Select Committee on Home Affairs Additional Written Evidence


63.  Sixteenth supplementary memorandum submitted by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home Office

TRAINING TO IND (NON-ASYLUM) CASEWORKERS

  1.  The IND College provides training programmes for non asylum caseworkers lasting between four and 15 days. The programmes support trainees to develop the skills required to deal with non asylum immigration and nationality casework in accordance with the relevant legislation and case law. The programmes include the following casework areas:

—  General immigration, including Human Rights awareness.

—  European including an introduction to the EEA and Treaty Rights.

—  Nationality.

—  Work Permits.

—  Students.

—  Marriage.

  Annex A details the range of training courses on casework issues currently in place.

  2.  All programmes include the granting of applications as well as refusals and rights of appeal and how to complete a refusal letter and supporting documentation. Working on case studies is one of the methods used to support and reinforce training.

  3.  The College has a number of business sponsors who approve training material and act as evaluators of the courses. The College also uses a number of business expert trainers who co-deliver many of our programmes. This ensures that course materials remain current and up to date.

REFUSAL TRAINING

  4.  Specific training is provided to staff on the preparation of refusal letters. Trainees are given guidance on how to complete refusal letters with emphasis placed upon giving full reasons for refusal.

  5.  Guidance is co-ordinated electronically by the trainers via the document generator system (Doc Gen), upon which the refusal letters are created prior to quality assessment and despatch.

  6.  Senior caseworkers are on hand to provide guidance and assistance to caseworkers and undertake sample checks on this area of work to ensure accuracy and consistency.

  7.  In the Nationality Group: Where a refusal is on the grounds that an unwaivable requirement is not met, trainees are guided to a series of refusal letter templates to adapt to the circumstances. More specific guidance is given by trainers where an application is to be refused at discretion where a waivable requirement has not been met, with reference being made, where appropriate to precedent cases.

  8.  Further guidance on the completion of refusal letters is given during mentoring following formal training. This is given via the use of relevant case studies with which each trainee must complete a file minute and refusal letter that is quality assessed by the trainers.

11 July 2006

Annex A


General Group
1.
General Group Caseworker Course—5 Weeks (2.5 weeks classroom training and 2.5 weeks mentoring.

Areas covered:Reference Sources
Immigration Control
Application Forms
Endorsement Stamps
Police Registration
Common Travel Area
Considerations
Section 118
Visitors (General)
Business Visitors
Academic Visitors
ADS Visitors
Entry Clearance Referrals/Deferrals
Medical Treatment
Prospective Students
Students
Student Nurses and Midwifes
Dependants of Students
SEGs and Fresh
Security Arrangements
Postgraduate Doctors and Dentists
Finance(e)
Marriage Probationary Period
Marriage—Settlement
Unmarried Partners
Bereaved Spouses
Domestic Violence
Missionaries/Members of Religious Orders/MOR
Domestic Workers
O/s Gov Employees andurnalists, Writers/Composers/Artistes, UK Ancestry, Au Pairs
Japan YES, WHM, SAWs, BUNAC, Teachers/Lang Assistants
Work Permit Employment
Children under 18
Abandoned Children
Children Born in UK
Adoption
Parents Exercising Rights of Access
Careers
ELR/HP/DL and LTR Outside the Rules
Long Residence
Armed Forces
Exemption from Immigration Control
NTL/TOC/Returning Residents
ECAA
Human Rights
Re-visit Course Aims and Objectives
General Group and Workpermits
2.
RFRL—Reasons for Refusal Letters: 2 day course
Areas covered:RFRL—Overview
Using a RFRL
Completing a RFRL
Human Rights and Considerations
Appeals
Flagging
Work PermitsThis programme has only been running since April 2005 with IND College involvement—all training prior to this was done on teams.
3.
WP(UK) Caseworker Induction: 5 days
Areas coveredWP(UK) Overview
Eligibility to apply for a Work Permit—Introduction, Employer, Representative
Conditions of Employment
Pre-sifting/Risk Assessment
Business and Commercial Introduction, Tier 1
Refusals
TBC: Word, Outlook, Excel, Windows Explorer, Horizon
GLOBE
Business and Commercial Tier 2
Eligibility to apply for a Work Permanent—Contracts
Reviews
4.
WP(UK) Overview: 1 day course
Areas coveredWP(UK) Leave to Remain Overview
Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP)
Workers Registration Scheme (WRS)
5.
TWES Training: 1 day course
Areas coveredTWES: Introduction, Training, Work Experience, Student Internships
6.
Sector Based Scheme: 1 day course
Areas coveredSector Based Scheme
Sponsored Researchers
7.
HSMP Training: 17 days (7 days classroom, 10 days mentoring)
Areas coveredOverview of HO, IND, MM, WP(UK), BSU, General Settlement, HR
Pension Scheme. Health and Welfare, Security, Equal Opps
HSMP Overview
Application Process
Freedom of Information
MBA
Age Allowance
Work Experience, NARIC
Past Earnings
Significant/Exceptional Achievement
Priority Applications
Partners Achievement
8.
WP(LTR) Caseworker Training: 15 days: (7 days classroom, 8 days mentoring)
Areas coveredIntroduction to WP(LTR) casework
Immigration Control
Landings cards
Endorsements
Police Registration
Switching
FLR(ED)
Recognition of degrees and sponsorships
Public Funds
Working Holiday Maker
Dependants
Introduction to G-Cid and Doc Gen
Grant scenarios (including WICU)
Adept
GLOBE
Common Travel Area
Student Overview
Doctors and Dentists
SEGS
FT: WSS
Innovators
Work Permits Overview
HSMP
SBS
SAWS
Public Funds
9.
Worker Registration: 3 days
Areas coveredTBC: Knowledge Base, Word, Outlook, Horizon, Windows
Dispatch
Inputting and Scanning
Caseworking Overview
10.
WP(LTR) Refusal Notice Workshop: 2 days
Areas coveredMaking the Decision to Refuse
Appeal Rights
Refusal Notices and Associated Documents
Constructing Refusal Notice
Curtailment
Passport Signals





 
previous page contents

House of Commons home page Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries index

© Parliamentary copyright 2006
Prepared 23 July 2006