BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 17. Kyrgyzstan has opened online registration for citizens seeking seasonal agricultural work in the UK in 2027.

This was reported in a press release issued by the Center for Employment of Citizens Abroad under the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration of Kyrgyzstan on August 17.

“Online registration will be open from August 17 at 12:00 and will close on August 20 at 23:59 Bishkek time,” the center said.

The registration concerns participation in the UK’s seasonal agricultural work program for 2027. The British operator HOPS will select candidates after the registration process is completed.

The opportunity is provided through the UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme, which enables British farmers to recruit workers from abroad through licensed scheme operators. HOPS is one of the operators authorized to sponsor workers under the scheme.

According to the Kyrgyz center, applicants must be Kyrgyz citizens aged 18 or older and be prepared for physically active agricultural work. Applicants must also have a valid international passport. The document must remain valid through 2028, the publication says.

The registration form requires applicants to provide their full name in Latin characters, international passport number, email address, and contact telephone number. Applicants must also answer additional questions.

The center specified that the email address used for registration must end with gmail.com. The passport number must begin with PE or AC, according to the registration requirements.

Registered candidates will be subsequently selected by HOPS. Those selected will receive further instructions by email concerning the next steps in the process, the report noted.

The center also warned applicants against using intermediaries during registration. “Persons using intermediary services will be automatically excluded from the list of selected candidates,” the statement said.

The UK Seasonal Worker Scheme covers temporary employment in the horticultural sector, including work with vegetables, fruit, flowers, mushrooms and nursery plants. Workers on the relevant visa can stay in the UK for up to six months for horticultural work.

The registration link was published by the Kyrgyz Center for Employment of Citizens Abroad as part of the recruitment process for the 2027 season.

Meanwhile, labor migration has become a structural feature of Kyrgyzstan’s labor market, with the government increasingly seeking to shift part of the flow from informal migration toward organized recruitment and legal employment abroad. In 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers declared that more than 1.1 million Kyrgyz citizens were working abroad, describing labor migration as an area requiring continued state attention.

The government has built an institutional system around this process. The Center for Employment of Citizens Abroad provides consultations, assists with recruitment and pre-departure preparation, and works with foreign partners and licensed private employment agencies. As of July 2025, the center said it cooperated with partners in the UK, South Korea, Türkiye, Russia and Germany, while 191 private agencies had permits to arrange employment abroad.

The scale of organized migration has been growing. In the first half of 2025, the center helped 14,010 Kyrgyz citizens find jobs abroad, up 30.5% from a year earlier. At the same time, the ministry said 192 private employment agencies were operating in the migration sector and providing recruitment services in 29 countries.

The expansion also reflects the risks surrounding overseas employment. Kyrgyz authorities have repeatedly reported cases of illegal recruitment and fraud, including schemes targeting people seeking jobs in European countries. In July 2025, the Labor Ministry warned about fraudulent offers promising high salaries and guaranteed employment.

At the same time, the UK has become an important destination for organized seasonal employment from Kyrgyzstan. Cooperation on agricultural jobs has involved UK-authorized operators including HOPS Labour Solutions and Pro-Force. Britain’s Seasonal Worker route allows sponsored foreign workers to take temporary horticultural jobs for up to six months. Demand from Kyrgyz citizens significantly exceeds available positions: in February 2025, 33,506 people applied through an HOPS registration, while only 2,250 were invited for interviews.