The ISU can offer full union coverage for people working within Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and Home Office Customer Services and Visas. We also cover people working for the F&CO based all around the world as well as other Immigration based departments of the Home Office. 

We are recognised to represent members in the AO to SO and equivalent grades within the Operational Arm of Home Office in Borders Force, Immigration Enforcement and Home Office Customer Services and Visas. For those members we are able to negotiate pay and terms and conditions of service.

We also have a number of members who are at different grades or who work in different areas, or indeed other Government departments. For those members we cannot participate in formal collective bargaining processes but can otherwise offer the full range of membership benefits and services, including personal representation. We frequently represent members in many different locations and roles and will happily support members wherever they might be.

As a paying member of the ISU, you are entitled to personal representation if you require assistance with an issue. We have representatives in ports and offices across the country as well as a national casework manager and a member of the NEC dedicated to assisting members based overseas. 

In addition to the presence at air and seaports, Border Force also maintains a maritime presence around the UK coast – a fleet of vessels patrols our waters to deter and intercept unauthorised landings on our shores.

Our members on the Border Force Cutters have achieved spectacular successes, for instance intercepting people smugglers and playing vital roles in multi-agency operations to combat cross-border organised crime. The cutters also deployed to the Mediterranean to support the international humanitarian effort in response to the refugee crisis in 2015.

Life on the waves is rarely glamorous of course – and our people live and work in difficult conditions aboard ship for weeks on end. Due to the nature of the work our members are engaged in, they are exposed to all sorts of risk. Health and Safety is paramount in this environment. The tragedies witnessed on deployments can lead to our members needing help with PTSD or other health issues. 

ISU members in Immigration Enforcement ( IE ) work to prevent abuse of UK immigration law, tracing and removing foreign nationals illegally in the UK and targeting criminals profiting from illegal immigration. They are the ‘after entry’ part of Border Control, processing illegal entrants who, for example, have entered the UK clandestinely in the backs of lorries or who have failed to comply with conditions imposed on entry by Border Force.

This is some of the most challenging work in the public sector, often involving physical arrest of dangerous individuals who present serious risk to the UK public. Our people are out on the streets day and night, working in closely knit teams to combat immigration crime.

The results ISU members in Immigration Enforcement produce are too often unsung but bring great value to this country and contribute enormously to making our communities safer.

IE also have substantial case-working teams. Responsibilities include excluding foreign criminals from the country and arranging for deportation of foreign national prisoners in UK prisons. IE also handle regular reporting for offenders with pending applications or legal challenges – and arrange removals at the end of the process, including by chartered removal flights.

There are also dedicated Crime and Intelligence teams focussed on fighting serious, organised immigration crime around the country and with significant international aspects – with numerous very high profile and noteworthy successes.

ISU members in Home Office Customer Services and Visa carry out wide-ranging functions within the immigration system.

• Managing UK visa issuing operations at British Embassies and High Commissions around the world
• Running Public Enquiry Offices in the UK and ‘Managed Migration’ case-working Teams, who decide all ‘in country’ applications for extensions of stay, up to and including permanent residency
• Managing European casework, including the registration for UK residency of EU citizens and dependants
• Running the Immigration Appeals system, including defence of Home Office decisions at Immigration Tribunal, along with high profile case litigation in the courts
• Managing the asylum system, arranging support for asylum seekers, deciding applications and arranging removal of those who do not qualify from the UK

Our members in these departments undertake a wide variety of valuable functions, from far-flung points of the compass overseas to our larger UK based operations in Croydon, Liverpool and Sheffield.

The ISU understands the pressures that our members in Home Office Customers Services and Visas are under. Our reps all have backgrounds in in Immigration and Borders.  Our members suffer under tremendous workloads due to under investment. Members are subject to scrutiny and criticism on their decisions, often from outside agencies with no knowledge of the system. 

Members have been targeted due to the nature of the work they re involved in. The ISU has experience in supporting our members in these environments and will stand with you.