How to apply for UK Seasonal Worker Visa (Tier 5) 2024?
On December 24, 2021, the Home Office and Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced that the seasonal worker visa route would be extended through 2024. This makes it possible for foreign workers to travel to the UK and work for up to six months in the horticultural industry. The 2019 review of the seasonal workers pilot programme will lead to changes to the programme, including a requirement that employers pay employees the federal minimum wage. The government will also require the horticultural industry to take steps to recruit workers from the UK, including providing training, wage increases, and career options. This will reduce the reliance on labour from abroad. Next year, there will be 30,000 visas available, but this number will be monitored, with the possibility of adding another 10,000 visas if necessary. The number of visas issued will start to decline in 2023. The government is still committed to luring more people to the UK, and DEFRA will submit suggestions on how to help the horticultural industry.
Employees with a job offer in the UK can work in the horticulture industry with a Seasonal Worker visa. The seasonal worker visa has a six-month validity period, covering tasks like picking fruits and vegetables. Working with poultry, butchering pork, or operating a heavy-goods vehicle to transport food are not permitted with this visa.
The Temporary Worker-Seasonal Worker Visa (T5) was the previous name for this document.
Basic Information
For those over 18 who want to travel to the UK for up to 6 months to work on farms, the UK Seasonal Worker visa is appropriate.
As soon as your visa is valid (up to 14 days before the start of your job), you can travel to the United Kingdom.
It's important to remember that, with this visa, you are only permitted to stay in the country for six months out of every twelve.
The United Kingdom Seasonal Worker Visa can only be applied for three months after starting your employment.
You must be older than 18, have a sponsoring employer, and meet the eligibility requirements below to apply for this visa.
Conditions for Seasonal Worker Visa Eligibility
You must satisfy the following eligibility requirements to be eligible for a seasonal worker visa:
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- Your UK employer must provide you with a certificate of sponsorship reference number. Your UK sponsor will provide you with an electronic copy of the CoS. The CoS reference number is required when requesting a visa for seasonal workers. The reference number may only be used once during the three-month validity of the sponsorship certificate.
- You need to be able to support yourself with at least £1,270. Twenty-eight days must pass after the date of your application before the funds become available. If your UK sponsor will support you instead, you do not need to meet this requirement. The sponsorship certificate must state that your UK employer will pay at least £1,270 towards your first month's expenses.
- It would be best if you worked in horticulture.
The Required Documents for the Seasonal Worker Visa
You must prepare the listed documents for the Seasonal Worker visa:
- A valid passport with a blank page for your visa.
- The CoS reference number given by your sponsor.
- Bank statements or any other document that proves you have sufficient money to support yourself in the UK.
- You must have a certified translation of any document not in English or Welsh.
How to Apply for the Seasonal Worker Visa?
You must follow the steps below to apply for the Seasonal Worker visa:
- Fill out the online application form on the UK Government’s Visas and Immigration website. You must have the CoS number to apply and provide your info in English.
- Upload the documents. You can upload photographed or scanned documents on the online application portal. Please ensure they are JPG, PDF, PNG, or JPEG. A lift list of the required documents will appear during the application.
- Pay the fees. You must pay the £259 visa fee online as you are completing your application.
- Book an appointment at a visa application centre. You can find a VAC by checking the “Find a visa application centre” on GOV.UK. You must book the appointment as you apply and attend the appointment to provide your biometrics. You may be asked to provide physical copies of your documents or any additional document you have not uploaded.
It would be best if you had a job offer from a sponsor approved by the Home Office before you can apply for a Temporary Work - Seasonal Worker Visa. We cannot independently set up job offers in the UK or sponsor visa applicants since we are only authorised to act as legal representatives.
Temporary Work – Seasonal Worker Visa Eligible Roles
Your proposed role must be eligible to qualify for a Temporary Work–Seasonal Worker Visa within the horticulture or poultry production sector.
This means that to meet the requirements for a Seasonal Worker visa based on work within the horticulture sector, the type of produce being farmed must be:
- Protected Vegetables – grown in glasshouse systems; or
- Field Vegetables – grown outdoors, including vegetables, herbs, leafy salads and potatoes; or
- Soft Fruit – grown outdoors or under cover, e.g. in glasshouses or a polytunnel. This includes strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, blueberries and all rabes 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, grapes; or
- Mushrooms – typically cover Agaricus bisporus species but can also include more exotic species (typically grown indoors).
- 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;
- Hardy ornamental nursery stock – this includes Christmas trees and covers shrubs, roses, ornamental trees and perennials;
- Tree and forest nurseries.
To meet the requirements for a Seasonal Worker visa based on poultry production work, the work must involve undertaking one of the following roles:
- Butcher;
- Bird/game dresser;
- Killer and plucker;
- Plucker;
- Poulterer;
- Poultry processor;
- Poultry sticker;
- Trusser;
- Food operative;
- Poultry catcher/handler;
- Poultry vaccinator;
- Poultry meat packer.
Where Can AtoZ Serwis Plus Help You?
- Choosing the most effective method for obtaining a visa
- Are you being given financial guidance
- helping you with the presentation of papers
- Form filling assistance
- review all of your papers before submitting them
You can navigate intricate visa procedures with the assistance of AtoZ Serwis Plus and submit your visa application with greater assurance thanks to our extensive knowledge, experience, and robust processes.
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