Harrogate immigration lawyer warns proposed HGV visa scheme won't fix driver issue anytime soon
Successful applicants will be given three month visas, terminating on Christmas Eve
A Harrogate immigration lawyer has warned the new scheme to get more HGV drivers from overseas will take too long to process.
It has been widely touted by the Government as a key part of its response to supply chain pressures expected to bite in the run-up to Christmas but it has been widely criticised by some industry experts, who view it as a drop-in-the-ocean approach to a much larger problem.
Louis MacWilliams, Head of Immigration at Truth Legal, said there remains a lack of clarity about how the scheme will work in practice.
Migrant workers generally need a UK employer to sponsor them before they can come to the UK, even temporarily.
UK employers need a Home Office licence before they can sponsor a migrant worker which can take weeks to be approved.
Louis MacWilliams, said: "We've had a lot of people contacting us wanting information mostly from people outside the EU and developing countries. We don't have any solid information to be able to give them at all so there is just a complete information deficit in terms of how to apply under this route.
"With sponsor licences we're doing a lot of them at the moment and they're taking around eight weeks to be finalised. They're going to have to sort that aspect out otherwise they're not going to be approved until Christmas which is when the scheme ends.
"It's only three months to go and we have no real idea of how things are going to pan out with this."
He added that the scheme "isn't very appealing" to overseas workers due to how short term it is.
"It's a limited three month visa that people are going to be getting and it won't run past Christmas Eve so it is a really tight timescale. Who is going to want to come to the UK if they're only going to be here for three months? It begs the question of whether it is worth it", Louis said.