Seasonal Visas – USA (2022)

Seasonal Visas – USA

There is a lot of different types of visas. It all depends on the reason why you want to visit the US, holidays or seasonal jobs, it all depends. The visa I spend more than 3 years (not consecutive) in the US was on a H2B visa, it’s a seasonal work visa.

There is a lot of visas you can apply for but here is just a few of them. H2B, H2A, J1 and obviously the tourist visa that is a B2 visa. This is just a few visas I will briefly explain on how it works and who is eligible and I will give you some inside info on the visas about the do’s and the don’t’s. All these visas below is probably some the easiest ways to get into the US.

H2B Visa

The H2B visa is a non-agriculture seasonal work visa, mainly working in the hospitality industry. I recently went back to my home country due to the Covid-19 outbreak after being in the US for just over 2 years doing seasonal work and this was my 3rd time to the US.

So on this visa you are legally allowed stay in the US for up to 3 year without leaving, but you will have to move to a new job every 6-9 months depends on the contract length you signed with your H2B sponsor (employer).

The best way to get a job with this visa is to work through an agency. See my other post about the H2B visa.

Work through an agency and then go private

The best way to stay for the whole 3 year is to work through an agency for your first season and then go private, by private I mean find your own job Here , they are one of the biggest seasonal job sites in the US. The reason I say to go private is because if you continue to work through your agency they only let you choose from a list of employers they work with and will only be able to set you up with 2 or 3 interviews with a new seasonal employer and some times they end up not getting you a job and then you have to leave the US and go back home. But if you go private you can set up a lot more interviews and do the kind of job you would like to do. You will just be have to send out a lot of emails to employers. Here is a list of Employers you can email. 

I once worked at a Ski resort in Vermont during the winter season and got a seasonal ski pass so I was able to snowboard as much as possible in my off time. You can find really exiting jobs if you go private.

The advantages of the H2B visa if you go private, is that you usually pay less for rent and get paid more per hour. If you work through an agency they sometimes organize the housing and charge you way more than when you go private.

This visa is one of my favorite visas, because you can stay in the US for a long time and you see A LOT of the US, I’ve been to more than 30 of the 50 states in just over 4 years.

For more info on the H2B visa click here.

Countries eligible for the H2B visa

Andorra	France	Mexico	Slovenia
Argentina	Germany	Monaco	Solomon Islands
Australia	Greece	Mongolia	South Africa
Austria	Grenada	Montenegro	South Korea
Barbados	Guatemala	Mozambique	Spain
Belgium	Honduras	Nauru	St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Brazil	Hungary	The Netherlands	Sweden
Brunei	Iceland	Nicaragua	Switzerland
Bulgaria	Ireland	New Zealand	Taiwan
Canada	Israel	Norway	Thailand
Chile	Italy	Panama	Timor-Leste
Colombia	Jamaica	Papua New Guinea	Tonga
Costa Rica	Japan	Peru	Turkey
Croatia	Kiribati	Poland	Tuvalu
Czech Republic	Latvia	Portugal	Ukraine
Denmark	Lichtenstein	Romania	United Kingdom
Ecuador	Lithuania	Samoa	Uruguay
El Salvador	Luxembourg	San Marino	Vanuatu
Estonia	Macedonia	Serbia
Fiji	Madagascar	Singapore
Finland	Malta	Slovakia

J1 Visa

The J-1 visa is one of the most complex visas in the US. This visa can be for anything from Au pair to interns to a student visa and the duration of the visa all depends on the type of program. This visa is divided in to two sectors, private sector and Government and academic sector.

Private sector programs

Student, Secondary School
Au pair and EduCare
Camp Counselor (summer camps)
Internship
Summer/Winter Work Travelers
Teacher
Trainee
Flight Training (J-1 privileges terminated effective June 1, 2010)
Alien Physician

Government and Academic sector programs

Student, College/University
Government Visitor
International Visitor
Professor and Research Scholar
Short-Term Scholar
Specialist

The most common programs for the J-1 visa are Interns, Summer/Winter Work Travelers, Au pairs, Students and Camp Counselors. Majority of the J-1 Summer/Winter Work Travelers program goes hand to hand with the H2-B program. Every season I’ve worked in the US, there was J-1 Summer/Winter Work Travelers, but they usually only do 3-4 months during the peak times of Summer or Winter.

For more info on th J-1 visa click here.

H2A Visa

The H2A visa is an agriculture seasonal work visa, on this visa you will mainly work on a farm in the farm-like states for example, Montana, North Dakota or Texas just to name a few. This visa is usually valid for about 8 to 9 months per year and then you will have go back to your home country for the remaining of the year, then you can do it all over again.

On this visa you can come back to the US as much as you want and one of the advantages of this visa is that you work for 9 months and then on “holiday” for 3 months. On the H2A visa you almost never pay for rent because you will be living on the farm and they usually provide you with 2/3 meals per day.

You usually get paid more on this visa because it’s more labor focus jobs and you don’t pay for rent most of the time so you will be able to save some good money.

For more info on the H2A visa click here.

Countries eligible for the H2A visa

Andorra	France	Mexico	Slovenia
Argentina	Germany	Monaco	Solomon Islands
Australia	Greece	Mongolia	South Africa
Austria	Grenada	Montenegro	South Korea
Barbados	Guatemala	Mozambique	Spain
Belgium	Honduras	Nauru	St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Brazil	Hungary	The Netherlands	Sweden
Brunei	Iceland	Nicaragua	Switzerland
Bulgaria	Ireland	New Zealand	Taiwan
Canada	Israel	Norway	Thailand
Chile	Italy	Panama	Timor-Leste
Colombia	Jamaica	Papua New Guinea	Tonga
Costa Rica	Japan	Peru	Turkey
Croatia	Kiribati	Poland	Tuvalu
Czech Republic	Latvia	Portugal	Ukraine
Denmark	Lichtenstein	Romania	United Kingdom
Ecuador	Lithuania	Samoa	Uruguay
El Salvador	Luxembourg	San Marino	Vanuatu
Estonia	Macedonia	Serbia	Dominican Republic
Fiji	Madagascar	Singapore	Moldova
Finland	Malta	Slovakia	Paraguay

B2 Visa – Tourist Visa

The B2 Visa is the “normal” tourist visa everyone is applying for when they go to the US for holiday and just travel the States. But you do get a B1 visa, but that one is more for a business related visit.

The B2 visa is the easiest visa to apply for and you are not allowed to work or do any kind of business on this visa. Like I mention before if you want to do some business and travel the US you can apply for a B1 visa. So this visa is just a basic tourist visa. So there is not a lot to say about this visa, besides that most counties have to apply for this visa at their nearest Embassy or Consulate in their home country to visit the US on a vacation.

Enjoy and Safe Travels!!

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