Seasonal Worker Visa

The Seasonal Worker Visa (previously the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme) allows nationals of eligible countries to come to the UK for up to six months within any twelve-month period to work in specific agricultural roles. It was significantly expanded following Brexit to compensate for the reduction in EU workers who previously filled seasonal agricultural roles under free movement.

The visa covers work in:

• Edible horticulture: fruit and vegetable picking, packing, and related fieldwork
• Ornamental horticulture: nursery work, flower growing, and landscaping
• Poultry processing: a separate quota covering poultry sector workers, typically active in the run-up to Christmas

The Seasonal Worker Visa operates on a quota system: the Home Office sets an annual cap on the number of visas available in each sector. The quota has been periodically increased as the agricultural industry has lobbied for more workers, but demand regularly exceeds supply, and not all applicants who meet the criteria will receive a visa in a given year.

Workers on the Seasonal Worker Visa are entitled to the National Minimum Wage, protection against unlawful deductions, paid holidays, and all other core employment rights. They may not work in sectors other than those covered by the visa, and they must leave the UK by the expiry of their permission unless they have applied for a different immigration route.

Unlike most UK work visas, the Seasonal Worker Visa cannot be applied for independently by a worker seeking employment. Workers must be sponsored by a licensed scheme operator — a recruitment organisation that has been approved by the Home Office to recruit and place seasonal workers with farms and agricultural businesses.

The approved scheme operators include companies such as Concordia, HOPS Labour Solutions, Fruitful Jobs, Pro-Force, and others. The list of approved operators is published by the Home Office and is subject to change. Each operator recruits from specific countries (typically Ukraine, Moldova, Central Asian countries, and others approved by the UK government) and runs their own recruitment and vetting processes.

For a worker to obtain a Seasonal Worker Visa, the process is:

• The worker is offered a role by or through a licensed scheme operator
• The scheme operator issues a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to the worker
• The worker applies for a Seasonal Worker Visa online, attaching the CoS reference, paying the visa application fee, and providing biometric information at a visa application centre
• If successful, the visa is granted allowing entry to the UK to work in the sponsored role

Workers should deal only with licensed scheme operators listed on the Home Office website. Unlicensed agents or individuals offering to secure Seasonal Worker Visas for a fee outside official channels are likely operating fraudulently or facilitating immigration offences.

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) is the primary regulatory body for labour standards in the agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering, and food processing and packaging sectors. The GLAA licenses labour providers operating in these sectors, investigates allegations of worker exploitation and modern slavery, and works with the police and other agencies on labour abuse prosecutions.

Under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004, any business that supplies workers to a farm, horticultural business, or food packager must hold a GLAA licence. Farms and food businesses that use unlicensed gangmasters are committing a criminal offence. Workers can check whether their employer or labour provider holds a GLAA licence using the register on the GLAA website.

If a seasonal worker believes they are being exploited — for example, working excessive hours, having unlawful deductions made from wages, living in substandard accommodation supplied by their employer, having their passport retained, or being subjected to threats — they can contact the GLAA's intelligence team anonymously, call the Modern Slavery Helpline (0800 0121 700), or seek help from Citizens Advice or the Police. Workers who are victims of modern slavery or trafficking may be entitled to protection through the National Referral Mechanism, regardless of their immigration status.

The Seasonal Worker Visa is explicitly a temporary route with no pathway to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or British citizenship. Time spent in the UK on a Seasonal Worker Visa does not count towards the qualifying period for settlement, which requires five continuous years of lawful residence under a route that leads to settlement.

Workers who wish to remain in the UK beyond their six-month permission, or to return repeatedly under the Seasonal Worker Visa, should be aware that the rules are designed to ensure rotation of the workforce rather than long-term settlement. Overstaying a Seasonal Worker Visa is a serious immigration offence that can result in removal from the UK and a ban on re-entry.

Workers who, during their time in the UK, develop a genuine desire to stay longer-term would need to apply for a different visa category — such as the Skilled Worker Visa — from outside the UK in most circumstances. To do so they would need a job offer at the required skill level and salary from an approved sponsor, and would need to meet all the relevant requirements for that route. The Seasonal Worker Visa does not in itself facilitate this transition.

Employers and scheme operators are required to take reasonable steps to ensure that sponsored workers leave the UK at the end of their permission, and to report to the Home Office if a worker fails to turn up or appears to have absconded. Failure to do so can result in the operator losing its licence.