Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to process A1 forms, which are required for anyone temporarily working in a country within the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, on musicians seeking to (a) work and (b) tour in the EU.

We do not have the information on current average processing times separately for employees and the self-employed.

The Government has not made a formal assessment of the impact of A1 certificate processing times on musicians.

In response to customer feedback, HMRC introduced new online versions of forms CA3822 and CA3837 in February and June 2023. These are designed to streamline the application process and offer a number of enhancements, including no longer requesting recent UK employment histories, and providing additional guidance for more complex questions.

HMRC intend to automate the CA3822 and the CA3837 application process in the Autumn which will improve processing times and remove opportunities for error.