Thirty specialists for a poultry complex: recruitment, permits, visas and addresses

01 / The request

Thirty places and peak season four months away

Olha, head of HR at a poultry complex, came to WORKIN after two failed attempts with local agencies. The agencies sent people who had never worked with poultry, and half of them disappeared within a week. The pre-holiday peak was four months away, and the slaughter line and deboning shop were a third short of people.

We started the first meeting not with countries or timelines but with the profile of the people needed. Olha and the shop managers described exactly who was needed, what a person had to be able to do on day one and what could be taught on site. That became the recruitment request, which the company signed as an annex to the contract.

Poultry house operators, 8

Experience caring for birds: feeding, watering, litter, monitoring flock condition

Slaughter line hangers, 8

Stamina, work in cold and damp conditions, meat processing experience preferred

Deboners, 10

Confident knife skills, poultry or meat deboning experience required

Packers, 4

Precision, line work, basic hygiene skills

Timeline

First people on shift before peak season, the rest in waves

02 / The first week

What we asked the company for before recruitment

While our partners gathered CVs, we checked the poultry complex's own documents. Without them a work permit can't be obtained, however good the candidates are. We found two things that could have stopped everything before filing.

The first was job titles. The staffing schedule listed deboners as "shop workers", which didn't match the draft employment contract or the request. The company issued an order and a new version of the staffing schedule, and only then did we prepare the application. The second was housing. Olha said the workers would live in the company's own dormitory and in rented flats in the district town. We asked for documents for every address straight away, because without them there would be neither residence permits nor registration of place of residence.

• an extract from the state register and a document confirming the director's authority;
• a certified extract from the staffing schedule for the required positions;
• powers of attorney for WORKIN to file applications;
• documents for every residence address: the company's dormitory and the flats;
• contacts for the responsible person and the accountant for state fee invoices.

A candidate can be found in a week. A wrongly named position in the staffing schedule can't be fixed on filing day.

03 / Recruitment

Uzbekistan for a fast start, India for deboning

We chose countries by trade and timeline. Poultry house operators and hangers were recruited in Uzbekistan: its citizens don't need a visa to enter, the route is shorter, and candidates often have experience on farms and poultry plants. Deboners were recruited in India: there are more people with knife skills from meat processing, but the route is longer because of the consulate.

Partner agencies in both countries gathered CVs to our profile, and our own managers held interviews in the candidates' languages: Sherzod Rakhimov with candidates from Uzbekistan, Rajesh Kumar with candidates from India. We asked every agency for one thing: no payments from candidates for placement, which each candidate confirms with their own signature.

1. CVs

   180 CVs from partners in Uzbekistan and India matching the profile of four trades.

2. First conversation

   74 candidates: where and how long they had worked, with which poultry or meat, and what they expected from the job.

3. Skills check

   46 candidates showed their skills on video: deboners their knife work, operators a walk-through of a working day in a poultry house with follow-up questions.

4. Approval

   Shop managers reviewed the videos and approved 30 candidates. Another 6 were kept in reserve.

04 / Checks

Candidate documents before a single hryvnia on permits

An approved candidate isn't yet a candidate who can be processed. Before filing permit applications, we checked everyone against a checklist. The check ruled out two people before any costs were incurred.

1. 01

   Passport

   Validity with a margin, ideally at least a year, and blank pages. Copies only from the original, with a Ukrainian translation and a certified translator's signature.

2. 02

   Entry history

   For candidates from Uzbekistan we count days of stay in the last 180. One had already used 70 days and would not have had time to get a residence permit.

3. 03

   Visa history

   For candidates from India we look at previous refusals and visas used for other countries. Such visas usually speed up the consular stage.

4. 04

   Police clearance certificate

   Ordered immediately, with an apostille and translation. It takes 4-6 weeks in practice, so we don't wait for the permit.

5. 05

   Sanctions lists and entry refusals

   Checked before filing, so we never obtain a permit for someone who won't be let in.

6. 06

   Qualifications

   Experience on the CV has to match what the person showed on video. For one deboner it didn't, and his place was filled from the reserve.

05 / Before departure

What candidates knew before buying a ticket

Every approved candidate received a vacancy information sheet and signed it before leaving. It sets out the employer, position, place of work, contract term, pay and the taxes deducted from it, working hours, working conditions and protective clothing, type of housing and address, meals, transport, medical insurance and the estimated processing time. A separate line lists the costs the candidate covers.

We didn't promise more than the sheet says. A candidate who arrives with the right expectations doesn't look for another job in the first month. We noted the questions asked most often, and the answers are now in the sheet for the next groups.

• "Will they take my passport?" - no, passports and residence permits always stay with the worker, and nobody has the right to take them;
• "How much will I take home?" - we showed pay after taxes, not the amount before deductions;
• "Can I work somewhere else?" - no, the permit is issued for this employer and this position;
• "What if the job doesn't suit me?" - we explained how a contract ends and how to return home;
• "Who do I call in Ukraine?" - a WORKIN manager who speaks the candidate's language, and a free phone line.

06 / Permits

Thirty applications and one payment from the wrong account

We filed permit applications under a power of attorney, in groups by trade. The state permit fee must be paid by the company itself from its own account, and we issued a separate invoice for it. To avoid waiting a banking day, the accounts team paid the first part from the director's card. We caught this before filing: such a payment is a typical reason for an application to be left without motion. The payment was made again from the company's account and the first amount refunded.

A decision on issuing a permit is made within seven working days of registering the application. From the issue date we started counting the 90 days within which an employment contract must be signed with each worker, and entered these dates into the control-date register together with the 10-day deadline for submitting a copy of the contract. How applications get left without motion and what to do then is covered in a separate scenario about an application left without motion.

07 / Visas

Three consular refusals and a reserve that filled the places

The Uzbek group entered visa-free, so the main thing was not to waste days of stay. Everyone travelled with a copy of the permit, an invitation, proof of housing and their manager's contact in hand, so there were no questions at the border about the purpose of the trip. The Indian group went through the consulate for a D visa: an invitation from the company, a certified copy of the permit, a housing document, an insurance policy with cover of at least EUR 30,000, and biometrics in person.

The consulate refused three deboners without detailed explanations. Two had never travelled abroad before, and the third had a discrepancy in the dates of previous employment on his application. We advised against reapplying with the same file without any change in circumstances: the chances are low and the clock is running. Three reserve candidates who had already passed skills and document checks took their places, so all they had left to do was apply for visas.

Two more were delayed by police clearance certificates: apostilles in their region took longer than usual. What helped was that we had ordered the certificates straight after approving the candidates, not after the permits. Those two arrived with the second wave and didn't hold up the first.

08 / Addresses

The dormitory worked, the flats didn't

Where the workers live is the company's decision. Our job is to make sure the address can be used for a temporary residence permit and registration of place of residence, because without them a person can't legally stay in Ukraine and work. We checked housing documents as carefully as candidates' documents.

The poultry complex's own dormitory passed straight away: the building's documents were in order and the company, as owner, provided everything needed. The rented flats in the district town were a different story. Two landlords had verbally agreed to rent to foreigners but refused to provide documents for registration. In another flat, the lease had been signed with someone who wasn't the owner.

Eight people who were due to live in those flats could have ended up without grounds for a residence permit. We told Olha before the group filed anything with the migration service. The company found other flats with landlords willing to register tenants, and for two people used WORKIN housing, where documents for residence permits and registration are ready in advance. No filing deadline was missed.

09 / Handover

From the border to the first shift

1. Arrival day

   Meeting, the journey to the residence address, and a worker's guide covering their documents, rights and contacts.

2. Days 1-2

   Employment contracts signed and orders issued by the company. We submit copies of the contracts within 10 days.

3. First week

   Tax numbers, which take 3-5 working days in practice. Then bank accounts for wages.

4. First weeks

   Residence permit applications in person before the legal stay runs out, followed by registration of place of residence.

5. Handover

   Everyone's documents in order, with copies in the company's HR files. People start their shifts, and the register holds the dates of their next extensions.

That's where our part ends: the company receives workers with valid documents, and the shop managers organise the work. We continue to handle documents through migration support: permit and residence permit extensions, updates after a new passport. The overall sequence of steps is on how it works, and what the company prepares is in the company checklist.

The WORKIN replacement guarantee lasts at least 6 months from the worker's first shift, provided the agreed working, pay and housing conditions are kept: recruitment of the replacement is not charged again. One deboner from the first wave was called home by his family because his father was ill, and a reserve candidate took his place.

10 / Reliability

How we close every risk on the route

1. 01

   Visa refusal

   We know each country's consular requirements and put the file together so no questions arise. If a refusal still happens, a backup candidate with documents ready fills the place within days.

2. 02

   Apostilled certificates

   Ordered right after a candidate is approved and tracked with our partners in the country, so a slow apostille doesn't delay the group's arrival.

3. 03

   The border

   Every worker travels with a complete set of documents in hand and knows how to explain the purpose of the trip. The group clears control without delays.

4. 04

   Addresses for residence permits

   We check housing documents and the owner's consent before filing. If an address won't work, we offer another, including WORKIN housing with documents ready.

5. 05

   Company documents

   We find discrepancies in positions, payments and powers of attorney before filing, so applications aren't returned without motion.

6. 06

   After the first shift

   We handle permit and residence permit extensions, and if someone leaves, we fill the place under the replacement guarantee.

On this route there is nothing WORKIN can't solve: a consular refusal, a delayed apostille, questions at the border or an address without documents. Our experience with consulates, the migration service and border control lets us prepare everything in advance. The result of such a project: candidates selected by trade and checked before any permit costs, permits issued for the right positions, refusals covered by backups, addresses fit for residence permits, and the company receiving people on shift with their documents in order. More on such projects on our pages about workers for agriculture and food processing, workers from India and mass hiring.

11 / FAQ

Questions and answers