Can I apply for an H2-A agricultural visa if my girlfriend lives in the States

[Joseph Underwood 5]

Hi, any advice would be greatly appreciated on this matter. I have just been living in Australia with my girlfriend for the last 3 years. She is American and I am from the UK. I have carried out a lot of agricultural work in Australia, and I was looking at the h2-a visa to come to the USA and do agricultural work, specifically in Oregon the State where my girlfriend lives. Would this be allowed if I can find a farm to work on or would this not be allowed even if I find a farm to sponsor me and stay at that farm?

 

[Ontarkie 14,218]

~~Duplicate thread removed. Please only start one thread for the same or related topic~~

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

You can look for a h2a sponsor wherever you want if there are sponsored jobs available, bear in mind they are short term visas (6 months maximum I think?) so not an option if you are looking for a more permanent visa to stay on 

[Joseph Underwood 5]

8 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

You can look for a h2a sponsor wherever you want if there are sponsored jobs available, bear in mind they are short term visas (6 months maximum I think?) so not an option if you are looking for a more permanent visa to stay on 

Hey Susie thank you for the reply, I was thinking more just for the meantime and then onto a k1 visa after the h2-a visa has expired and I have gone back to the UK. We want some more time before applying for the K1 visa since she has only just got back to America after 3 years, it seems the k1 process might be more difficult. We would like to have more time to save up and for my partner to get settled back in the States job wise. We thought this could be a good option for me to come to the states in the meantime but not have to sacrifice not working at all whilst visiting.  

[Boiler 45,468]

K1 has many issues, CR1 is much better.

 

Do you have specialist agricultural skills, do you speak Spanish?

[Joseph Underwood 5]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

K1 has many issues, CR1 is much better.

 

Do you have specialist agricultural skills, do you speak Spanish?

Hey Boiler thanks for the reply, no specialist skills really, in Australia I was driving tractors, working in the packing sheds and picking fruit mainly. My partner lives in more of a rural area though and knows of farmers who need workers who already use the h2-A process, so we were hoping that could be an option for the meantime. I just don't know if it effects applying for a k1 or CR1 after. And CR1 is the better option long-term? We haven't looked so much at that one, how is it better? Many thanks 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, Joseph Underwood said:

Hey Boiler thanks for the reply, no specialist skills really, in Australia I was driving tractors, working in the packing sheds and picking fruit mainly. My partner lives in more of a rural area though and knows of farmers who need workers who already use the h2-A process, so we were hoping that could be an option for the meantime. I just don't know if it effects applying for a k1 or CR1 after. And CR1 is the better option long-term? We haven't looked so much at that one, how is it better? Many thanks 

It’s excellent that she knows farmers who already use the process, often the hardest part for people is tracking down employers prepared to sponsor.

 

as for what is better of k1 vs CR1, there are many threads on that in the “what visa do I need” subforum: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/157-what-visa-do-i-need-family-based-immigration/