In addition to completing the professional education requirements, candidates need to acquire at least three years of relevant experience under an independently assured organisation or an Institute-accredited assessor.

If an assessor is not available in the workplace, the Institute can brief an observing member of staff or client in the Institute’s qualifying requirements for certification so they can act as one. If the applicant works alone, the Institute will accept testimonials from colleagues and clients together with a completed log book as evidence of completion. Professional experience acquired under the jurisdiction of another professional body will be automatically accepted.

Practical Experience Requirements

To be considered for certification, the applicant must have 3-5 years experience depending upon citizenship and residency. If the applicant is a resident and citizen of an EU member state, the experiential requirement is 3 years. If the applicant fits only one of these criteria the requirement is 4 years. Finally, if the applicant fulfills none of these criteria, the requirement is 5 years.

Work experience outside of Europe will only be accepted if:

  • the overseas deployment is made from a European entity/subsidiary, or an entity/subsidiary operating in its recognised jurisdiction; and
  • the applicant’s work is governed by European intelligence practice; and
  • the applicant works under the supervision of an Institute-registered generalist or specialist in the their domain or another professional body.

If an applicant cannot fulfil all three criteria above, the Institute will recognise no more than half their experience valid up to a maximum of 18 months. Experience gained in Europe is considered as satisfying all three criteria.

Practical experience acquired with an Institute-accredited training organisation or university may also be accepted. However, the applicant must present a syllabus detailing how the Institute’s competency requirements are covered within the course’s learning objectives. Testimonials from the course director will also be accepted in lieu of specific competencies being included in the syllabus.

Competency Framework

In line with practices of other professional bodies, a structured system of experience validation has been adopted. The competency framework defines the types of skills that individuals should demonstrate before certification. The assessor will be expected to testify to the applicants demonstration of these competencies. By its nature the framework fosters a close relationship between prospective registrants, their supervisors, employers, clients and the Institute.

A copy of the framework will be supplied to all applicants and assessors upon request and can be viewed on the members site when logged in.

Independently Assured Organisation Scheme

The Institute’s assurance scheme enables all employees to gain registration automatically as a consequence of their employment in certain roles. However, the organisation must integrate Institute policy on oversight/audit, registration, ethics and practice into corporate policy. By doing so, they demonstrate that all their intelligence personnel meet the standards for competence and accountability the public expect of European intelligence professionals.

Organisations which are interested in applying for registration as an Independently Assured Organisation may enquire with the head of the training and directing staff.

An Independently Assured Organisation is welcome to mention its status as such in its advertisements and materials, for which purpose the Institute has provided a Independently Assured Organisation logo.

Once registered as an Independently Assured Organisation registration need not be renewed. However, the Institute reserves the right to an annual audit of policy documentation pertaining to accountability and competence and may, after discussion with their appointed representatives within the organisation, withdraw registration if it becomes clear that standards have not been met.

Accredited Assessor Scheme

For prospective registrants who are not working for an Independently Assured Organisation, they may alternatively be trained under an Accredited Assessor who should either be a registrant of the same domain or an observer trained as such by the Institute. The training consists of a day-brief catering to the needs of prospective registrants working in smaller units or organisations where independent assurance may not be appropriate or possible.

Accredited Assessor status lasts only as long as is required to maintain registration. It remains the applicant’s responsibility to attain the appropriate experience for registration under the supervision of an Accredited Assessor.

If the prospective registrant cannot find anyone willing to act as an Accredited Assessor, as a last resort, the Institute will assign an external assessor to examine testimonials and logs for consistencies with the competency framework. As such, their experience would still be regarded as having been acquired under an Accredited Assessor.

Only applications for certificates via Independently Assured Organisations need to be supported by the prospective registrant’s organisation or employer.