{"id":55670,"date":"2024-11-12T15:38:40","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T15:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=55670"},"modified":"2024-11-12T15:38:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T15:38:40","slug":"uk-boosts-seasonal-worker-visas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2024\/11\/12\/uk-boosts-seasonal-worker-visas\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Boosts Seasonal Worker Visas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By faith Adama<\/p>\n<p>The UK government has announced it will issue 45,000 Seasonal Worker visas in 2025 to address labor shortages in agriculture and poultry, aiming to stabilize food production by securing an adequate workforce during peak demand periods.<\/p>\n<p>Of the total, 43,000 visas will go to horticultural roles\u2014covering tasks like fruit picking, vegetable harvesting, and flower cultivation\u2014while 2,000 visas are allocated to the poultry industry for processing roles needed between October and December.<\/p>\n<p>This measure seeks to address post-Brexit labor challenges faced by farmers and producers, minimizing future risks to the food supply.<\/p>\n<p>Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner emphasized the initiative\u2019s significance for national stability, noting that food security directly impacts the UK\u2019s resilience.<\/p>\n<p>Industry leaders, including the National Farmers&#8217; Union, have welcomed the move as a positive step for British agriculture, though they continue to advocate for a long-term workforce solution.<\/p>\n<p>Applicants must be at least 18, have a sponsorship from a licensed UK employer, and meet health and safety requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Once sponsorship is confirmed, applicants can submit their visa applications through the UK\u2019s online immigration portal.<\/p>\n<p>Applicants must also show proof of funds to support their stay and obtain health insurance. Visa holders are expected to return home at the end of their employment, as the visa is non-renewable and cannot be converted to another type while in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>For poultry sector positions, applications must be submitted by November 15 each year, while horticultural roles accept applications year-round.<\/p>\n<p>In tandem with expanding the visa program, the UK government is investing up to \u00a350 million in agricultural technology, including robotics and automation, to reduce dependency on seasonal labor.<\/p>\n<p>The extended Seasonal Worker visa scheme, renewed in May 2024 for five years, will remain in effect until 2029.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By faith Adama The UK government has announced it will issue 45,000 Seasonal Worker visas in 2025 to address labor shortages in agriculture and poultry, aiming to stabilize food production by securing an adequate workforce during peak demand periods. Of the total, 43,000 visas will go to horticultural roles\u2014covering tasks like fruit picking, vegetable harvesting, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":55671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-55670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55672,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55670\/revisions\/55672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}