Originally Posted by
Panzon
There are many foreigners in Alaska, both tourists and workers. To work legally in the U.S. you will need a Green Card or a guest worker visa. This isn't my area of expertise, but my understanding is that Green Cards take a long time to acquire (it would probably be hard to get one before your trip in 2016). I believe many of the guest workers go into the hospitality or fishing industries, and I believe they are sourced through companies that specialize in providing foreign labor. I don't think you will have much luck coming to the States as a tourist and then trying to acquire a guest worker visa: I believe you need to hold the visa before arriving here.
I imagine you could work under the table for cash, possibly washing dishes or doing laborer work. Those jobs aren't likely to pay much, and it's expensive to be in Alaska in the summer. So if you come expecting to earn enough to pay for food, housing, and transportation I'd think there would be very little left over for discretionary expenses.
If you are thinking that you could come to Alaska and rough it like the pilots seeking work in Maun, I'd reconsider. Yes, the indigent, addicted, and mentally ill do eke out an existence living in tents in and around Anchorage, but that is a tough life and is rather high risk.
No sir, we have already done our time in namibia and maun sleeping in tents. I already mentioned that two of us have green cards. So we know how long it takes.
Two of us are looking to alaska to do our ATPs (as stated). And while we are there look at the professional job market. We have a decent budget to rent for a month or three. A few guys will be joining us, hiking, fishing, one guy is going to do a float rating, and yeh, perhaps one or two of us would take a fishing or bar job. But mostly we'd be looking to be on the other side of the bar, and meet some locals and have some fun.