Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that immigration (a) caseworkers and (b) interpreters meet English language standards.

The Home Office recruit using standard Civil Service recruitment processes and all our immigration caseworkers must meet minimum Civil Service recruitment standards. The appropriate level of English is assured through the comprehensive recruitment and onboarding process.

Interpreters are not Home Office employees and undertake freelance work commissioned by the Home Office through contracts for services.

Standards required to apply for an interpreter role are set out in our published ‘Guidance for UKVI freelance interpreters’. This includes a list of accredited qualifications.

Quality is maintained through our comprehensive review strategy. Interviewing officers are issued with Interpreter Management Team monitoring forms, which they are asked to complete if they have any comments on the interpreter used in an assignment (because the interpreter performed particularly well or badly, for example). Interviews may also be monitored for training and security purposes.

Applications for immigration caseworker roles and interpreter roles include a written application and, if appropriate, an interview. The written application and interview are conducted and assessed in English.