Home Office announced the relaunch of immigration scheme for farm workers after Brexit

The UK Government will create 2,500 jobs for migrants from the countries outside the European Union as a part of immigration scheme to support farming industry. Migrants will be able to obtain visas as seasonal workers for up to six months. The program will be launched in spring of 2019 and will last until December 2020 to prevent labour shortages during peak production periods.

The ministers also warned that the program will be suspended if there are cases of violation of immigration rules, and migrants would remain in the country illegally after their visas expire.

The relaunch of the scheme is particularly important as the immigration from the EU countries significant fell after Brexit voting. The Union of National Farmers expressed fears that the shortage of workers could affect harvesting in a negative way.

The first scheme for the seasonal farm workers in the UK was introduced after the Second World War during a severe shortage of labour. The most recent scheme allowed hiring workers from Romania and Bulgaria, but was suspended five years ago, when restrictions on employment and free movement for citizens of both countries were lifted.