What does James Bond’s 007 “double-oh” certification grant him?

The “double-oh” certification isn’t a real thing in the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service, but it does have some historical meaning. During Ian Fleming’s time as an undercover agent, he learned the code 0070, used between Germany and Mexico during diplomatic exchanges in WWII. He shortened it to 007 in his novels, but it was a reference to his codebreaking past. The fictional 00 designation reveals that James Bond, a fictional United Kingdom Secret Intelligence Service Agent, has killed on a mission and has been granted a license to kill.

The 00 Section of MI6 is considered the secret service's elite. A 00 (typically read "Double O" and denoted in Fleming's novels by the letters "OO" rather than the digits "00") is a field agent that holds a license to kill in the field, at his or her discretion, to complete any mission. The novel "Moonraker" establishes that the section routinely has three agents concurrently; the film series, beginning with "Thunderball", establishes the number of 00 agents at a minimum of 9.