**Enforcement Immigration Officer, Bristol

About the job

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

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.

This is a demanding role 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.

The role is 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

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

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.

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: 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

June 2026 - 6pm

specification

Essential Criteria

• 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 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.
• This role currently attracts Annualised Hours Allowance (AHA) of30.88%of salary, which equates to an additional£9,915.57per annum 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 …