fact, an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The following seven criteria should help determine whether an internship is to be considered a legitimate unpaid internship (and not paid employment below minimum wage, in violation of Department of Labor laws):

1. The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee-and vice versa.
2. The extent to which the internship provides training that would be similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the clinical and other hands-on training provided by educational institutions.
3. The extent to which the internship is tied to the intern's formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.
4. The extent to which the internship accommodates the intern's academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar.
5. The extent to which the internship's duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning.
6. The extent to which the intern's work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern.
7. The extent to which the intern and the employer understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.

If analysis of these circumstances reveals that an intern or student is actually an employee, then he or she is entitled to both minimum wage and overtime pay under the FLSA, and would require work authorization. On the other hand, if the analysis confirms that the intern or student is not an employee, then he or she is not entitled to either minimum wage or overtime pay under the FLSA and the opportunity can be considered an unpaid internship.

*Please Note: The courts have described the "primary beneficiary test" as a flexible test, and no single factor is determinative. Accordingly, whether an intern or student is an employee under the FLSA necessarily depends on the unique circumstances of each case.

Do F-1 students need CPT authorization to participate in unpaid internship?

CPT authorization is strongly recommended for all unpaid internships, regardless if whether the student needs to provide employment authorization documents to the company. The F-1 regulations are written in such a way that CPT is an authorization to do practical training as part of the curriculum for the academic program, and as such is significant in more ways than simply for the employer to verify employment eligibility. CPT authorization is more than just permission to get paid.

You should have CPT authorization for unpaid internships for the following reasons:

• CPT authorization by the university serves to demonstrate that this practical experience is part of the curriculum.
• CPT authorization is a way of reporting in SEVIS the student's activity, employment, and location where they are working and therefore maintaining their status.
• If ever a student is doing a job on an unpaid basis that someone would be hired and paid for, employment authorization in the form of CPT, OPT, etc. is advised.
• If the unpaid internship at some point changes into a paid one (or if your employer decides to compensate you for your work in any way – for example, give you a monetary gift), you won’t be able to accept the payment if your internship was not authorized as CPT. Please keep in mind that F-1 students cannot be retroactively remunerated or in any way compensated for work done in an unpaid internship if they did not obtain work authorization prior to when the work was performed.

Based on the above, we recommend that you apply for CPT authorization with our office if you have an internship offer (paid or unpaid) that meets CPT eligibility criteria.

If the position is unpaid and for some reason it is not possible for you to obtain CPT authorization, please make sure that your prospective supervisor is aware of U.S. Department of Labor regulations concerning unpaid internships and that you have assurances (preferably written) to that effect before you accept the position.

We also recommend that at the end of your internship you ask your employer to provide you with a letter confirming that there was no remuneration or any other type of compensation provided in any form during the dates you were participating in the internship. Please keep such a letter for your permanent records.

Schedule an appointment with an OISS advisor