UK immigration to fast-track work visas for sheep-shearers
April 27 2009 by Robbie Ragless
Amid fears that the increasingly complex and long-winded UK immigration system for people wanting to work in the UK would result in a shortage of sheep shearers for UK farms this seasons, the Home Office has announced that Antipodean shearers will be fast-tracked through the system.
Work visa applications from sheep shearers from Australia and New Zealand will be processed within 15 days, according to the Home Office. Shearers currently living in the US can also apply from there, without having to return to their home country to apply.
The relaxation of the rules for shearers follows intense lobbying from a variety of sources, including the National Sheep Association (NSA), the Shadow Agriculture Minister, Jim Paice, and the National Farmers Union.
The NSA chief, Peter Morris, has welcomed the ruling, “this is excellent news as there was a very real concern that many of the UK flock would not be shorn this year if the New Zealand and Australian shearers were not able to enter the country, the welfare implications were huge and the difficulties faced by all UK sheep farmers would have been immense.”
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