Stars, stripes and Aussie elbow grease - Some Fantastic News..
I had heard some news a while back about the new E3 Visa for Australians wanting to work in the US but until reading this article in this weekend's Sydney Morning Herald I had not realized how relatively simple the process was to obtain one. Its fantastic news for me and It's something I'll be definitely pursuing without question!
I guess now I cant bitch TOO much about the Australian government brown nose-ing right up George Bush's ass - It might just appear to have it's pay-offs.
PENSIRI KELLER is among the first of a new breed of Australians. At 24, she is working in New York courtesy of an extremely generous concession from the United States which no other country has been granted.
She was one of the first Australians to get a new visa which bypasses many of the restrictions the US places on foreigners wanting to work.
The new visa, called an E3, was passed by Congress last year as a benefit of the free-trade agreement. It allows 10,500 Australians each year the right to work in the US.
Australia is the only country in the world to have such a generous concession.
This year there is a worldwide cap of 65,000 normal H-1B work visas. Other countries with free-trade agreements - Singapore and Chile - have received small quotas which come out of the total cap on work visas.
The E3 visa's conditions are also very lenient. Unlike normal business work visas, Australian applications are not referred to the Department of Homeland Security, a process which can take months.
Although the applicant's stay in the US must be temporary, the two-year visas are renewable indefinitely, effectively making them the next best thing to a Green Card.
And solving a common bugbear for expatriates, spouses of E3 holders can work, and neither spouses nor their children are counted in the 10,500. One of the few restrictions on the E3 visa is that applicants have to be sponsored by an employer, and have the equivalent of a bachelor's degree or specialised knowledge.
Bill Stanton, charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Canberra, says he is very encouraged by the interest from Australian professionals, particularly in accounting, engineering and law, who have already taken advantage of the new visa.
But the 10,500 quota may well prove to be overly generous. Since it came into effect in September, only 492 Australians have been granted one. The slow take-up rate is partly explained by its newness.
The last US census showed there were only 78,000 Australians living in the US, with about 41,000 working. So an extra 10,500 per year would represent a considerable increase. It would also mean a big increase on current levels of business migration. Only 900 Australians got a standard work visa in 2004. But the new visa may, over time, lead to the US being as popular as England for Australians looking to work overseas.
I guess now I cant bitch TOO much about the Australian government brown nose-ing right up George Bush's ass - It might just appear to have it's pay-offs.
Send me your poor, your huddled masses,
your up-and-coming Aussies.
America's arms are now open to young workers from
the very deep south, writes Mark Coultan.
PENSIRI KELLER is among the first of a new breed of Australians. At 24, she is working in New York courtesy of an extremely generous concession from the United States which no other country has been granted.
She was one of the first Australians to get a new visa which bypasses many of the restrictions the US places on foreigners wanting to work.
The new visa, called an E3, was passed by Congress last year as a benefit of the free-trade agreement. It allows 10,500 Australians each year the right to work in the US.
Australia is the only country in the world to have such a generous concession.
This year there is a worldwide cap of 65,000 normal H-1B work visas. Other countries with free-trade agreements - Singapore and Chile - have received small quotas which come out of the total cap on work visas.
The E3 visa's conditions are also very lenient. Unlike normal business work visas, Australian applications are not referred to the Department of Homeland Security, a process which can take months.
Although the applicant's stay in the US must be temporary, the two-year visas are renewable indefinitely, effectively making them the next best thing to a Green Card.
And solving a common bugbear for expatriates, spouses of E3 holders can work, and neither spouses nor their children are counted in the 10,500. One of the few restrictions on the E3 visa is that applicants have to be sponsored by an employer, and have the equivalent of a bachelor's degree or specialised knowledge.
Bill Stanton, charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Canberra, says he is very encouraged by the interest from Australian professionals, particularly in accounting, engineering and law, who have already taken advantage of the new visa.
But the 10,500 quota may well prove to be overly generous. Since it came into effect in September, only 492 Australians have been granted one. The slow take-up rate is partly explained by its newness.
The last US census showed there were only 78,000 Australians living in the US, with about 41,000 working. So an extra 10,500 per year would represent a considerable increase. It would also mean a big increase on current levels of business migration. Only 900 Australians got a standard work visa in 2004. But the new visa may, over time, lead to the US being as popular as England for Australians looking to work overseas.
posted by Snickers at 1:42 AM
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