Guidelines for formulating questions to interview applicants of identity documents

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate guidelines for formulating questions to interview applicants of identity documents, for the use of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) officials during the interviewing of applicants of identity documents. The research further intends to share and introduce a number of important concepts, namely: Interviewing, Crime Investigation, Information, Identity Docu-ment, Immigration Officer, Department, and Case File. The research will explain the objectives of investigation and guidelines for developing proper questions for use by officials of the DHA, to test information on new applicants of identity documents. The object of the investigation is to obtain information to prove the correct techniques on how to interview appli-cants of identity documents. It further explains that criminal investigation can be defined as the process of discovering, collecting, preparing, identifying and presenting evidence, to deter-mine what happened and who is responsible. Interviewing is defined as the process of gathering testimonial evidence through interviewing, and it has a predetermined objective, namely discovering the truth about the matter under investigation. It is also explained that during guidelines for formulating relevant questions to use to enable the official or immigration officer to formulate test questions that are clearly understood better by DHA. The relevant questions should be formulated by DHA officials, so that the questions get to the heart of the issue. This can enable the official to avoid applicants submitting fraudulent documents which could later result in litigation. The research will assist in decreasing the high rate of corruption, and also litigation, as these represent the main problem of the research.