Selected IT recruitment agencies should be allowed to secure visas for overseas workers, according to the IT recruitment trade body the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo).

The association believes that a change in the law would head off potential skills shortages and would be more practical for the needs of UK businesses.

Visa applications for the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, which was launched by the Home Office in January 2002 to fast-track entry into the UK of workers with valued skills, often take up to six months to be processed.

Ann Swain (pictured), chief executive of ATSCo, said: “Businesses need to be able to meet their need for IT skills as quickly as possible, but in the time it takes to process a visa application, business requirements may have changed and skills may have become outdated.”