UK BORDER AGENCY

Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday 09:00 to 16:45, Friday 09:00 to 16:30 (excluding public holidays). The agency protects the UK border, and is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the UK. We are a global organisation with 23, 500 staff - including more than 9, 000 warranted officers - operating in local communities, at our borders and in about 130 countries worldwide. Foreign nationals can apply for visas at more than 250 visa application centres worldwide. Many of these cantres are run by our commercial partners.

We are an agency of the Home Office, and our organisation is divided into 5 unified operations: borders, international, immigration, intelligence, enforcement and crime. Each operational area is led by a director. Our operational areas are supported by 2 corporate service directorates. The UK Border Agency board sets our strategic direction. A senior police officer serves on the board as a non-executive director, as do senior officials from HM Revenue & Customs and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.