Immigration Officer – Job Description

  
Immigration Officer – Job Description

Main Duties

An immigration officers job is to work at border controls. They will check the passports of people entering the UK to make sure that they have right of entry. The job would therefore take place at an airport, ferry port or the channel tunnel.

Some immigration officers get involved with specific cases, removing illegal immigrants from the country or detaining them.

Employer would be the UK Border Agency which is part of the Home Office.

Work involves 36 hours a week minimum and it would consist of shifts that could be nights, weekends and public holidays as the borders need to be staffed all of the time.

Expected Salary

The starting salary for the job would be £21,505, slightly higher if work was in London and there would be a London weighting added on additionally.

Pros

A good starting salary and the security of working for the civil service.

Get to meet lots of different people, which will keep things interesting.

Clear promotion route with opportunities to be promoted to higher grades or moving sideways to other roles.

Great job satisfaction knowing that you are responsible for keeping people in the UK safe.

Cons

Many areas where immigration officers work are very busy, which means that the job can potentially be stressful as there is a pressure to work quickly, but also be very observant.

The shift work can be difficult with regards to broken sleep patterns. It may also interfere with social and family life where relevant.

Qualifications Required

You must normally be a graduate with a degree or HND but subject is not important, although language skills are an advantage in some jobs.

You must be a UK national, having lived in the UK for the last five years with no restrictions on your stay in the UK.

You will need to obtain security clearance and at interview stage will be expected to complete a security questionnaire.

You will need to give a health declaration and may need to attend a medical.

Training will be given to new recruits which will consist of a nine week course to learn the rules and regulations, interview techniques, how to deal with customers and report writing.

Required Skills
Organisational skillsListening skillsPatienceGood written and oral communicationCommon senseAttention to detailReliableCalm under stressAble to meet tight deadlinesConfident and responsibleAble to work in a team and on ownA firm approach as well as polite and tactful