[justanothermama]

Hi. I am looking to move to Oklahoma city. My husband wants farm work. Are there a lot of hiring farms that might process immigration papers-give a work visa-or are they not really doing that anymore. My husband is in Europe now, we wish to reunite as a family, but he has to do farm work, perhaps construction, but needs a visa.


I read it is a very high crime city. What are the safest areas to live for a family with kids? Is there a high percentage of the population that are Christian and home school as we do?



Are there lots of parks, scenic places like rivers/mountains, museums/zoos, etc. for kids?



I read it is very conservative. Is that true? Very pro life, family oriented? Libertarian/freedom oriented?



Is the drug issue/crime really very bad or can we walk the street just fine?


Are tornadoes frequent? I read there are all seasons. Are allergies terrible? especially mold, pollen? Is the humidity high?


That's all I remember for now. Thanks very much.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by justanothermama

Hi. I am looking to move to Oklahoma city. My husband wants farm work. Are there a lot of hiring farms that might process immigration papers-give a work visa-or are they not really doing that anymore. My husband is in Europe now, we wish to reunite as a family, but he has to do farm work, perhaps construction, but needs a visa.


I read it is a very high crime city. What are the safest areas to live for a family with kids? Is there a high percentage of the population that are Christian and home school as we do?



Are there lots of parks, scenic places like rivers/mountains, museums/zoos, etc. for kids?



I read it is very conservative. Is that true? Very pro life, family oriented? Libertarian/freedom oriented?



Is the drug issue/crime really very bad or can we walk the street just fine?


Are tornadoes frequent? I read there are all seasons. Are allergies terrible? especially mold, pollen? Is the humidity high?


That's all I remember for now. Thanks very much.

This board has only a few participants and so I'm afraid we may not be a great help on your farming issues and work visa issues. While I imagine there is farm work available I don't know of any really industrial size farms around OKC. I believe there are some pretty good size farms west of town. There are some pretty big wheat and cattle operations out that way. But certainly within the state of Oklahoma there are opportunities for farm work.

OKC is high crime to some extent but if your husband is going to farm you probably are going to want to be on the perimeter of town in the more suburban/exurban areas... which are fine. No problem walking the streets. OKC is about as "conservative, pro life, family oriented freedom oriented" as you are going to find. Probably not as "liberatarian" as you might find in places like Idaho, and Wyoming but Oklahoma trends in that direction. Home schooling is a big deal here and the state is very friendly to it.

While drugs and crime are "bad" you can walk the streets just fine if you stay out of the areas where drugs and crime is bad.

We have a nice zoo, a couple of museums that are solid. There are some things for kids to do. We have a river but it isn't real scenic but it is a source of activity. There are small mountains in Oklahoma but they are one to three hours away from the OKC metro. It is a day drive to the New Mexico Rockies.

Tornadoes are basically a April-June thing. During those months the TV guys are constantly on there talking about them. But they are small storms and while they may be happening somewhere around the area they usually aren't happening in your immediate area. I've lived in Oklahoma off and on for most of my 62 years and have been in the direct path of one tornado. Several near misses (tornado hit say 5 miles away) but just one.

Allergies can be a problem and wind makes it worse. But I don't know how it compares to other places. I know a guy who left here and went to Oregon. He had to come back here because his allergies were so bad up there.

Hopefully someone else can weigh in on these issues for you. But I certainly think if you wanted to live in Oklahoma somewhere your husband could find work.

[Threestep2]

Please clarify:
Are you and the kids in the US
What is your citizenship/immigration status
What is your husband's citizenship

It is not likely that you will find a farmer processing an individual H2.

[justanothermama]

Originally Posted by Threestep2

Please clarify:
Are you and the kids in the US
What is your citizenship/immigration status
What is your husband's citizenship

It is not likely that you will find a farmer processing an individual H2.

Yes I am a citizen in the US. He works there now but I wish he was here. Hopefully I will some work for him even if it's not farm work. I don't earn enough to sponsor his immigration through family. The only way he can come is to find an employer.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by justanothermama

Yes I am a citizen in the US. He works there now but I wish he was here. Hopefully I will some work for him even if it's not farm work. I don't earn enough to sponsor his immigration through family. The only way he can come is to find an employer.

Go through family immigration on uscis.gov with a fine toothed comb. There are options for indigent. Otherwise you will have to step up and find cosponsors or work two jobs.
"Finding a job for him" is not the solution.

[zenith32]

I moved to OKC myself a few years ago and honestly love it here! It's a big city and so not without its problems, but you could certainly do far worse in terms of crime rates and as long as you steer clear of the problem areas, you'll do just fine here. Stick to suburbs like Yukon or Mustang or Newcastle or McLoud if you need to be closer to farmland. Central Oklahoma does have a reputation for nasty tornadoes and while many weather enthusiasts (including myself) are of the belief that we are long overdo for a major disastrous weather event, the odds of any specific spot getting hit are still relatively low. As for outdoor type stuff, the OKC area is home to numerous lakes but you'll need to venture to other areas of the state for mountains or bigger rivers or good hiking and camping. Politically speaking the state government (in my humble opinion) is a national embarrassment even for highly Christian conservative states (and Oklahoma is indeed quite a 'red' state). All that said, you'd be fairly hard pressed to find cheaper living if you can find a way into the booming housing market.