A Seasonal Worker Visa is designed to allow overseas nationals to come to the UK to undertake temporary seasonal work in specific sectors such as horticulture and, most recently, poultry production.
The route has been used to reduce labour shortages in the UK caused by Brexit.
Who is it for?
The Seasonal Worker Visa route is for overseas nationals to come to the UK and work in:
- Edible horticulture for up to six months. This includes picking fruits and vegetables.
- Poultry production from 18 October to 31 December, in the same year.
To qualify for the visa, your proposed role in the UK must be an eligible role. This will depend on whether you are applying for a visa to work in the horticulture sector or the poultry production sector.
Eligible roles in the horticulture sector involves growing:
- Protected vegetables – those grown in glasshouse systems; or
- Field vegetables – those grown outdoors, including vegetables, herbs, leafy salads and potatoes; or
- Soft fruit – those grown outdoors or under cover e.g. in glasshouses or polytunnels. Includes strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, blueberries and all ribes and rubus species; or
- Top fruit (orchard fruit) – trees that bear fruit e.g. apples, plums, cherries, apricots; or
- Vine and bines – both twining or climbing flexible stems of certain plants e.g. hops is a bine and grapes is a vine; or
- Mushrooms – typically covers Agaricus bisporus species but can also include more exotic species (typically grown indoors); or
- Bulbs and cut flowers, such as daffodils, grown outdoors and indoors; or
- Pot plants, such as seasonal bedding plants like pansies, violas, germaniums and poinsettias; or
- Hardy ornamental nursery stock such as Christmas trees, shrubs, roses, ornamental trees and perennials; or
- Tree and forest nurseries.
If you are applying for a visa to work in the poultry production sector, you must be qualified for one of the eligible roles below:
- Butcher
- Bird/game dresser
- Killer and plucker
- Plucker
- Poulterer
- Poultry processor
- Poultry sticker
- Trusser
- Food operative
- Poultry catcher/handler
- Poultry vaccinator
- Poultry meat packer
What are the requirements?
To apply for the visa, you must have a job offer from a sponsor in the UK (who is an approved scheme operator) and meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Be aged 18 or over;
- Have a Certificate of Sponsorship issued by your sponsor in the UK; and
- Have funds of at least £1,270 held for 28 days (unless you are exempt).
Your Certificate of Sponsorship must confirm that:
- You will be paid a minimum of £10.10 per hour;
- If you are going to work as a butcher, bird/game dresser, killer and plucker, plucker, poulterer, poultry processor, poultry sticker or trusser, you will be paid a minimum of £25,600 per year pro rate; and
- If you are going to work in poultry production sector, you will work at least 30 hours per week.
Who can be a Seasonal Worker Sponsor?
To be eligible for a Seasonal Worker Sponsor Licence, an organisation must be a scheme operator. These operators must be:
- Endorsed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to be an approved scheme operator, and
- Licenced by the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority.
There are currently four scheme operators that have been approved to sponsor workers in this category and no further scheme operators will be issued with a sponsor licence without prior approval.
Individual employers and organisations are not eligible for a Seasonal Worker Sponsor Licence, even if they have a sponsor licence in another work visa category.
How to apply and how much does it cost?
The earliest you can apply for a Seasonal Worker Visa is three months before the work start date listed on your Certificate of Sponsorship.
If you are a poultry production worker, you must apply for the visa latest by 15 November each year. Horticulture sector workers can apply for the visa at any time during the year.
You must apply online for the Seasonal Worker Visa, pay the application fee, and enrol your biometric information as part of the application process.
The Home Office application fee for a Seasonal Worker Visa is currently £244.
You should receive a decision on your visa application within three weeks.
Once you are granted with a Seasonal Worker Visa, you will be permitted to work in the job you have been sponsored for. You will not be permitted to take on a permanent job, work in a second job or any job that is not listed in your Certificate of Sponsorship, receive public funds or bring your family members to the UK.
How can we help?
Our team of UK immigration solicitors are experienced in assisting employers and workers from a wide variety of business sectors. We help our clients with obtaining a sponsor licence to recruit overseas nationals, managing their licence, meeting their sponsorship duties and work visa applications.
To find out more about the services we can offer, please contact us today.
