The United Kingdom government has announced the launch of a two year seasonal visa pilot scheme, allowing residents outside of the European Union to apply for positions as seasonal farm workers.
The launch of this visa pilot scheme provides the opportunity for South African nationals to apply to work abroad, in the UK.
The scheme will take effect from the UK spring season starting in March 2019 and ending in December 2020.
BreytenBachs Immigration Consultants spokesperson, Jacinda Olivier, says the visa will allow workers to reside in the UK for a limited period only.
“It will only be temporary visa, and workers will only be allowed to work in the UK for up to six months,” said Olivier.
The seasonal farmworker visa is being piloted to allow for 2 500 workers to farm in the country, in an effort to alleviate the farm labour shortages during the peak production period in the UK.
The UK government aims to provide support to farmers in their country with the implementation of the visa pilot scheme. After the period of December 2020, the UK national government will re-evaluate the impact and continue to search for ways to provide aid for the farming industry’s long-term needs.
Although there are alternative options such as the ‘automated harvesting solutions’, this is not universally available and can cost a hefty fee for farmers.
The scheme will be headed by two operators who are yet to be announced.
Application details
In order to qualify for the scheme, applicants must be over the age of 18-years-old on the date of application.
The scheme is only open to workers from outside of the European Union.
Further information and details will be released by the UK government at the start of 2019.
If you are wanting to move abroad to the United Kingdom, there are dual citizenship opportunities for South African nationals and South Africans are warned that a traffic fine could prevent the success of your visa application.
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