ONE of Scotland’s top immigration lawyers has warned that the Tory Government’s plans for post-Brexit immigration will not be ready in time should the UK crash out of the EU without a deal on March 29 next year.

Commenting on the white paper launched by Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Wednesday, head of immigration at law firm Pinsent Masons, Euan Smith, told The National: “The white paper doesn’t provide much immediate reassurance for businesses. How can consulting with employers on the £30,000 threshold be done in time for Brexit?

“The reality is there is little chance of legislation being in place for 30 March 2019, which is when it will be needed if we have a hard Brexit.”

Smith also told the BBC: “The most important point to reflect on immediately is that we are staring ever closer at a hard Brexit in March. These proposals are not going to be ready in the event of a hard Brexit, we don’t know what system is going to impact on the March 30 in the event we crash out of the EU without a withdrawal agreement in place.”

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The lawyer also highlighted the difficulties posed by a plan to allow low-skilled workers into the UK on 12-month visas until 2025.

He said: “Those visas are quite restrictive. Individuals coming in to the UK to work under those arrangements will not be able to bring their families for example, and at the end of the 12 month stay for which they have permission, they will have a cooling off period of a further 12 months before they will be able to come back.

“Those organisations, those industry sectors that use lower skilled workers on a routine basis, are going to find a greater turnover of staff because the same people that they have just now will not be able to simply stay permanently.

“I can only speak of my own experience with clients, who are businesses operating in Scotland and throughout the UK, and my clients tell me that they are facing difficulties with this, that they are already looking to recruit to fill vacancies, and this is simply going to make it more difficult.

“The white paper identifies, or proposes, an immigration system which is much more restrictive than we have right now. Almost by default, it is going to make life more difficult for businesses to recruit.

“EU nationals who are already here have the option to apply for settled status, or they will do, but that settled status is still on a pilot scheme.

“We anticipate that as we get further towards March next year we will find an awful lot of individuals suddenly rushing to take advantage of that settled status, and an awful lot of businesses rushing to try and protect their own position in advance of a potential hard Brexit. I don’t know whether or not the Home Office infrastructure will cope with that.”