Defra to extend Seasonal Worker route to 2029

Article summary

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced it will extend the Seasonal Worker visa route from 2025 to 2029. The announcement is contained in a policy paper entitled 'Independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain: government response', which states that government is putting various measures in place to 'turbo-charge' automation for food supply chain jobs, but while automation develops and other measures are taken it has extended the Seasonal Worker visa route for another five years. The paper notes that the demand for migrant workers via the Seasonal Worker visa route has increased dramatically, with the visa quota for horticulture rising from 2,500 in 2019 to 45,000 in 2024 and a further 2,000 visas for poultry workers. The number of visas available to the horticulture sector in 2025 will be set at 43,000 with 2,000 visas for poultry workers.