QUEEN’S DIAMOND JUBILEE PROGRAMME – IMMIGRATION

QUEEN’S DIAMOND JUBILEE PROGRAMME – IMMIGRATION

Senior Immigration Officer Emerald Newman
Senior Immigration Officer Emerald Newman

Recently returning to St Helena was Senior Immigration Officer Emerald Newman (photo attached) following a training and front line exposure visit to UK Border Force, funded through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Programme.

Emerald spent a week working alongside Immigration Officers at Stansted airport, shadowing Border Force officers and witnessing interviews and in-depth investigations into a range of cases.  Emerald saw a wide variety of passports and was able to experience handling various EU and rest of the world documents, checking for forgeries and counterfeits.

Emerald said:

“Seeing a wider variety of travellers, passports and travel documents and undertaking thorough investigation of arriving passengers in a time-constrained airport context was a really useful experience as St Helena moves towards air access.”

Emerald’s training follows the exposure visit by Immigration Officers Fiyanna Maggott and Tina Yon to UK airports in November 2013.  Emerald added:

“While some of the working practices at Stansted are similar to St Helena, this trip has highlighted some alternative approaches. The knowledge gained from my visit along with Tina and Fiyanna’s exposure visits to smaller UK airports last year has given us some helpful insights and ideas on processes we can implement on St Helena – to improve both security and the passenger experience.”

Immigration Executive Lewis Evans commented:

“Training visits to airports are an important part of preparing St Helena Immigration for air access, as UK officers manage thousands of passengers from diverse backgrounds.  We are grateful to the Border Force officers involved in the training for the opportunity to benefit from their skills and knowledge.”

Exposure and training visits to the UK allow individuals to experience international best practice in Government services – placing them in a better position to implement new and improved processes on St Helena.

SHG

19 May 2014

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Telephone: 22470
Email: kimberley.peters@sainthelena.gov.sh