Hi, my name is Angela and I’m a Presenting Officer in the Appeals, Litigation and Administrative Review team at the Home Office.
I took early retirement in 2016 but after a few years decided I would like to come back to work on a part-time basis. I wanted work that was interesting and that involved working with people, and the Presenting Officer role fitted the bill.
I work three days a week which is split roughly between case preparation and presentation in court. Immigration law is complex, and I work on a variety of cases that include family, asylum and criminal deportation. Training for the role took one month, followed by a period of court mentoring, where a senior colleague took me step by step through the court process until I was ready to present by myself.
It was daunting at first, but there is plenty of support from colleagues and senior caseworkers, and this helped me get up to speed. I would say it took about six months to do that, but that doesn’t mean the job has become routine or tedious since then. On the contrary it is always stimulating, and in immigration law there is always so much more to learn.
The continuous learning is one of the things I most enjoy about the role. No two days are the same. You may be researching background on countries you previously knew nothing about or looking back into many years of an individual’s immigration history. I also enjoy presenting at court. It’s a good feeling to go into court fully prepared and present your case as well as you can, always bearing in mind that fairness is at the heart of our system.
I would recommend this role to anyone who enjoys a challenge, learning new skills and who wants to work with a wide range of people.
