Australian Professional Specialty (E-3) Visa for the U.S.

The E-3 visa is devoted to Australian inhabitants. It is also known as the Specialty Occupation Professionals from Australia who can apply for a U.S. Work visa. An Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) was made between Australia and the United Nations of America in the year 2005. As per the agreement, they formed the E-3 visa, and highly competent Australian residents can apply for the visa. The USA gives only 10500 E-3 permits to Australia every year. People who are specialists in technical works and has a dedicated knowledge and higher educational requirement can apply for the visa.

The E-3 visa is only applicable to those who are citizens of Australia as well as their spouses and children. The spouse and children of the candidate need not be Australian nationals. To meet the requirements as a spouse, you need to submit marriage documentation. The government of the U.S. does not stipulate which professionals are eligible for the E-3 visa, but the following are some examples: 

• Business executives
• Engineers from different disciplines
• Mathematicians
• Statisticians
• Computer scientists
• Medical physicians/Doctors
• Political scientists
• Art related occupations

To apply for an E-3 visa, you need to submit the Visa Application Form DS-160 done online. You may also require to make available the following papers even as the evidence with your request for an E-3 visa:

• An approval letter from the Department of Labor of the USA. The letter is known as Labor Condition Application (LCA), which U.S employer acquires from the concerned department. It is better not to book an appointment for the interview at U.S. Embassy until you have received LCA from the employer. 
• Prove of all educational certificates or additional qualifying credentials as essential under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) 214(i)(1) and a work proposal letter from the employer.
• If you have obtained advanced level educational credentials from an Australian establishment, generally, you do not need to provide copies or prove of U.S equivalent. But it is better to bring any certificates and transcripts to your courses. If your higher educational gradation is not obtained from an Australian institution, a qualified copy of the degree needs to provide. Besides, a copy of the proof that your degree is U.S equivalence. You can also send them to the consulate later in the interview. Until they have acknowledged all these papers, your visa will not be permitted. 
• If there is any nonappearance of an academic or another eligible certificate (s), you need to submit a proof of education and experience that is equal to the essential U.S. degree.
•  A proficient copy of any essential license or other authorized consent to exercise the profession in the state of envisioned employ if so required

Both you and your employer need to go through some stages throughout the application process of the E-3 visa. You must have a job proposal from the USA company before applying for the E-3 visa. When you get the job offer letter, you and your employer can start the E-3 visa application procedures. The processes can be divided into two categories:

Employer Application Phases

Obtaining the Labor Condition Application (LCA): To get the consent to recruit an employee from Australia/foreign, the employer of the USA must get the LCA from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The LCA confirms that appointment the foreign citizen, employers are not harmfully affecting the remuneration and working circumstances of U.S. workers. The employers must demonstrate that they could not find an appropriate or available U.S. employee for the vacant position. The employers only prerequisite to get the LCA. They are not mandatory to file Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Workers with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrant Services (USCIS). The LCA endorses that as the overseas worker, you will receive a reasonable and equivalent salary that a U.S. employee would get along with equal working environments. The company must file ETS Form 9035 to the Department of Labor, and it requires five to ten working days to be processed. The employer also has the right to petition and revise the application of the LCA application is disallowed. As the LCA is permitted, the employee can now apply for the E-3 visa.  

Employee (Australian Nationals) Application Stages

When the U.S. employer gets the LCS, the candidate can now start the procedure to gain the E-3 visa. The stages are as followings:

• File Form DS-160, nonimmigrant visa application: This is an online form that you need to fill up and submit it. The Form will inquire you to give information about you and your intention for going to the United Nations of America. The purpose of the Form is to assess your instance by the concerned authority. You will get a confirmation page and code after submission of the application. You must save the page and the code for the visa interview.
• Pay the visa application fee: You need to pay the visa processing fee through a suggested financial institution. You also need to pay the fee in local currency. The visa application processing fee for the E-3 visa is $205. You must pay the charge to get the money receipt which you will need in the future. There are no other fees that you required to pay for this visa as there are no visa issuance or exchange fees.
• Book an appointment for your visa interview: It is suggested that you should book an appointment for a visa interview as early as possible after submitting the visa form and fee. It will help you to evade extensive delays due to the job load of the U.S. Embassy. All the candidates who stand between thirteen to eighty years old are required to have a visa interview. After booking the slot, you will get a visa interview appointment letter, which you must bring with you on the scheduled day.
• Arrange all the required documents and prepare a file: You will need the following documents for the interview to support your application:
  • Your legal passport
  • One recent (1) 2”x2” (5cmx5cm) photograph taken within the last six months that fulfills the U.S. Visa Photo necessities. You need to upload the picture in the DS-160 Form as well as keep it with you at what time you go for your visa interview. 
  • A printed copy of the DS-160 Application Form and the confirmation page.
  • The money receipt for your visa application fee payment.
  • A printed copy of your visa interview appointment letter.
  • The job offer letter from the U.S. employer is ensuring that you are offered the job, along with job description and remuneration.
  • Evidence of LCA accreditation.
  • Evidence of your qualifications that proves you are in a specialty occupation such as: (i) All academic certificates and other qualifying certificates; (ii) Any kind of license for your profession (if applicable) and (iii) Working experience certificates from previous employers
  • Evidence that you anticipate returning to your home nation after your work agreement expires, such as (i) Property deeds (ii) Apartment lease
  • Your details of bank account
• Attend your booked visa interview: The concerned department or authority who will process the E-3 visa will assess your application by inquiring about you. So, the visa interview is a very significant part of your visa request. You will be questioned about your character, profession in the USA, earlier working experience, and educations as well as the aim of homecoming after the job contract expires.

The dependent needs to submit different visa request forms which are the utmost of the similar stages as the primary candidate’s visa request includes finishing the required forms, disbursing the visa application charge, and book a visa interview date with U.S. consular officer. It should be noted that when completing the DS-160 Form and scheduling an appointment for a visa interview, you will require to select the ‘E-3’ option for dependents. There is no additional selection, but the exact visa type will be pass in when the application is given in to the interview. The dependent can apply at a similar period as the primary candidate, but they may also use distinctly once the principal candidate’s E-3 visa has been permitted. If the dependent is not applying in aggregation with the principal applicant, please make available a copy of page 1 of 5 of the LCA and, only if applicable, a copy of the primary candidates most recent visa or if the applicant has got E-3 status in the U.S., the I-797 Sanction Notice.