EMPLOYMENT: only one legal practice signed up with agency


A leading immigration lawyer has warned that the 'clock is ticking' for the estimated 20,000 employers - including many law firms - who must register with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) by autumn or face fines of £10,000 or more.



Employers recruiting skilled staff from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) have until autumn to qualify for the UKBA's new sponsorship register - yet only 29 companies and just one law firm have registered to date.



Criteria for qualification include meeting specific recruitment, record keeping and reporting standards. Firms failing to register could be fined for each case of non-compliance, and both partners and human resource staff could also be prosecuted.



Julia Onslow-Cole, head of global migration at PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal, said: 'The clock is ticking and firms should act now to ensure they are registered to recruit from overseas, or face the consequences of losing access to a pipeline of foreign talent.'



She added that all firms could be affected, from magic circle firms moving trainees and qualified staff in and out of the country, to firms 'innocently inheriting overseas staff through TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment) arrangements'.



Graeme Kirk, senior partner at Suffolk-based immigration specialists Gross & Co, said firms had been burying their heads in the sand. 'Each application is currently taking six to eight weeks to process, but will take longer if everybody applies just before the deadline expires.'



Thalej Vasishta, managing director of immigration firm Paragon Law, based in Nottingham, warned: 'Law firms have to take this seriously because the UKBA is taking it seriously. It has fined 137 companies for employing overseas staff illegally during the last four months - compared with just 11 prosecutions over the last four years.'



Vasishta added that the UKBA has created teams of compliance officers to mount 'sector raids'.



A UKBA spokesman said the agency would ensure it had enough staff to handle applications 'quickly and securely' and was 'taking steps' to educate sponsors about the system.



Jonathan Rayner