Adding Ireland to E-3 Nonimmigrant Visa Program

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2877, to make Irish nationals eligible for temporary admission to the United States through the existing E-3 visa program.

And I thank the gentleman from North Dakota for his offering today and his support. I worked last year with Chairman Sensenbrenner on this as well.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation has broad support, and last session it passed the Congress unanimously.

Created in 2005 as a result of the U.S.-Australian Trade Agreement-- which I voted for, supported, and spoke in support of--the agreement said, essentially, that the E-3 visa program, as constructed, would make 10,500 visas annually available to skilled Australian nationals for temporary work.

This program has been a successful pathway for qualified Australian citizens to gain valuable professional experience in the United States. However, our Australian friends have only used roughly half of the available visas during the past decade.

E-3 visas are limited to professionals visiting the United States to perform services in specialty occupations in a confirmed job from a United States employer.

E-3 visa applicants also must have a university degree, or its equivalent, as a minimum for entry into the United States. The E-3 visa allows the holder to stay in America for 2 years with the option to renew.

This legislation--and I want to make sure that we emphasize this-- this legislation does not change the requirements of the current E-3 visa program recipients or increase the number of visas made available. In broad strokes, my bill will simply enable qualified Irish workers to annually access unused Australian E-3 visas from the previous fiscal year. Once passed, the Irish Government has pledged to adopt a reciprocal arrangement that would allow Americans to work in Ireland under the same guidelines.

The E-3 visas, combined with these reciprocal arrangements, would provide a welcome and long overdue movement of citizens between Ireland and the United States in both directions, which is so important to Irish America, the United States, and, indeed, Ireland.

As many of you in this Chamber already know, legal migration between the United States and Ireland has been extremely limited now for many, many years.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I note the support that we have across the United States and unanimously in the Congress. It has the backing of both the White House and the Irish Government, whose prime minister, Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach, will be welcomed to the Capitol on Thursday for the annual St. Patrick's Day luncheon.

In my opinion, this bill is a win-win opportunity for the United States and for Ireland, and for the citizens of both countries who will benefit from this very innovative and beneficial exchange program.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Committee on the Judiciary chairman, Jerry Nadler, and Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship chairwoman, Zoe Lofgren, for swiftly moving this legislation to the floor. And I do take special note of Jim Sensenbrenner's contribution for helping us get to this moment.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2877.

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