Me and my
husband have gone through almost all possible scenarios for E3 visa. I thought
to pen down my experiences to help fellow Australian citizens planning to move
to USA. There is minimal documentation available about E3 visa and I am hoping
my experience will clear some ambiguity around it.
First of all, what is E3 visa:
E3 visa is only for Australian citizens and is somewhat
similar to TN visa for citizens of Canada. Quick facts about E3 visa. A maximum of 10,500 E-3 visas are issued annually during each
fiscal year, which runs from October 1st to September 30. On an average, only
half of them get filled every year.
Benefits of E3:
1.
Process is quick, takes maximum 4 weeks.
2.
No quota, no cost to employer.
Requirements
for E3 visa:
Principal applicants must be going to the United States
solely to work in a specialty occupation. “Specialty occupation” is one
that requires: a) A
theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge;
and b) The attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific
specialty (or its equivalent) as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the
United States.
Steps involved in getting
E3 visa:
Once
offer letter is issued, employer needs to file LCA (Labour condition
Application) online using https://icert.doleta.gov/. The United
States Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Labour (DOL)
require that employers complete an LCA to ensure that the employment of E-3
visa holders does not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S.
workers, as required by the Immigration Act of 1990. Filing LCA is an online
process and takes 10 days to certify. Details required in LCA are FEIN number,
ONET job code, wages which should be equal to higher than wage level mentioned
in ONET, job location and other employer details.
Once
LCA is certified, employee needs following documents to book a visa interview
at USA consulate a) Certified and signed copy of LCA b) Offer letter c) Support
letter from employer supporting employee’s case of why he/she should be granted
E3 d) Academic evaluation to prove bachelor and higher degree in the specific
specialty
Steps involved in booking
visa interview:
Filling
up form DS160: Employee will go to https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/ and fill up
DS160 with all the details asked. Here applicant can include details of any
dependent i.e. spouse and kids. Once form is filed and submitted, employee has
to go to http://www.ustraveldocs.com, create an account and
book an appointment. If there are more than one person in the DS160 then
applicant can book group appointment. Wait times are generally 3-4 days (varies
for different location). At this point, employee needs to pay the visa fee
($270)
On the
day of appointment, employee needs to carry following documents:
1.
DS160 confirmation page 2. Appointment confirmation page 3. LCA 4. Offer
letter 5. Support letter 6. Academic evaluation letter 6. Work experience
certificates 7. Degree certificates 8. Passport 9. Proof to to demonstrate that he/she has a residence in
Australia which he/she has no intention of abandoning.
Such ties include professional, work, school, family, or social links
to a foreign country. Employee should carry documents like house ownership, any
family member’s details residing in Australia etc.
At the interview: It’s a three step process. First
applicant’s documents are checked, then finger prints are taken and lastly,
consulate officer interviews candidate. Usual questions asked are why are you
going to USA? Will you travel? How long you are going to stay. If officer is
satisfied with the answers, he/she will say your visa is approved and will keep
your passport. Visa stamped passport generally gets shipped in 1-2 working days
to the address provided at the time of booking appointment through FedEx
priority parcel and is delivered next business day. Applicant can check status
of the visa (after interview) on https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/ using
application number. Once passport is shipped, tracking number is sent to
applicant’s registered email id.
Fairly
straight forward process. From filing LCA to getting stamped passport back, it
is roughly 3 to 4-week process. Unfortunately, (or fortunately as we got to
learn a lot) it was not so easy for us. My husband’s (an IT professional) E3
visa got rejected in the first attempt under section Section 214(b). Rejection letter mentioned:
“This
is to inform you that you have been found ineligible for a nonimmigrant visa
under Section 214(b) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. A denial
under Section 214(b) means that you were not able to demonstrate that your
intended activities in the United States would be consistent with the classification
of the nonimmigrant visa for which you applied.
While
nonimmigrant visa classifications each have their own unique requirements, one
requirement shared by many of the nonimmigrant visa categories is for the
applicant to demonstrate that he/she has a residence in a foreign country which
he/she has no intention of abandoning. Applicants usually meet this requirement
by demonstrating that they have strong ties overseas that indicate that they
will return to a foreign country after a temporary visit to the United States.
Such ties include professional, work, school, family, or social links to a
foreign country. You have not demonstrated that you have the ties that will
compel you to return to your home country after your travel to the United
States.
Today’s
decision cannot be appealed. However, you may reapply at any time. If you
decide to reapply, you must submit a new application form and photo, pay the
visa application fee again, and make a new appointment to be interviewed by a
consular officer. If you choose to reapply, you should be prepared to provide
information that was not presented in your original application, or to
demonstrate that your circumstances have changed since that application.”
We had
strong Australian ties: 1. Property and Bank accounts
2.
Elder brother and his family are Australian citizens and been in Australia for
last 10 years
In his
interview, officer did not ask him any documents related to Australian ties. My
husband communicated with his employer and decided to book second appointment.
In the second visa interview, he found out rejection was due to ambiguity in
his offer letter pertaining to his job location. When he answered visa
officer’s question regarding job location, his visa was approved in the second
interview.
TIP 1:
Make sure your offer letter matches exactly with LCA and there is full clarity
regarding job location, hiring manager location and client location. All three
should be same or you should have reason to justify the different locations
otherwise you may face rejection.
Once my
husband immigrated to USA, I started looking for job. Fortunately, I got job
within a month with a start-up. Company did not have any legal department and
had not dealt with E3 before. Company’s head of talent filed for LCA online and
LCA got rejected on the grounds of “non
verifiable FEIN”. FEIN is acronym for Federal
Employer Identification Number (FEIN) or the Federal
Tax Identification Number, a unique nine-digit number assigned
by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to business entities operating in the
United States for the purposes of identification. Company had changed
name since the date FEIN was initially assigned by the IRS, and change of name
was never notified to IRS. My employer submitted all details to IRS to register
FEIN and FEIN was registered within 48 hours. Post that, my employer
re-submitted LCA for certification. After 10 days of wait and to my horror, LCA
was rejected again! This time reason was a technical error in filing LCA
form.
My
employer submitted LCA third time but this time they hired attorney firm, thank
god! Finally, LCA was certified!
TIP 2:
LCA should be filed by someone who is familiar with it.
Once my
LCA was certified, I booked my appointment and visa was approved in the
interview.
Once in
USA: change in status from E3 to E3D
After
being in USA for one year, due to some unforeseen circumstances I had to change
my status from E3 to E3D. There are two ways for getting E3D
visa a) File for change of status within USA on USCIS website.
Process may take up to 6 months and if visa is denied, applicant has to leave
the country immediately. b)Go out of country and file at a USA
consulate.
Since
first option was too time consuming and ambiguous, we decided to go for second
option. I booked my appointment in Vancouver USA consulate, Canada. There is
different website to book appointment in Canada: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-CA/niv/users/sign_in
Process
is same, first submit DS160 on https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/ then
create an account on https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-CA/niv/users/sign_in and
book an appointment using DS160 application number. In Canada, passports are
sent through Canada post and applicant can choose it to be delivered to a
home/business address with extra fee or get it delivered to post office and
collect in person. I selected second option i.e. collecting passport from
post-office. My appointment was 7.45 in the morning. At the consulate they
don’t allow any backpacks or gadgets inside the building. So it is suggested
that do not carry anything other than wallet and documents required for visa
appointment. I had to throw my backpack because they wouldn’t allow it inside
the building. Interview process was simple. At counter 1, lady checked my
documents, at counter 2, my fingerprints were taken and at counter 3, a
gentleman checked my documents again and asked general questions. Visa was
approved. My passport was delivered next day, expected to be picked up from
post office next day from my selected post-office. And then story begins.
Canada post lost my passport in the transit process!! Parcel left main
post-office but didn’t reach delivery post office. I went into panic mode.
Being stranded in a foreign country with no passport is not an ideal situation.
Called AUS embassy, they were very helpful and were ready to issue emergency
passport. However, emergency passport would not have E3D visa. Frantically I
was calling Canada post, thankfully they found my passport next day and I was
able to come back to USA.
Tip 3:
Attorneys will say that E3D/E3 can be filed from principal place of residence
only (for me it was Sydney, Australia) but you can file E3D/E3 from any other
country second time onwards.
Tip 4:
If you book an appointment in Canada US consulate, expect passport delivery in
3 days and accordingly book your return flight.
Once in USA, change in
status from E3D to E3:
I got a
good job opportunity within two months of changing status from E3 to E3D. My
new employer filed for LCA and case was certified within a week. I again filled
DS160 and booked an appointment in Vancouver. Flew to Canada again. My
appointment was on Wednesday 8.15 AM. Based on last experience, I expected
passport to be delivered by Thursday and ready to be picked up by Friday (was
hoping and praying Canada post does not lose my passport again). Accordingly, I
booked my flight for Saturday. But something had to go wrong! Passport was
dispatched from consulate on Friday. Since Canada post was closed
Saturday/Sunday, my passport didn’t get delivered. Again I had to change my
flight and extend my hotel stay. Finally, Passport was delivered on Monday and
I was able to come back to USA on Monday.
Tip 5:
To be on safer side, book your appointment for Monday/Tuesday for it to be
delivered before weekend.
Other
than visa problems, stay in USA has been a good experience. We live in SFO and
bay area is buzzing with opportunities. If you have any question regarding E3
visa, feel free to write to me on satyam.rolee@gmail.com
