Jul 6th, 2022
3 mins
DEFRA have published details of the new Seasonal Worker visa route that will allow the recruitment of a limited number of temporary migrants for specific seasonal roles in the horticulture and poultry sectors.
The new scheme will make 2,000 Seasonal Worker visas available to the poultry sector and will run in a similar manner to last years temporary visa scheme which was introduced specifically for 5,500 poultry workers in the lead up to Christmas 2021. However, this year the costs, including the visa, travel, accommodation etc will largely be borne by the workers themselves. But Defra have stressed that employees should consider offering financial assistance, if necessary, for example when the overall costs of entering under the scheme outweigh the potential earnings.
The cost of a visa will be set at £259, and Defra are hoping that they will run for a period of 3 months from the beginning of October to the end of December 2022.
A tender process is to be initiated to appoint 2 operators who once appointed will remain in place for the full 3-year term. Each operator will be allocated 1000 visa ‘slots’ and will charge each business an administration fee as well as a fixed fee per worker that they place with them.
Defra have issued several documents which set out the background to the visa route, and how potential operators can apply for a licence to act as sponsor of seasonal worker visas. There is an application form for potential operators to complete, along with a form to note any commercially sensitive information within the application. They can be accessed here.
