Original document : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/powers-and-operational-procedure

Change description : 2025-02-24 07:00:00: Updated the ‘Preventing illegal working in licensed premises and the Home Office role as a responsible authority in England and Wales’ guide. Added ‘Section 179 of the Licensing Act 2003: right of entry to premises being used for a licensable activity’ [Guidance and regulation]

Showing diff : 2024-11-14 13:10:33.652674807 +00:00..2025-02-24 07:00:25.163435320 +00:00

Guidance

Powers and operational procedure: caseworker guidance

Immigration staff guidance on administrative and criminal powers for officers dealing with immigration enforcement matters within the UK.

Update history

2025-04-04 11:07
Added the right to rent scheme: permission to rent guide.

2025-04-01 14:02
Updated the guidance on marriage investigations.

2025-04-01 11:01
Updated immigration enforcement powers guidance to add power to examine offshore workers under paragraph 2(1) and (1A) of schedule 2 to the 1971 Act, to clarify general power of examination under paragraph 2 of schedule 2 to the 1971 Act and to clarify power to search premises with warrant under paragraph 25A(6A) of schedule 2 to the 1971 Act.

2025-02-28 16:29
Added an accessible version of ‘Preventing illegal working in licensed premises and the Home Office role as a responsible authority in England and Wales’.

2025-02-24 07:00
Updated the ‘Preventing illegal working in licensed premises and the Home Office role as a responsible authority in England and Wales’ guide. Added ‘Section 179 of the Licensing Act 2003: right of entry to premises being used for a licensable activity’

2024-11-14 13:10
Guidance on ‘post enforcement visit actions’ has been updated. A full list of the changes is available in the document.

2024-10-24 16:50
Updated the guidance on Identifying people at risk.

2024-10-14 15:23
Guidance on ‘Enforcement visits’ has been updated. A full list of the changes is available in the document.

2024-07-15 00:01
Published version 14.0 of the critical incident management guidance. A full list of changes can be found in the guidance.

2024-05-24 12:07
Updated Irregular or unlawful entry and arrival guidance to link section to age dispute cases and prosecution.

2024-05-24 11:07
Updated ‘Dealing with potential criminality (ICE teams)’ guidance. Updated information on age dispute cases who are referred for prosecution.

2024-05-13 16:25
Updated the safeguarding and establishing lawful residence with changes to staff grading from 1 April 2024. A full list of the changes is included in the guidance.

2024-05-10 16:10
Updated the enforcement planning assessments guidance with changes to staff grading from 1 April 2024. A full list of the changes is included in the guidance.

2024-05-09 13:00
Updated search and seizure guidance. From 1 April 2024, individuals who were previously described as the Immigration Enforcement (IE) operational grade of ‘Assistant Director’ will now be known as Grade 7 in this guidance.

2024-05-07 17:08
Replaced ‘Record keeping during enforcement visits guidance’.

2024-05-07 13:41
Enforcement visits: safety and personal protection guidance updated. From 1 April 2024, individuals who were previously described as the IE operational grade of ‘Assistant Director’ will be known as Grade 7 in this guidance.

2024-05-03 12:10
Updated the irregular or unlawful entry and arrival guidance. From 1 April 2024, individuals who were previously described as the IE operational grade of ‘Assistant Director’ will be known as Grade 7 in this guidance.

2024-05-02 12:58
Updated the arrest and restraint guidance. From 1 April 2024, individuals who were previously described as the IE operational grade of “Assistant Director” will be known as Grade 7 in this guidance.

2024-03-06 16:45
Updated Immigration Enforcement powers to reflect that from 1 April 2024, individuals who were previously described as the IE operational grade of ‘Assistant Director’ will now be known as Grade 7 (Assistant Director) in this guidance.

2024-03-06 15:55
Updated warrants: procurement and use guidance to reflectthat from 1 April 2024, individuals who were previously described as the IE operational grade of “Assistant Director” will now be known as Grade 7 (Assistant Director) in this guidance.

2024-03-01 16:34
Partnership working guidance updated with the following changes: from 1 April 2024, individuals who were previously described as the IE operational grade of ‘Assistant Director’ will now be known as Grade 7 (Assistant Director); individuals who were previously described as the IE operational grade of ‘Deputy Director’ will now be known as Grade 6; the IE operational grade equivalent of Grade 5 (SCS, PB1), will be referred to as Deputy Director.

2024-03-01 14:47
Updated the dealing with potential criminality (ICE teams) guidance, as from 1 April 2024 individuals who were previously described as the IE operational grade of “Assistant Director” will now be known as Grade 7 (Assistant Director) in this guidance.

2024-02-15 17:28
Updated version of the Record keeping during enforcement visits guidance. All references to the paper pocket notebook (PNB) have been removed from the main body and placed into a contingency section at the end of the guidance.References to obsolete systems have also been removed.

2023-10-31 12:04
Replaced Enforcement planning assessments guidance to give extra clarification on the completion of Equalities and Community Impact Assessment (ECIA) in line with the ECIA v2.0 template and to update the link to the generic Home Office EIA guidance and template page.

2023-08-08 15:27
Document ‘Coercive powers: overview’ replaced by new document ‘Immigration Enforcement powers’.

2023-08-08 12:33
‘Dealing with potential criminality (ICE teams)’ updated. Full details are in the ‘Changes from last version of this guidance’ section.

2023-07-04 11:20
The marriage investigations document has been updated.

2023-04-04 11:24
Updated enforcement planning assessments guidance to include clarification of reasonable hours in respect of visit timings, PRONTO process update and clarification of which agency completes CIA on joint visits.

2023-02-13 00:15
Updated Verbal abuse, obstruction and assault – Immigration Enforcement guidance.

2022-12-28 17:00
Marriage investigations guidance updated.

2022-12-01 16:29
Dealing with potential criminality (ICE teams) guidance has been updated to include clarification of details on aggravating factors.

2022-11-25 16:46
Replaced ‘Safeguarding and establishing lawful residence’ – updated section on British Overseas Territories Citizens to reflect changes introduced by the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

2022-10-06 09:09
Added accessible version of Marriage investigations.

2022-08-25 12:09
Minor revision to Safeguarding – establishing lawful residence concerning scope and intent of guidance in relation to use by non-Immigration Enforcement staff, additional detailed examples of evidence that might be sought/considered and updated links.

2022-08-24 14:10
New forms added in version 2.0 of Preventing illegal working in licenced premises.

2022-07-18 09:38
Guidance entitled ‘Clandestine illegal entrants ‘ replaced with revised and updated version entitled ‘Irregular or unlawful entry and arrival’.

2022-06-28 00:15
Added guidance for Immigration Compliance and Enforcement teams (ICE) on ‘Dealing with potential criminality’.

2022-05-03 12:02
Added guidance on use of force.

2022-03-15 11:02
Added new document on ‘Preventing illegal working in licenced premises’.

2022-03-10 15:41
Guidance on partnership working updated.