Notice

Seasonal worker visa route RFI notice

Published 27 June 2022

The Seasonal Worker visa route provides:

• 6-month visas for overseas workers in the edible and ornamental horticulture sectors
• shorter visas for poultry workers each autumn to support the peak in demand before Christmas.

The visa route delivers a pre-determined number of visas each year. Numbers for 2024 were confirmed at the Farm to Fork Summit in May. It allows up to:

• 45,000 visas for temporary migrants to work in the UK edible and ornamental horticulture sectors for up to 6-months, with the potential for an additional 10,000 should there be demand and contingent on sponsors and growers continuing to improve worker welfare standards
• 2,000 visas for temporary migrants to work in the UK poultry sector to meet the demands of Christmas

The purpose and aims of the visa route

The purpose of the visa route is to:

• provide an immigration route for workers in the horticulture and poultry sectors
• reduce shortages of seasonal workers in the horticulture and poultry sectors during seasonal peaks of demand

Allocating operators to deliver the visa route

An operator is an organisation that has a licence to sponsor migrants for temporary work in the UK through this visa route.

There are currently 6 horticulture operators and 2 poultry operators managing the recruitment of seasonal workers in 2023.

The current operators are:

• Concordia (horticulture)
• Pro Force Limited (horticulture and poultry)
• Fruitful Jobs (horticulture)
• HOPS Labour Solutions (horticulture)
• Agri-HR (horticulture)
• Ethero Ltd (horticulture)
• RE Recruitment (poultry)

Operators cannot source workers for their own use, only as a third-party provider. Operators will source workers so that farms and businesses that qualify can request the workers they need. This will make sure access to seasonal workers is fair and equal.

Should additional operators be needed for 2024, Defra will open and complete a new ‘request for information’ (RFI) process to tender for new licenses,

Operator selection process

During an open RFI process, Defra assesses, selects and endorses an agreed number of operators. The Home Office then considers their applications for a sponsor licence.

Step 1: Defra identifies the operators

Organisations who want to operate the visa route would first need to complete an RFI form.

Defra assesses whether the organisation meets the minimum standards, including whether they can:

• deliver the visa route
• meet the immigration control criteria the Home Office requires
• provide an effective service to the sector

A panel of Defra officials score the RFI responses, before endorsing an agreed number of operators that meet the requisite standards and scoring criteria. These operators are then recommended to the Home Office for approval.

Step 2: Allocation of certificates of sponsorship

Approved operators receive a sponsor licence that allows them to issue Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) to seasonal workers. Those workers can use the sponsorship when they apply for visas under the visa route.

The allocation of CoS between the operators is determined when operators are granted a licence.

The jobs seasonal workers can do

Operators can only use the visa route to recruit workers for certain activities in the sectors specified below.

Seasonal workers must only be employed for seasonal roles. For this visa route, seasonal work is defined as ‘employment which fluctuates or is restricted according to the season or time of the year.’

Sectors seasonal workers can work in

The visa route only covers certain work in the edible horticulture, ornamental horticulture and poultry sectors. This is where significant seasonal labour shortages are being reported.

Defra defines the horticulture sector as work relating to:

• protected vegetables grown in glasshouse systems
• field vegetables and tubers grown outdoors, including vegetables, herbs, leafy salads, and potatoes
• soft fruit grown outdoors or under cover, for example, in glasshouses or polytunnels, including strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, and all ribes and rubus species
• top fruit (orchard fruit), trees that bear fruit, for example, apples, plums, cherries, and apricots
• vine and bines, both twining or climbing flexible stems of certain plants, for example, hops and grapes
• mushrooms, this typically covers Agaricus bisporus but can also include more exotic species, usually grown indoors
• bulbs and cut flowers, such as daffodils, grown outdoors and indoors
• pot plants, such as seasonal bedding plants like pansies, violas, germaniums, and poinsettias
• hardy ornamental nursery stock such as Christmas trees, shrubs, roses, ornamental trees, and perennials
• tree and forest nurseries

Defra defines seasonal poultry as work related to poultry slaughtered and processed in the pre-Christmas period.

Activities seasonal workers can do

For the edible and ornamental horticulture sector, operators can use the visa route to recruit seasonal workers for:

• crop maintenance
• crop harvesting
• tunnel construction and dismantling
• irrigation installation and maintaining
• crop husbandry
• packing and processing of crops on employer’s premises
• preparing and dismantling growing areas and media
• general primary production work in edible and ornamental horticulture
• activities relating to supervising teams of horticultural workers

For the poultry sector, operators can use the visa route to recruit seasonal workers for the role of:

• butcher
• bird or game dresser
• killer or plucker
• poulterer
• poultry processor
• poultry sticker
• trusser
• food operative
• poultry catcher or handler
• poultry vaccinator
• poultry meat packer

Operators cannot hire a seasonal worker for work:

• that requires labour all year round
• in offices or other administrative spaces

Contact Defra

If you have questions about this process, email accesstolabourfoodchain@defra.gov.uk.