Immigration caseworker jobs

The Detention Outreach Caseworker is a full-time post on a 12-month renewable contract, joining a small team at the JRS UK offices in Wapping, working closely with the Detention Outreach Manager.

The JRS UK Detention Outreach project supports individuals who are detained in the Heathrow Immigration Removal Centres (Harmondsworth and Colnbrook). This busy and varied role focuses on combining accompaniment, practical support, and assistance to those in immigration detention, especially those who are most vulnerable and struggle to self-advocate. The Detention Outreach Caseworker will make referrals to solicitors and partner organisations where appropriate and liaise with Immigration Services, detention centre staff and others as needed.

The Detention Outreach Caseworker will occasionally support individuals who are released from, but continue to be affected by, immigration detention. Through relationships built across the NGO sector, they will refer individuals to local organisations who can most appropriately assist with reintegration into the community. They will provide in-depth and pro-active support to high-need individuals supported in detention who continue to require long-term accompaniment on release.

The Detention Outreach Caseworker will be responsible for managing their own caseload and work closely with the Detention Outreach Manager to identify themes and trends arising from immigration detention to contribute to the organisations wider strategic work. The post-holder should have a good understanding of and empathy with the issues and challenges faced by asylum-seekers and refugees, with particular focus on immigration detention. They will need highly developed listening skills, personal resilience and emotional maturity to respond to the emotional and practical needs of asylum seekers, accompanying them and supporting them to positively progress with their lives. They need to have and maintain an up-to-date knowledge about the immigration and asylum context as it relates to our work in immigration detention.

The Detention Outreach Caseworker will be enthusiastic about working in a small faith-based organisation and have a willingness to integrate JRS UK’s ethos of accompaniment in their approach whilst also demonstrating sensitivity in responding to the needs of destitute and detained individuals. They will enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and possess excellent communication skills. They will work flexibly as a member of the team and organisation and undertake other reasonable duties and responsibilities as needed.

They will possess outstanding communication and organisation skills, will enjoy working in a very fast paced environment, and will adhere to JRS’ values and commitment to social justice, as well as our commitment to tackling racism and discrimination. JRS UK is committed to providing opportunities to individuals who may otherwise face obstacles in accessing paid work in the asylum and refugee sector and actively encourage applications from black, racialised and other underrepresented communities. 

About KLS’ Future Foundations education team 

Future Foundations is an education programme of Katherine Low Settlement. Since 2004, KLS’ Future Foundations education team of 10 part-time staff and over 100 volunteers, have supported young refugees and their families in Battersea and the London Borough of Wandsworth to thrive in their education. Through mentoring, family support, casework and homework clubs, we provide the tailored support each young person and their family (if they have one) needs to overcome the barriers to education they face at home and school. 

Key Objectives for this Role

Working with the Senior Caseworker and Team Manager you will: 

Key Objectives and Details for this Role

Working with the Senior Caseworker and Team Manager your role and responsibilities include: 

•Support staff to liaise with families/carers to communicate information regarding our work

•Support staff to keep and maintain robust recording and monitoring systems

•Maintain, collect, edit and store documentation of our work including photos, case studies for Newsletters, funding reports and other records

•Support our senior case workers with weekly drop-in advice sessions at KLS, including completing forms with families, general admin tasks etc.  

•Support casework team with making and following up on internal and/or external referrals, signposting whenever relevant and according to adequate referral pathways and in response to the young people’s/family's needs – with support and guidance from staff

•Add information to our database – guided by team leads/managers - log all cases; monitor progress and ensure all identified actions are taken

•Support with casework tasks, guided by senior caseworker and manager, from initial contact to resolution, maintaining confidentiality throughout

•Liaise with external agencies and organisations on behalf of clients

•Respond to enquiries by telephone, email, referring on internally or externally organisations when necessary

•Ensure records are kept and information managed confidentially in line with the data protection legislation

•Supporting Refugee team with general admin, database, evaluation data

•Maintain excellent safeguarding practices

•Supporting with partnerships liaison work – keeping records up to date 

Teamwork and reporting

•Work with Future Foundations team members to coordinate work, refer young people and/or parents/carers to our casework and advice team.

•Contribute to reports for trustees and funders and attend periodic meetings with funders

•Communicate well with other teams within KLS to provide a high-quality service to our members

Other Duties 

•Participate in regular supervision and annual appraisals; help to identify your own job-related development and training needs.

•Always work with anti-discriminatory, empowering practice, ensuring everyone is treated with dignity andrespect.

•Adhere to Katherine Low Settlement’s code of confidentiality, safeguarding and equal opportunities policies. 

•Undertake your role in a professional manner and maintain a high-quality standard of work in accordance with the aims, values and ethos of KLS.

The above job description reflects the position at the time of writing; it is not intended to be a task list but indicates the general level of work involved. It is expected that duties will be reviewed and revised as required.

Person Specification

The following skills and experience are required for this post:

Essential

·Experience of working with refugee communities and/or children/young people and/or vulnerable groups ensuring that clients’ needs are at the forefront of service planning and delivery

·Ability to manage an independent workload and support the wider team

·Ability to work as part of small team, whilst also working independently

·Personal attributes: hard working, organised, takes initiative, reliable, patient, high professional standards

·Excellent IT skills including MS Office suite and ability to use Internet, email and social media

·Committed to KLS’s mission, vision and values

·Passionate about social justice, education and championing the value of families from refugee communities

·Excellent communicating skills (oral and written) with refugee families, staff and partner organisations

Desirable

·Experience of planning, delivery and reporting in a similar voluntary sector project (preferably with refugee communities) 

·Experience and sensitivity working with vulnerable communities who are affected by mental health issues and past trauma. Empathetic, non-judgmental and able to form supportive but boundaried relationships with individuals

·Knowledge of up-to-date best practice as regards safeguarding the welfare of children and adults

·Excellent problem-solving skills and strong attention to detail

·A recognised casework/advice qualification

·Experience of collecting monitoring and evaluating data

·Aptitude for communicating in another language, particularly Somali, Farsi and/or Tigrinya

·Knowledge of Battersea / Wandsworth

About KLS’ Future Foundations education team 

Future Foundations is an education programme of Katherine Low Settlement. Since 2004, KLS’ Future Foundations education team of 10 part-time staff and over 100 volunteers, have supported young refugees and their families in Battersea and the London Borough of Wandsworth to thrive in their education. Through mentoring, family support, casework and homework clubs, we provide the tailored support each young person and their family (if they have one) needs to overcome the barriers to education they face at home and school. 

Key Objectives for this Role

Working under the supervision of the Senior Caseworker you will: 

Key Objectives and Details for this Role

Working with the Senior Caseworkers and Team Manager your role and responsibilities include: 

•Support staff to liaise with young people and their families/carers to communicate information regarding our work

•Provide information, support, advocacy and guidance to children and young people from refugee backgrounds (and their families/carers when available), to ensure that they are able to access their educational rights.

•Increase communication and understanding between young people, families, social services, schools and other professionals

•Develop relationships with schools and relevant agencies, in order to make and obtain referrals, and support refugee young people and their families access educational services.

•Empower young people and their parents to take control and be their own best advocates

• 

Main duties and responsibilities:

·Run 2 monthly evening drop in advice sessions at KLS youth club 

·Run 2 monthly drop in advice sessions at Southfields Acadmey

·Support refugee young people including unaccompanied asylum seeking young people (and their families/carers when available) to overcome barriers to access and thrive 

·Identify and assess their needs and advocate with them for their rights and entitlements

·Provide information and advice whilst working other agencies (e.g. social services, and mental health)

·Refer them to other agencies as appropriate.

·Make and follow up on internal and/or external referrals and signposting whenever relevant and according to adequate referral pathways, in response to the young people’s needs

·Liaise between young people (and with their parents/carers when available) with school, social services, other agencies and foster carers, to support young people holistically to overcome educational barriers

·Work with Future Foundations to Learn team members to share casework information and advocacy needs and to develop the work of the whole team in supporting local refugee young people and families

·Advocate on behalf of and/or represent young people by preparing reports and attending appeals or interviews or meetings with them

·Be familiar with local schools and services. Work with professionals in complementary statutory and voluntary services in person, by phone or by email.

·Maintain accurate and detailed casework records, action plans and monitoring data and be self-administrating. Ensure information on our database is accurate/up-to-date

·Compile data and case studies as requested by your line manager and in compliance with relevant funder requirements, ensuring reporting deadlines are met

·Keep and maintain robust recording and monitoring systems

·Respond to enquiries by telephone, e mail, referring on internally or externally organisations when necessary

·Maintain excellent safeguarding practices

Teamwork and reporting

•Work with Future Foundations team members to coordinate work, refer young people and/or parents/carers to our casework and advice team. 

•Contribute to reports for trustees and funders and attend periodic meetings with funders

•Communicate well with other teams within KLS to provide a high-quality service to our members

Other Duties 

•Participate in regular supervision and annual appraisals; help to identify your own job related development and training needs.

•Always work with anti-discriminatory, empowering practice, ensuring everyone is treated with dignity andrespect.

•Adhere to Katherine Low Settlement’s code of confidentiality, safeguarding and equal opportunities policies. 

•Undertake your role in a professional manner and maintain a high-quality standard of work in accordance with the aims, values and ethos of KLS.

The above job description reflects the position at the time of writing; it is not intended to be a task list but indicates the general level of work involved. It is expected that duties will be reviewed and revised as required.

Person Specification

The following skills and experience are required for this post:

Essential

·Experience of casework and advice work with families and/or children and young people, preferably those within the refugee and asylum-seeking community 

·Evidence of excellent inter-personal skills

·Strong communication skills (both verbal and written), including excellent spoken and written English. Ability to communicate with young people and adults from a wide range of backgrounds and with limited English

·Excellent organisation and time management skills and ability to multi-task and prioritise work

·Ability to work as part of a small team, whilst being highly organised and able to work independently

·Understanding and experience of safeguarding, and health & safety

·Excellent IT skills including MS Office suite and ability to use Internet and email

·Experience of recording work and writing reports

·Committed to KLS’s mission, vision and values 

Desirable

·Ability to communicate in a community language; Arabic, Somali, Dari and/or Pashto and English

·Knowledge of legal agencies in London to make referrals to 

·Track record of providing formal education-focused information, advice and guidance (IAG) 

·Up to date knowledge of the English education system, rights to education, the barriers facing refugee communities in accessing education and how these might be addressed 

·Experience of working with refugee communities, children and young people and/or vulnerable groups in a formal or informal setting, ensuring that clients’ needs are at the forefront of service planning and delivery 

·Good knowledge and understanding of the barriers that migrants and refugees face, sensitivity and empathy towards this community 

·Experience and knowledge of working with social workers, school staff and other agencies 

·Experience and knowledge of SEND support 

·Knowledge of Battersea / Wandsworth

Personal Qualities

Essential

·Passionate about social justice, education and championing the value of families from refugee communities

·A hands-on, highly motivated individual with considerable drive, energy and a determination to succeed

·Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills, specifically with vulnerable families and young people

·Trustworthy, empowering, non-judgemental, caring and compassionate, proactive, self-motivated and hardworking

Plumstead Community Law Centre is a free specialist legal advice charity located in central Woolwich in South East London. We provide specialist legal advice and advocacy in the areas of immigration, welfare benefits and employment People can access our services via telephone or email, and through the Advice Hub outreach services we attend in local community centres. In 2024 over 1,400 local people accessed our advice and representation services, resulting in a range of financial and non-financial benefits.

Towards the end of 2024, we moved away from a collective model towards a functional management structure. We appointed an Interim CEO from the staff group and expanded our trustee board's size and expertise.

This Managing Director and Senior Solicitor role involves assuming the charity’s management from our interim CEO, who has established strong systems and secured new funding for the further strengthening of the charity. Our strategic plan includes improving our legal practice management with a view to obtaining a quality mark and securing an immigration legal aid contract. We anticipate securing further funding to expand our services, to support more people in need in our community.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, experienced solicitor who has a track record in supervision and management. Although the job description is wide ranging, support will be given through further recruitment of administrative support. 

​The Law Centre Managing Director and Senior Solicitor (“MD/SS”) is responsible for all aspects of the day-to-day operation of the Law Centre. Working within appropriate delegations from the Board, the post holder ensures that the Law Centre provides quality assured services that meet its charitable purposes. The MD/SS ensures that issues of risk and compliance are properly managed and that the Centre is an exciting, innovative and enjoyable place to work. The MD/SS ensures that the Centre operates within budgets set by the Board and 2 that it offers value for money. The MD/SS must ensure that legal, regulatory, grant, contractual and other relevant requirements are met and that the Centre continues to be relevant to its community. 

Rainbow Migration is the longest-running charity in Europe dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and immigration system and has been campaigning for their rights since 1993. We are recruiting a Senior Casework and Service Coordinator to assist the Support Services Manager, provide guidance and advice to colleagues, and manage incoming queries from service users. This role is ideally suited to an experienced caseworker looking to take the next step in their career.

Rainbow Migration has grown in recent years from a small charity generating £200k income in 2019 to £1M in 2024. The Senior Casework and Service Coordinator is a new role that will take on some of the responsibilities of the Support Services Manager, freeing the manager up to work on service development and strategic matters. 

Responsibilities include:

· Managing systems for incoming service user inquiries

· Casework for service users with the most complex needs or challenges

· Facilitating complex case discussions with colleagues and providing support and guidance

· Ensuring accurate reporting on service delivery outputs, outcomes and trends

· Assisting the Support Services Manager to implement changes in the service

Rainbow Migration’s vision is that LGBTQI+ people can settle in the UK and lead fulfilling lives. Our values are: 

· Safety: We believe everyone should be safe from persecution and safe to be themselves. We strive to create a safe workplace culture, and we place importance on the wellbeing of everyone involved with Rainbow Migration. 

· Integrity: We are thorough and honest in everything we do, and we take responsibility for our actions. We want to be accountable to our communities and those who support us. 

· Belonging: We welcome and include all LGBTQI+ people, and we celebrate and value their range of experience in terms of gender, religion, race, age, disability status and class. We try to remove obstacles to participation, champion equality and promote a sense of family or home through our services. 

· Respect: We believe that every person is equal and deserves the same level of courtesy, care, and attention. We respect the rights, wishes and feelings of our service users, and campaign for their rights to be respected as they go through the asylum and immigration system. 

Diversity, inclusion and anti-oppression

At Rainbow Migration, we don’t just accept difference – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. We consider all qualified applicants, consistent with any legal requirements.

We strive to build a team that reflects the diversity of the community we work in and welcome applications from candidates who have been through the UK asylum system and people of colour, who are currently underrepresented among our staff in relation to our service users.

We are also reviewing what we do and how we do it through an anti-oppression and anti-racism lens, as well as investing in being more informed and led by LGBTQI+ people who have sought asylum.

We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they meet all the necessary criteria in the person specification. If you wish to qualify under this scheme, please make this clear when applying.

We send a selection of questions in advance of job interviews to give applicants more thinking time. You are welcome to take notes in interviews to help process information. If your interview is online, we can also put questions in the meeting chat. Please let us know if we can make other adjustments to support your interview process.

Role overview

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: Full-time (35 hours per week). Working part-time (minimum 28 hours) will be considered. Occasional work in the evenings and at weekends may be required but with plenty of notice. Rainbow Migration encourages staff to maintain a good work life balance and has a TOIL system in place.

Salary: Starting at £36,994 with potential annual step increases up to £41,315 (pro rata if working part time), plus statutory employer’s pension contribution. In addition to an annual step increase, we consider giving a separate inflationary increase every April.

Location: Rainbow Migration’s wheelchair accessible offices are based between Vauxhall and the Oval, London. This role will have an office-based contract but the postholder can choose to work from home for part of the week in agreement with their line manager as per our hybrid working policy. You must be available to work from our offices in London when necessary. The successful candidate would also be welcome to work from the office full-time if that is their preference. At the time of posting this advert, staff mostly work from home. There might also be occasional travel outside London with plenty of notice. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Annual Leave: Initially 25 days per year. After two years of employment, this will increase by one day per year up to a maximum of 28 days (pro rata if working part-time).

Benefits:

· Two days of wellbeing leave to be taken at short notice in each calendar year (pro rata for part-time staff)

· Enhanced parental leave and pay

· Full pay for jury service (up to four weeks), compassionate leave (up to two weeks) and dependants’ leave (up to four days, pro rata for part-time staff)

· Separate salary step and inflationary increases considered every year

· TOIL system

· Hybrid working policy, including possibility of working abroad for 10 working days (pro rata for part-time staff) each year

· Policy on staff loans or salary advances for difficult times

· Work laptop and mobile phone

· Training and learning opportunities

· Occupational health assessments for disabled employees to understand how we can support and make reasonable adjustments

· Employee assistance programme which includes counselling service, wellness advice, legal and money advice, and other matters

· Clinical supervision for staff delivering services (a safe space with an independent therapist to offload and discuss feelings and challenges)

How to apply

Closing date: 9am 8 September 2025

Interview dates: Initial interviews will be 17 September 2025 by Zoom or Teams. A second round of face-to-face interviews in London will follow.

Please read the job description and person specification. If you have any questions about the role or would like to find out more before applying, then you can contact the line manager via the email address you will find in the Job Description.

Please send to the email address in the Job Description:

1. Your CV

2. A written statement (max 1,000 words). Instead of a written statement you may submit your statement by video or audio recording (max 8 minutes)

We would also be grateful if you could complete the optional monitoring form (link in the Job Description).

In your statement, please:

1. Explain why you are interested in this role and give examples of how you meet the person specification. In addition to what is on your CV, we want to hear about any relevant skills and experience that demonstrate you meet the necessary (and, where applicable, advantageous) criteria for the role. Skills and experience could be from training, volunteering, interests or life experience

2. Confirm if you wish to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 (physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ effect on your ability to do normal daily activities)

3. State how many hours a week you wish to work and if you have a preferred pattern

4. Explain if you have used AI to help with your application in any way and the reason why. While AI can be a helpful tool, we expect all applications to reflect your own experiences, qualifications and style of writing. Transparency is valued, so applications that are obviously written with AI without explanation will not be considered

By submitting an application, you:

1. Confirm that you have the right to work in the UK and will produce the necessary documentation if you are offered this post.

2. Declare that to the best of your knowledge and belief, the information provided in your application is true and correct and that you understand that any false information or statement given will justify your dismissal from Rainbow Migration if appointed.

3. Accept that owing to the nature of the work, if successful, you will be required to disclose all spent and unspent criminal records at the point of conditional job offer and subsequently to undergo an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. See our website for more information.

We are proud to be a member of the Experts by Experience Employment Network, which aims to create a charitable sector that is led by people with lived experience of the asylum and immigration system. As part of this network, we challenge the one-size-fits-all approach in our employment practices and respect the personal circumstances and needs of people with lived experience.

If you are an expert by experience (a refugee or a migrant with direct, first-hand experience of issues and challenges of the UK asylum or immigration system), you can ask for independent and confidential support for your job application from the Experts by Experience Employment Network. Please complete the form you will find in the Job Description to request support and they will confirm if they can match you with a mentor to support your application.

Privacy notice

If you apply for this role, the information you provide will be processed according to Rainbow Migration's privacy policy (please see Job Description for a link to our website). Rainbow Migration will not share your information with any third parties unless part of the recruitment process or are legally required to do so. By applying, you are permitting Rainbow Migration to access and use the information for recruitment purposes. Rainbow Migration will store data on unsuccessful applicants for 12 months after the conclusion of the recruitment campaign. Monitoring information is kept separately and is pseudonymised to avoid identification of applicants. It is amalgamated for statistical purposes and the original data is then deleted after six months.

You will be working with young adults (18-30 years old) from an asylum/refugee background. The young people you will be working with will have arrived as unaccompanied minors to the UK, will be seeking asylum or have refugee status, and will have been under 24 years old upon referral. We offer open ended psychotherapy, always working towards enabling people to move towards independence.

You will be working in a multicultural and multilingual therapeutic environment and embrace the opportunity to engage in multi-disciplinary work with our team of therapists, social workers, Art, Music, Sports, Yoga providers and education tutors. We offer open ended psychotherapy, always working towards enabling people to move towards independence.