New statement of changes for the Pork butchers visa

The latest statement of changes to the Immigration Rules allows pork butchers to come into the UK as Seasonal Workers for up to six months. It came into force at 4pm on 1 November 2021.

As we have reported last month, the government announced that 800 temporary visas would be made available to foreign pork butchers as part of various measures to support the pig industry.

The government confirmed that pork butchers who are recruited as Seasonal Workers must be paid the same minimum salary as they would under Skilled Worker:

The applicant must have a Certificate of Sponsorship for the job they are planning to do, which must:

confirm that an applicant being sponsored for specified pork butchery work will receive a salary that equals or exceeds all of the following:

• £25,600 per year;

• £10.10 per hour.

In any case, these visas are only available for people doing “specified pork butchery work”. This means:

• working in occupation code 5431 (butcher), and
• what they are butchering is pigs, and
• the place of work is a farm, slaughterhouse or “processing site”.

Foreign butchers meeting these requirements can apply up to 31 December 2021 and can be granted permission to be in the UK lasting no more than six months.