Immigration Officers

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. It also aims to disrupt the organised criminal groups that exploit the vulnerable for their personal gain. Learn more on our careers pages.

The National Command and Control Unit (NCCU) is the Immigration Enforcement (IE) 24/7 first point of contact. We support the IE wider priorities by identifying immigration offenders and initiating enforcement action. We act as the first point of contact for all Clandestine events as well as being the IE Communications Hub. NCCU identifies incidents of a serious and high-profile nature and provides expert coordination and support to the management of these incidents, as well as providing out of hours support across IE.

Job description

We are seeking a dynamic, resilient individual who brings strong team ethics, personal discipline and the ability to thrive in a fast‑paced, demand‑driven environment.

Your role will be essential in supporting colleagues and helping NCCU deliver its core mission of providing an exceptional, high‑quality service. Working in a high‑profile setting, you will be part of a dedicated team responding to enquiries from police forces and law‑enforcement partners on a 24/7, 365‑day basis.

This is a primarily telephony‑based position where you will provide accurate, real‑time Immigration advice to frontline officers, clearly explaining an individual’s immigration status and authorising the appropriate course of action. You will gather, interpret and consolidate information to produce detailed referrals for the Chief Immigration Officer, and you will refer individuals for enforcement action while maintaining close links with wider Home Office partners such as Criminal Financial Investigations, Foreign National Offenders Returns Command and Intelligence units.

A crucial aspect of your work will be championing a person‑first approach. You will identify safeguarding concerns, ensuring vulnerable individuals are protected by making timely referrals or signposting them to the appropriate specialist teams. In this role, every call, assessment and decision you make directly contributes to public safety and effective immigration control.

Key Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include (but not be limited to):

• Performing in a demanding, fast-paced and pressurised working environment.
• Demonstrating strong personal resilience. This is a key element in being able to undertake the role; some of the enquiries you handle may be traumatic and upsetting.
• Demonstrating a strong sense of integrity and ethics; some of the enquiries you handle will be high profile and of a sensitive nature.
• Utilising excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work quickly, build rapport and establish good working relationships with colleagues and partners.
• Supporting the ‘person first’ culture, with a focus on individual cases, ensuring our processes enable careful assessment of any sensitivities and an individual’s vulnerability. Ensuring that vulnerable individuals are safeguarded and considering the proportionality, type and timing of any enforcement action.
• Committing to continuous improvement and the delivery of best practice. Strong candidates will demonstrate an ability to review current practices and suggest innovative ideas for improvement.

Working Pattern

This is a shift working role which is available on a full-time basis and is also suitable for part-time working hours, with a minimum requirement to work 30 hours per week due to business need.

You 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.

Training

You will receive full training and support to do the job. Training takes place initially in the classroom and then continues on the job with a mentor who supports you until you are fully confident in the role. Even then you are never alone; you work as part of a team where there is always someone around for advice and support. Further information on what the training involves can be found on our website.

Successful candidates will complete IO Core Skills training followed by an NCCU-specific course in Manchester. IO Core Skills is a pass or fail course, which you will be required to pass to carry out the role. You must be available for 5-7 weeks, including some weekends; travel and accommodation will be provided if training is away from your base location. After completing this, you will undertake two weeks of NCCU training and a mentoring period in Manchester, typically lasting two months or longer.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Ability to deliver quality results at pace, through flexibility in their approach. You must be able to prioritise their work and adapt their approach to meet tight deadlines and complete enquiries.
• Confident using their own knowledge, complex guidance, and policy to make accurate, well-judged decisions using all information available.
• Have strong written & verbal communication skills. Be able to collate information and present findings to a high standard to key stakeholders and all levels of seniority.
• Work well individually and as part of a team. Have responsibility for effective personal & team delivery.
• Be passionate about representing IE and providing excellent service delivery to stakeholders.

Desirable Criteria

• Previous experience of making decisions in a fast-paced environment.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• 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.
• Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office.
• This role currently attracts Annualised Hours Allowance (AHA) of37.33%of salary which equates to an additional £11,534per annum based on salary minimum. Further information can be found on our 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.

1. Application – by 01 April 2026

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

• Personal Statement (maximum 500 words).
• Evidence of the Behaviour Making Effective Decisions maximum of 250 words per Behaviour).

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 and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.

2. Sift – week commencing 6 April 2026

The sift will be held on the Personal Statement and Lead Behaviour Making Effective Decisions.

Should a high volume of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will then be progressed to a full sift which will consist of the remaining element submitted (Lead Behaviour).

Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the initial sift will not have their remaining submitted element scored and will only receive a sift score for that assessed at the initial sift.

3. Interview – week commencing 27 April 2026

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be Behaviours (as listed in the job advert) and Strength based questions.

All behaviours listed in the selection process will be scored at the interview.

The interview will take place in person at Priory Court, Dover.

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

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

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.

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.

Further Information

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.

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.

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.

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_v16_January_2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 429kB)2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)