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Volunteering

kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
edited November 2010 in Everything Else
Though I haven't posted in a long time and I'm not sure this is the right place to ask I'm still going to give it a try.

I'm searching for volunteering opportunities from late Winter to late Spring in the US. As I'm not American but German I have no idea where to start and if it is even possible. I'd prefer to do something to do with arts and culture or wildlife, but I'm really open for any suggestions. So do any of you guys have any ideas?

Comments

  • SailSail
    Where in the US?
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    Where in the US?
    To be honest I don't really care. I'd prefer to volunteer either in a big city (Seattle, Chicago, New York) or somewhere "deserted", where you can go hiking in your free time and have a lot of space.
  • ShiamShiam
    What in particular are you looking for? Are you looking for a volunteering opportunity that will help with visa stuff or are you coming over on your own?
    If you want something with wildlife both zoos, and the National/State Park service would be good groups to contact. Yellowstone in particular has a fairly strong program to bring people in, but I don't think they're generally volunteer positions. If you don't need/want to deal with visa stuff through an organization, figure out how to get here and whether you need a work visa. Just about any charitable organization has volunteer positions available, and you just need to contact them.
    If you want hiking in your free time, I'd suggest going more west, California, Washington, Colorado. The east and south have hiking available, but I think they tend to require more travel to get to. If you can stand the heat and dryness New Mexico is beautiful.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    My plan was just to come over on my own for a month or two and volunteer in a National Park. I'm not sure about the visa stuff but it seems the park you volunteer at takes care of it. After reading a bit about the different National Parks and regions in the US I've decided that the west coast would be more appealing to me - the further north the better.
  • AprecheApreche
    Check the Audobon Society.
  • ShiamShiam
    My plan was just to come over on my own for a month or two and volunteer in a National Park. I'm not sure about the visa stuff but it seems the park you volunteer at takes care of it. After reading a bit about the different National Parks and regions in the US I've decided that the west coast would be more appealing to me - the further north the better.
    For the visa stuff, as far as I know, if you get an organization to sponsor you(as it sounds like you're doing), they'll do mostly only the paperwork on their end but will help you in applying. I'm not quite sure how it works for volunteer positions, but leaving the US for a study abroad the school basically just gave a proof of intent and residence availability. Also note that visa paperwork tends to take 3-6 months to process.
    If you're interested in the National parks, just start contacting them. I know Yellowstone has a large program for bringing people in during the summer to staff the park. The Seattle area is also really nice, but I don't know west coast as much as I do the middle of the US.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    I've started contacting national parks in Washington.

    Do you think I really need a visa for doing one month of volunteer work in the US?
  • ChurbaChurba
    I've started contacting national parks in Washington.

    Do you think I really need a visa for doing one month of volunteer work in the US?
    From Germany? Yes, I think you do. Even for a Visa Exemption, you have to give notice and apply for it.
  • ShiamShiam
    IANAL
    Generally if you are doing anything other than tourism you need a visa. In theory you could get away with tourist stamp(basic passport stamp), which if you are only here for a month is long enough. The problem is if you want to be here longer, and whether volunteering counts as work(check with http://travel.state.gov/visa/). While you probably could get away with volunteering on a tourist stamp, if it is considered work doing it on a tourist stamp would be illegal, and can get you deported. This is the sort of thing you want to be very sure about, contact your local US consulate or email the US gov. for information.
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