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The raspberry visa

In Portugal, foreign workers picking berries can apply for a visa after seven years of work. Is this the answer to the West's lack of workers?

The ‘Raspberry Visa’ is the colloquial name given to the Portuguese passport that workers picking berries in Western Portugal can apply for after seven years of work. Bhrikuti Rai and Fabian Federl visit Odemira, where the raspberries are grown, to find out what life is like for the workers here and whether their dream of earning an EU passport is worth the toil. Is this system the answer to the lack of workers in the West or simply another means for the unscrupulous to exploit the hopes of migrants with dreams of a better life?

(Photo: Bhrikuti Rai inside a raspberry tunnel. Credit: Helen Lennard)

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27 minutes

Last on

Sun 12 Nov 202323:32GMT
BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

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Fabian Federl

Fabian Federl
Franco-German reporter Fabian Federl has been covering the story of the raspberry fields of Portugal for several years.

Broadcasts

  • Tue 7 Nov 202302:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Tue 7 Nov 202309:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Tue 7 Nov 202313:32GMT
    BBC World Service South Asia & East Asia only
  • Tue 7 Nov 202320:06GMT
    BBC World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & Europe and the Middle East only & BBC Afghan Radio
  • Tue 7 Nov 202321:06GMT
    BBC World Service except Online, Americas and the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East & UK DAB/Freeview
  • Sat 11 Nov 202317:32GMT
    BBC World Service News Internet
  • Sun 12 Nov 202305:32GMT
    BBC World Service except Australasia & East and Southern Africa
  • Sun 12 Nov 202314:06GMT
    BBC World Service News Internet
  • Sun 12 Nov 202323:32GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa