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Immigration agents enforce national immigration laws and policies, checking travel documents, detaining unauthorized individuals, and investigating immigration violations. Requirements to become an agent vary by country, but citizenship, education, and physical fitness are typically required. Once accepted, agents undergo training before being placed in a full-time position. Advancement opportunities are significant in this growing field.
Entering a foreign country usually requires clearing customs, presenting a valid passport and sometimes questions regarding the purpose of the trip and the length of time you intend to stay in a given country. The people who perform passport checks and ask questions are usually immigration agents. Immigration agents, called immigration officers in some countries, are government officials charged with enforcing and upholding national immigration law. The scope of work an immigration agent performs is broad. In addition to border controls, immigration agents can work as international immigration liaisons, as law enforcement and immigration control agents, and as investigative detectives, among other things.
National governments employ immigration agents to enforce immigration laws and policies. The role of an immigration officer is perhaps most visible at border posts. At the borders, immigration agents check the validity of travel documents, detain and dismiss those who try to enter improperly. It is usually an immigration agent who looks for drugs and other contraband luggage at international airports and performs random searches of luggage to ensure that no illegal items are brought into a country. In a sense, immigration agents are border police whose job it is to protect the interior from undocumented, unauthorized, or unwanted encroachments.
An immigration agent can also work in the field. Agents may be assigned to search for and arrest immigrants who are alleged to be in the country illegally, or they may be tasked with investigating suspected immigration violations or abuses. Sometimes immigration agents are deployed abroad, usually to coordinate efforts with foreign immigration services on matters of international concern.
The requirements to become an immigration agent vary by country and even then by specific job or job requirement. In Australia, for example, the only education required to become a basic immigration officer is a high school diploma. The United States requires a bachelor’s degree, while Canada typically wants its immigration officers to have at least a master’s degree. More education usually leads to more opportunities.
In all countries, an applicant must be a citizen to be considered. The immigration agent application process typically requires proof of citizenship in addition to a written test and a physical exam. In the test, candidates will be asked to demonstrate their written and verbal skills and to show at least basic knowledge of national laws. The physical exam is designed to ensure that the candidate is healthy enough and strong enough to perform the various tasks that may be required.
Once accepted to become an immigration agent, one generally enters a period of immigration training and classes before being placed in a full-time position. Sometimes agents can express their preference for the type of work they’d like to do, but more often than not, when they’re starting out, they go where the country needs them. As in most fields, seniority often buys more voice in the career path. Immigration is a field that is growing globally and the possibilities for advancement are significant.
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