On June 14, 2023, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced new policy guidance has been added to its Policy Manual addressing the eligibility criteria for the issuance of employment authorization documents in compelling circumstances. Classified as those circumstances which are “beyond the usual hardship associated with job loss”, Volume 10 of the USCIS Policy Manual, details what foreign nationals must show in order to be eligible for an initial Employment Authorization Document (“EAD”) based on compelling circumstances.
Read moreUSCIS Expands Premium Processing Service to E-3 Petitioners Effective February 24, 2021
This week US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) expanded the fifteen-day premium processing service to E-3 petitioners. Effective February 24, 2021, petitioners filing Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, who are requesting a change or extension of status to E-3 classification, will have the option to request premium processing service for their petition. The E-3 visa category is reserved for Australian nationals seeking to work in the US in a professional job.
Read moreCan I Freelance on My Nonimmigrant Visa? Limitations and Opportunities in the US Immigration System
It is more and more common for people to want to structure their careers free from the ties of a standard employer/employee relationship. What used to be the standard nine-to-five job with the same employer is becoming less and less suited to the new ways that people work. For many people who work in the arts especially, working on projects for multiple employers is the best way to structure their work. However, doing myriad projects for multiple clients or employers can be challenging under the current immigration system and visa structures. While the US has a clear interest in protecting US workers and ensuring foreign nationals do not come to the US without actual work lined up, the immigration system fails to properly allow for the increasing trend of people working under a freelance model.
Read moreUS State Department Significantly Increases Reciprocity Fees for Australian Nationals in Certain Visa Categories
Effective December 23, 2019, the Department of State (DOS) adjusted the reciprocity schedule for Australia for certain nonimmigrant visa categories. This change in the reciprocity schedule is a result of Executive Order 13780 (“Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”), signed by President Trump in March 2017, that required the DOS to undertake a worldwide review of nonimmigrant visa reciprocity agreements and arrangements to ensure that US nationals receive “reciprocal treatment in terms of validities and fees as that afforded to host country nationals, as required by US law.”
Read moreThe Aftermath of the H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Visa lottery: Next Steps and Alternatives
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) have announced the lottery results for this year’s H-1B cap (Fiscal Year 2020) with USCIS reporting that it received 201,011 H-1B petitions. Additionally, the agency announced last week that they completed data entry for all FY 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected (including master’s cap cases), which means they will be sending receipt notices for those cases selected and returning those cases not selected.
Read moreVisa Options for Graphic Designers and Art/Creative Directors
Everyday life is filled with images—from advertisements in the subway and inside magazines and on billboards to artwork and visual designs on websites, t-shirts, product packaging, book covers, and, okay, pretty much everywhere else. We can thank graphic designers and art and creative directors for using their talents to come up with the overall creative vision and design of all those images we see on a daily basis.
Read moreDon’t Try This at Home: 5 Reasons Why Foreign Nationals Shouldn’t File E-3 Visa Applications On Their Own
The E-3 is a nonimmigrant visa that allows Australian citizens to temporarily come to the US to work for a US employer in a professional capacity. To qualify for this visa, Australian foreign nationals must have a legitimate offer of employment in the US with a salary that complies with Department of Labor requirements, fill a position that qualifies as a specialty occupation (i.e., a professional job that requires a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific field of study), and hold at least a bachelor’s degree (or the equivalent work experience) in a field related to the position.
Read moreDHS Enhances Opportunities for H-1B1, E-3, CW-1 Nonimmigrants, and Certain EB-1 Immigrants
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is revising its regulations affecting highly skilled workers in specialty occupations from Chile and Singapore (H-1B1), Australia (E-3), nonimmigrant workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) classification, as well as immigrants in the employment-based first preference (EB-1) category for outstanding professors and researchers. Effective February 16, 2016, the amendments will benefit these H-1B1, E-3, and CW-1 nonimmigrant workers as well as EB-1 professors and researchers by “removing unnecessary hurdles that place such workers at a disadvantage when compared to similarly situated workers in other visa classifications.”
Specifically, the amended regulations will:
- Include H-1B1 and principal E-3 classifications in the list of classes of foreign nationals authorized for employment incident to status with a specific employer (as is the case with L-1, O-1, and H-1B classifications, for example), and clarify that H-1B1 and principal E-3 nonimmigrants are permitted to work without having to separately apply to DHS for employment authorization, codifying the standard practice;
- Authorize H-1B1, principal E-3 nonimmigrants, and CW-1 nonimmigrants for continued employment for up to 240 days with the same employer if the employer has timely filed for an extension of stay with US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), a move that will greatly benefit nonimmigrant workers in the US under those statuses;
- Update filing procedure regulations for extensions of stay and change of status requests to include the principal E-3 and H-1B1 nonimmigrant classifications to harmonize with current published UCSIS instructions; and
- Expand the current list of acceptable initial evidence for EB-1 outstanding professors and researchers to allow petitioners to submit “comparable” evidence, such as important patents or prestigious peer-reviewed funding grants, to prove that the researcher or professor is recognized internationally as outstanding in their academic field.
With these changes, DHS intends to “harmonize the regulations governing these classifications” to address discrepancies, all with the end goal of ensuring productivity and efficiency for employers as well as providing benefits to foreign national employees, such as preventing lost wages. Additionally, DHS hopes that expanding the range of evidence that employers may provide for EB-1 outstanding professors and researchers may result in more effective and wide-ranging recruitment. The final rule change, which was not substantially revised since being submitted to the public for comment, does not impose any additional costs on employers, workers, or any governmental agencies. The majority of public comments supported the rule change, and the published rule reviews them in detail, for those curious.
In the end, DHS states: “Attracting and retaining highly skilled workers is critical to sustaining our Nation's global competitiveness. By attracting the best and brightest from around the world, the United States can harness their talents, skills, and ideas to help the U.S. economy grow.”
Do’s and Don’ts of the E-3
Not too long ago, Lizzie B. created a wonderful chart highlighting some alternatives to the H-1B. In that post she covered the basics of the E-3: that it is for Australian citizens who are coming to the US to work in a professional job, that it is issued in two-year increments and that the Australian national must be getting paid a salary that is in line with what the Department of Labor (DOL) deems appropriate for the position. The E-3 is one of the easiest US visas to obtain. It is a fast process since the application can be made straight at the US Embassy/Consulate, and does not require piles of documents. Some employers choose to do the application themselves, and while most of the time everything goes well, sometimes things can go awry. I thought it might be helpful to create a list of do's and don’ts for the E-3 application to help avoid denials if employers are filing these themselves:
DO...
✔ BE AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN
The beneficiary of the E-3 application must be an Australian citizen with an Australian passport. People who live in Australia without having acquired citizenship are not eligible. The spouse and children of the principal beneficiary need not necessarily be Australian citizens in order to get the E-3 dependent visa (E-3D).
Australians in New York City
I was at the Australian-owned Milk Bar in Prospect Heights last summer eating a delicious Cheddar Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich after I'd just had a flat white at Glass Shop when I thought, Wow, there really are a lot of Australians in New York City. Many others have had this thought too, such as Lizzie B. who recently sent me this Gothamist post, which credits the E-3 visa for the influx of Australians in the city (to be fair, there's also a lot of Australians in Los Angeles). Lizzie B. is herself no stranger to Australians and E-3s as she wrote a very informative post discussing E-3s, H-1Bs, and TNs (which included a super cool chart).
Is New York City the new London for Australians? Maybe. Either way, Protima isn't complaining as she is obsessed with Australian coffee, and I have to agree: it is very good. She loves Cafe Grumpy and Toby's Estate. There's also Little Collins and Bluestone Lane.
Where to eat and drink? Try Little Australia. Or Flinders Lane.
The most interesting Australian import? Périgord black truffles ("...fresh truffles offer a complex, musky and earthy flavour that’s hard to pigeonhole – 'sex' is one of the more out-there descriptors people have reached for..."), grown in Western Australia and served at Thomas Keller's Per Se.