**Enforcement Immigration Officer

Job summary

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

Immigration Enforcement is responsible for enforcing the government’s immigration laws, tackling illegal migration, removing foreign national offenders and immigration offenders from the UK. We also aim to disrupt the organised criminal groups that exploit the vulnerable for their personal gain. Learn more on our careers pages.

This is a frontline operational role where your actions make a real difference to public safety and the reduction of harm.

You will play a crucial role in protecting the UK and its citizens. Join us and be part of a team that makes a real difference. Your skills, dedication, and passion can help shape the future of Immigration Enforcement. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

Job description

We are recruiting Immigration Officers to join our frontline Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) teams and our Reporting and Offender Management Teams (ROM).

You will be required to choose one of two roles available in each location (except Folkestone and Stansted, which are ICE only locations).

As an Immigration Officer, you will work as part of a professional team carrying out a wide range of operational duties. The role is varied and fast paced, requiring you to engage confidently with individuals, assess risk, and make balanced decisions in situations that can be complex or challenging. You will be expected to act with integrity, apply sound judgement, and remain calm and professional under pressure.

These roles are demanding roles that calls for resilience and a strong sense of responsibility. You will be trusted to handle sensitive situations and contribute directly to protecting communities and supporting a fair and effective immigration system.

We are looking for people with the right behaviours and mindset rather than a single background or career path. Strong communication skills, teamwork and a willingness to learn are essential, and you will be supported to develop your capability and confidence in the role.

These roles are physically demanding and requires a high level of mobility and fitness, wearing heavy Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), often for lengthy periods.

You may be required to undertake the same or a similar role within a different team or teams (where possible, at your base location or within reasonable travel distance), depending on business priorities. With appropriate training and support, this will provide opportunities to broaden both your experience and skill set.

In return, you will gain valuable operational experience and the opportunity to build a meaningful career within Immigration Enforcement and the wider Home Office.

Working for Immigration Enforcement video (youtube.com)

Key Responsibilities

For both roles, the successful candidate will be responsible for (but not limited to):

• Protecting and safeguarding the vulnerable, sign posting and making appropriate referrals to both internal and external stakeholders
• Identifying, arresting, and detaining immigration offenders while conducting residential and commercial enforcement visits
• Conducting enforcement visit, including completing property and person searches, collecting, preserving, and recording evidence. Attending court to obtain search warrants and providing witness statements to support criminal prosecutions
• As Officer in Charge (on enforcement visits) directing officers, conducting briefings/de-briefings and completing risk assessments
• Completing evidence-based referrals to other agencies for issuing of fines and compliance notices
• Engaging with communities and partner agencies across government and conducting compliance visits to educate employers
• Gathering intelligence, demonstrating a genuine interest in people by asking questions, maintaining an inquisitive and open mind, and engaging with empathy
• Conducting database checks, closely examining documents, writing reports and inputting data on internal operating systems and handheld devices
• Conducting marriage interviews in line with legislative and operational requirements (Does not apply at Folkestone)
• Maintaining regular contact, either face to face or by telephone, with individuals required to report at Reporting Centres or Police Stations. (Does not apply at Folkestone)

Working Pattern

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis.

Successful candidates will need to be able to attend for all shifts including early starts, late night finishes, and overnight shifts. These shifts may be outside of public transport operating hours.

ROM Immigration Officers will need to be available for a range of shifts, but over the 12-month period they will be required to do less shift work than an ICE Immigration Officer. The lower AHW allowance rates reflect this reduced shift working in the ROMs, providing greater flexibility.

ROM roles require less weekend work (approx. 6 shifts per year) and night hours. Night hours (11pm-6am) are typically required around once per week and are planned in advance where possible.

You must be at least 18 years of age at the time of submitting your application. You will be required to work between 22.00 and 06.00, so this is a legal requirement. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/night-working-hours

Training

We will give you full and comprehensive training which will enable you to carry out this worthwhile and varied role. You will need to undertake an Immigration Officer Core Skills training programme if successful, this is a pass or fail course, which you will be required to pass to carry out the role. Subject to availability of pathway training courses, our new starters will be required to commence a shift working pattern before training begins of 3-4 weeks. You will be expected to be available for 5-7 weeks for the course which may include weekends and if the venue is away from your base location travel and accommodation costs will be met by the business.

Upon completion of the training course, you will undertake in house mentoring with your team, to allow you to exercise and put into practice the training received, allowing you to complete the pathway training. This mentoring period can normally take 12 months for completion.

Further information on what the training involves can be found on our website.

Eventbrite

If you want to learn more about these roles, you can join one of our free online live events, during which you will hear from staff about what the job is like, what opportunities and career prospects you may have, and why the job matters. We will also talk about the recruitment and security vetting processes, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions from our friendly and experienced team members.

28th May 2025 - 1pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/learn-about-immigration-officer-roles-in-immigration-enforcement-tic…

3rd June 2026 - 6pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/learn-about-immigration-officer-roles-in-immigration-enforcement-tic…

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Provide confirmation of your preferred role (ICE role or ROM role dependant on location) within your personal statement
• Remains composed, flexible, and reliable when working under pressure or in a demanding fast-paced environment
• Proven experience of building rapport with the public and stakeholders, to support outcomes. Confident in handling challenging conversations, expressing ideas and responding to feedback
• Strong capability to plan, coordinate and manage varied workloads, across competing priorities, while maintaining accurate records and timely task completion
• Ability to deliver fair, professional, and high quality service to individuals from diverse backgrounds, handling challenging or resistant behaviour confidently
• Track record of building strong business relationships, working closely with colleagues and stakeholders to achieve shared goals
• Able to gather and assess information, identify risks or issues, and make clear, evidence based decisions

Desirable Criteria

• Experience working within law enforcement, security, regulatory, or other sensitive data‑handling environments

Licences

Due to the nature of the work and the geographical area, driving is a key requirement for this role. Applicants must have a full valid UK manual/automatic driving licence. You will be required to present your full valid UK driving licence at interview.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

In addition to your salary, a career with the Home Office offers a range of benefits, including:

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
• 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service to 30 days.
• Eight days of public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.https://careers.homeoffice.gov.uk/allowances#annual-hours
• The ROM role, allowance of between 22.17% to 24.19%, which equates to an additional £7,118.79 or £7,767.41 based on salary minimum.
• The ICE role, allowance of between 31.49% to 34.15%, which equates to an additional £10,414.69 or £11,294.43 based on salary minimum.
• Further information can be found on our website.

See more of our benefits on our careers website.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised.

As part of the application process, you will first be asked to confirm your eligibility by providing some basic personal information.

After submission of this first stage, you will be invited to complete the following Civil Service Judgement test.

1. Online Test – by 8th June 2026

If you successfully pass the Civil Service Judgement test, you will be invited to complete the full application form. Please complete the online test as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended). If you fail to complete the online test or full application before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn.

Guidance for the Civil Service test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The online test is accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website.

You cannot complete the test on a mobile phone or tablet.

Following successful completion of your test, you will then be asked to complete the full application form.

Our online test supplier will be performing scheduled maintenance between 31st May 2026 (4pm to midnight) and 7th June 2026 (4pm to 7pm). You will be unable to access tests during this period.

If you are in the middle of a test when the maintenance begins, your progress will be paused. You will be able to resume your test from where you left off via your application centre once the downtime has ended. Please note that you will not be able to launch any new tests while the system is offline.

2. Application – by 8th June 2026

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

• Personal Statement (maximum 750 words).
• Please capture your preferred role in your Personal Statement

The Personal Statement should be aligned to and demonstrate how you meet the skills and experience set out in the essential criteria, detailed in the job description.

For guidance and information on how to construct your application (Personal Statement), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.

3. Sift – 10th June 2026

The sift will be held on the Personal Statement.

4. Interview – 1st July 2026

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be Behaviour and Strength based questions.

In addition, candidates will be asked to prepare a 5 minute presentation that will be delivered at interview. The presentation question/scenario will be disclosed at the interview.

The presentation will be assessed against 'Behaviours' on the 'Success Profiles' and will be specifically assessed against the Behaviour Making Effective Decisions.

You will need to drive fleet vehicles, and you must bring your valid driving licence with you at the time of interview.

The interviews will take place in person at a Home Office building in Felixstowe, Folkestone, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Stansted.

Travel expenses will not be reimbursed.

For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers.

Candidates who are successful at interview will be placed in order of merit per location and role and provisional job offers will be made in strict merit order per location and role preference.

Problems during the application process

If you experience problems accessing this advert, or you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application, please contact hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, including the vacancy reference, at least two working days before the vacancy closes. Further information can be found on our website.

Do not create or attempt to submit another application, online test or use a different Civil Service Jobs account to proceed as this would be in violation of the candidate declaration.

Reserve List

Reserve lists will be held for each location and role. Candidates will be appointed in merit order by location and role.

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer. Further information can be found on our website: https://careers.homeoffice.gov.uk/reserve-lists

Breaking Tied Scores

The behaviours, experience and strengths have been ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores.

Appearance

This is a uniformed post and as such requires the highest standards. Further information on this and policies regarding tattoos can be found on our website.

Standards

All Civil Servants are expected to comply with the Civil Service Code, and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

Integrity Check

As well as successfully obtaining UK Security Vetting clearance, you will also be subject to an additional Integrity Check, as part of the pre-employment process, to determine your suitability to work for Border Force or Immigration Enforcement. For further information on what this involves, please visit our website.

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs

• Complete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Criminal Record Check

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct.

If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Home Office Resourcing Centre
• Email : HORCCampaignTeamIE@homeoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. and you wish to make a complaint, then contact the Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Candidate_Information_v17_April_2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 207kB)2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)