Update 1: I’ve recently written an updated post covering how to get your visa in Canada, with some fresh details around the DS-160 and appointment process.
About two months ago I moved to Silicon Valley from my home town of Wollongong in Australia. While the process of moving was fraught with a lot of personal logistical issues, the act of getting to the US was pretty easy – I was able to just get on a plane and fly to San Francisco and get through customs without a visa.
This is because, like many countries, Australia is on the 90 day Visa Waiver program, which allows you to spend up to 90 days in the US for a range of purposes, including business (attending meetings, conferences, etc) and pleasure (tourism, etc) without any paperwork or hassle (except for having a valid ESTA – but the form is all online and it is super easy to complete).
However, this situation has a bunch of limitations.
- You can’t get a social security number. This is a big deal – a “social” is how pretty much everyone in the US identifies you, and is central to how credit checks are run. If you want a credit card, you need a social. If you want to process credit card payments online – even though it is through your company entity – you need a social. Thinking of signing a lease for somewhere to live? It is possible, but they’ll want a social too to run a credit check. The list goes on and on and on.
- You’re limited to 90 days at a time, and things can get tricky. So, you’re going to be spending at least $10K per year in airfares leaving every 90 days. You don’t want to go right to the edge of the 90 day limit since over-staying can result in a later visa request getting refused (even if over-staying was the fault of the weather and cancelled flights). You also need to be gone for a meaningful period to reset the 90 day clock – 24 hours in Vancouver or Mexico doesn’t count if you’re an Australian from what I’ve been told. And, if you come back in for another 90 days a fortnight after leaving last, and this is the 5th time you’ve done it, there’s every chance the guys at the border will think you’re up to something suss and deny you entry, sending you back on the next flight. Aside from the uncertainty around this and grief if it happens, you also have the problem that being denied entry into the US puts you in a difficult place if you want a visa – red flags go up.
So, I needed to get a Visa, and if you’re doing this, you will to.
The good news is, it was actually really easy. You don’t need to pay a lawyer $2000 to what amounts to filling in a few online forms. You do, however, have to navigate some arcane, acronym laden systems that took me a bit of trial and error to get through.
Hopefully this how-to guide will help you with your application.
Overview/TL;DR
The E-3 Visa is a 2 year visa that is available to Australians who are offered employment in the United States by a US company. The short version is this:
- Make sure you’ve got a Bachelors degree or better (Graduate Diploma, Masters, Doctorate, etc).
- Find a company willing to hire you for a degree-qualified role, or set up your own company in the US.
Note about Degree Qualified Roles: we’ve had questions come up from time to time with people wanting to get a role that doesn’t normally require a degree (eg, a chef, etc). From a great post on ILW, Gary Endelman explains “They have to be H-1B eligible in the sense of having a relevant college or university degree to perform professional services in a specialty occupation involving the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge.” The LCA process will actually allow you to select any role category you want, and some have much lower prevailing wages, but it is the judgement of the consular officer when reviewing your petition that determines if you’re in a specialty occupation and if you have a relevant degree.
Note about your own Company: setting up a company is legit if you’re getting offices, hiring people and you can show how the company is going to be able to fund this and your salary for the next two years. Setting up a sham front company to hire yourself out as a contractor isn’t recommended; I know people who’ve been rejected because the consular staff didn’t think the sponsoring company was legit enough. Expect to show up with your balance sheet, P&L, and demonstrate investment, clients or anything else you need to show the new business will be a going concern – remember, if you get rejected, you’ve now been classed as someone the US has denied a visa to – a black mark that is very hard to work around in the future. - If you set up your own company, get your FEIN online (also known as an EIN or a TIN).
- The company will need to apply for an Labor Condition Application (LCA) for Nonimmigrant Workers (9035 form, online)
- Book an appointment with the US Consulate in Sydney, Melbourne or Perth (there’s a charge associated with this). Leave yourself at least 2 weeks from when you submit your LCA application, since you’ll need this to be processed & certified to take to the appointment. Update: you can now get your first E3 visa in Toronto, Vancouver and probably other US Department of States around the world; when I first wrote this the E3 was so new these other consulates hadn’t really heard of it, and saying no was easier than learning about it to say yes (even though the only rule is that you have to apply outside of the US).
- Actually complete your DS-160 online (it takes about an hour). Note you’ll need to have a digital photo of yourself where the lighting is good, the background is a white/bone wall, and you’re not smiling or having too much fun.
- Pay the fee for the visa application of
US$390US$205/A$225 as part of your interview process. - Go to your interview, take your passport, your letter of offer from the company to yourself (I know, it sounds silly, but this is a big deal) and the other paperwork they ask you to have, and hopefully they’ll approve you.
- Your passport should be back to you within a week.
- You’re now good to live and work in the US for 2 years and travel in and out of the country without restriction. The border guards will sometimes still be c*nts – at LAX almost every time, at SFO occasionally, but that’s just them making up for an adolescence of being bullied who now have a gun and some power.
1. Finding a company or setting up your own
The E-3 visa requires you to be employed/sponsored by a company. It basically ties your right to live and work in the US to the company that makes you the offer and completes what is known as the LCA process. If you find someone who will sponsor you, they’ll need to complete Step 3 below, and once they’ve got you an LCA, you can then head to Step 4.
However, if you’re an entrepreneur doing a startup, you’ll instead want to get your own US entity. Keep reading.
The decision about which entity is right for you is a bigger issue than I can cover in this post. Generally speaking though, you’ve got two options:
- Register an LLC, probably in Delaware. This is like the Australian equivalent of a trust – all profits made by this entity “pass through” to the “shareholders” or members of the LLC, and are paid at their own tax rate. It is a “lightweight” company, and can be flipped up to a C-Corp later. This will set you back a few hundred bucks, and you can easily do it yourself.
- Register a C-Corp, probably in Delaware. This is the Australian equivalent of a Pty Ltd company, which can have shareholders, the ability to retain (and thus pay company income tax on) profits and has higher costs of setup, more paperwork (need for office-holders, etc) and other hassles. However, if you’re going to the US to raise capital (seek investment), this is the vehicle you’re going to want).
You can register for these entities online – there are lots of options you’ll get when you do a Google Search for “Delaware LLC registration” or “Delaware C-Corp registration”.
The registration process will take up to a week to happen. You won’t need a US address to do it, and you can change the papers after you set up an office and you’ve moved to the US, so don’t worry too much.
A note about relocating/flipping up
If you already have a business in Australia, then things are more complicated than just registering a new entity in Delaware via an online broker. Moving your business to the US is known as “flipping up”, and there are a lot of reasons why you would want to do it.
For one, few US investors will be prepared to invest in your Australia Pty Ltd company. You can make the LLC a subsidiary of your Australian company easily enough – and this is the best approach for tax reasons too thanks to US tax treaties – but investors will want to make sure their investment is in the parent company or eventual owner of the intellectual property. Even if you manage to grow the business without needing external investment, you might find that potential acquirers will have difficulties working between US and Australian law in an acquisition.
The other big reason why flipping up is a good idea is that capital gains tax rates are also lower in the US (so you’ll pay less tax if you are successful and sell the company, either to an acquirer or to the public through an IPO).
If you decide to flip up, if you’re not careful, the act of moving the company to the US or flipping up will likely trigger a “Capital Gains Tax Event”, where the Australian Taxation Office see you as selling your Australian company to a new, US company, and demand you pay tax to the ATO (which can be as high as 50%) even though the movement was all just on paper (and you don’t have a fat bank balance).
Get good advice on this – unless you don’t have anything in the form of a company in Australia already, spend the money – $10,000+ depending on how complex your mess situation is here in Australia – and do it right.
2. Registering for your Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
Once you have your entity – either an LLC or a C-Corp – registered you’ll want to apply for a Federal Employee Identification Number, often called simply an EIN. This is basically the same sort of thing as a Tax File Number but for a company, and we can think of it as being an equivalent government identifier as an ABN (although you never need to put it on invoices!)
If you flipped up your company, your lawyers will likely have applied for one of these for you – ask them for it.
If you created your own C-Corp and you’re just a stock holder, you can apply for your EIN online at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html
If you registered an LLC which is “owned” or a subsidiary of your Australian company, or held in your own name, you’ll need to register for the EIN by calling the IRS. The phone number is +1 267-941-1099.
This process is exceptionally simple – the government *want* you on their database so they can track you and the taxes that you and your employees will owe them.
Once you’ve got your EIN, you’re ready to ask for permission to hire yourself from the US Department of Labor, step 3 below.
3. Submitting your ETA Form 9035E for Labor Condition Application (LCA)
The next part of the process is the most time consuming – your employing company needs to ask the US Department of Labor for permission to employ you.
In this sense, the US is no different to many other advanced economies – they don’t want employers bringing in cheaper international workers which put downward pressure on wages for their citizens and they don’t want employers take advantage of employees by paying them low wages. Whether this form of protection is inherently fair or is actually a manifestation of racism and xenophobia, it is a fact of life, so we’ve all got to live with it.
The process of asking permission to hire a foreign worker is actually one of the less shit online processes followed by the US Government. The system is relatively straight forward, the form is smart, and while the instructions and acronyms are confusing, the instructions below should help you through it. Remember, this is the bit that you normally pay a lawyer $2000 to do for you – if these instructions help and save you some coin, then feel free to buy me beers when you see me or offer to make a donation to a charity.
Before you create your account
The first step is to create an account on the Department of Labor’s iCert system. This is free and relatively easy, but you’re going to need to get some bits ready ahead of time.
Remember, at this point, you’re applying as a business which is going to hire you – this is where physical presence starts to matter. This means the business is going to need to have an address and a phone number.
Address
You can get an address with Earth Class Mail, or use the address of your Attorneys as an interim measure. If you have friends there who don’t mind you putting down their address, then that can work too. The LCA process is very specifically tied to the location you’re going to be working from – since the rate for a programmer is much higher in San Francisco than North Dakota – so put some thought into this.
Phone
There are lots of ways to get a phone number. If you’re already in the US and you’ve got a pre-paid number, do yourself a favour and get Google Voice set up ASAP, and use that number (since the prepaid ones go back into the mix if you don’t keep renewing them, and US portability sucks compared to here in Australia). If you’re not in the US, get yourself a Skype In number and get it for the city and area code where you say your office is going to be. That means, for San Francisco, make sure the number starts with 415. Alternatively, you can go to GrassHopper and get an 800 or an 877 number. As I said, there are lots of options here – just get it set up before you try and do this bit.
Creating your Account
Once you have an address and a phone number, head over to http://icert.doleta.gov/ and click on the “Create Your Portal Account Today” link, then after accepting the terms click on the “Create Employer Account”.
Once there, you’ve got a 3 page form to work through. Most of it is self explanatory, but some is a bit tricky.
- For the E-3 visa, you’ll want to tick the LCA box.
- The FEIN is the number you got in step 2 above.
- The NAICS code (stands for North American Industry Classification System) is like the Aussie ANZIC code. It is a standardised category of business types. You can search for them from the iCert form, or from the US Census office, but the easiest way to find them is to drill down into them so you don’t have outliers which match a keyword confusing you. You can drill down into them using this page, and then on the iCert page just search for the specific code.
- DBA means “doing business as”. It is equivalent as “trading as” here in Australia.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll get an email from oflc.portal@dol.gov with your temporary password in it. Make sure you check your spam for this email, and whitelist that address (everything comes from there from here on in, including certification and denial notifications.
Applying for the E-3 LCA
The LCA application itself is a bunch more work, but thankfully it is a really good online form. To access it, simply log in, Click on “LCA” on the top, and then down the bottom click on “Begin New ETA Form 9035”.
Page 1 – Preconditions
This page is about undertakings – they basically want you to warrant that you’re going to make the LCA available to the staff member you hire, that you’re going to tell the truth, and explain how you’ll provide it to the person you hire.
Since you’re hiring yourself, it is pretty much a non issue 😉
Answer Yes to A, Yes to B and select the first option for C
Page 2 – The Visa type and job classification
The visa type is easy -E-3.
The position is harder. Basically, you need to find the best approximation for your position, and enter this. The effect of the value you choose is significant – it will determine the minimum salary you need to pay yourself to satisfy the conditions of the visa.
Step 1 – Find Your Position
Finding your position can be a bit tricky, particularly if you’re a founder – you do everything in your company, right?! You can search the database at http://www.onetcodeconnector.org but for what it is worth, I did a bit of searching to find something legitimate/accurate and not too highly priced (as per the next step). I found that “General and Operations Managers”, which has a SOC code of 11-1021 was pretty good, as it was both accurate and not too expensive (CEO on the other hand is expensive. You could also go for 15-1131 which is computer programmer, which has a lower minimum ($63K vs $73K). I’ve also heard of people putting their title as “Administrative Officer, CEO”, which allows a lower prevailing wage ($36K).
Step 2 – Work out Prevailing Wage
The second step is where you determine the prevailing (read: minimum for a foreigner) wage, which you can work out by going to http://www.flcdatacenter.com/. The process is pretty easy, and geography plays a big part. Do not lie about your geography though – the E-3 visa is only valid for you working for the company that gets the LCA for you in the place where they specify.
Page 3 – Employer information
This is easy – it just gets copied from the info you already entered when you registered. Win.
Page 4 – Attorney information
If you’re doing this yourself, you just need to say you don’t have an attorney. Easy. Win.
Page 5 – Pay information
This is where you tell the Department of Labor what you’re going to pay yourself. Remember, this is important, and it needs to be more that the minimums set out on the http://www.flcdatacenter.com/ website for the SOC code you’ve selected.
In section F, rate of pay, enter your annual salary. Leave the “to” empty, and select annually.
In section G, they’re looking for you to tell them why this is a fair rate (ie, is greater than the minimum). There are other places to get the minimum than the FLC Data Center website, however, it is normally only for more unionised types of blue-collar roles. Since this probably isn’t you, just stick with the OES wage. Stick to the Level 1 pay scale for the role you’re doing, and put in the value from the FLC Data Center search and tick the “OES” box. Also make sure you reference the FLC Data Center website as the source for the OES data.
The screen above is from a completed form in PDF format, but the questions should still line up.
Page 6 and 7 – Declarations
You don’t need to fill in the bit about being H1B dependent since this is an E-3.
The rest of the form is just standard commitment stuff. Once you’re done, you can submit it.
Common speed bumps
There are a few speed bumps that can get you. Here a couple.
- They decline your application because the Employer doesn’t have a valid 9-digit FEIN.
This is because the databases that sync between the IRS applications for an EIN and the database the Department of Labor use have lag/delays in them. If this happens, you can just reply with a scanned or PDF version of the EIN confirmation from the IRS. - You enter the wrong prevailing wage info.
This is where I got stuck initially. The FLC Data Center is your friend – use it. I initially didn’t know about that site, and tried going through government agencies to find “award” type information, but it was only applicable for blue collar roles so I thought it didn’t apply to me and I could use a job search for “office manager” on Monster.com to find my prevailing wage. As it turns out, that isn’t good enough 😉
Timing
When I submitted my application, it took them about 3 business days to reject it if there was something wrong with it. Of course, I was learning as I went so I had two rejected applications before I got one accepted, so you’ll want to leave yourself some time here.
I was lucky and got my approval through in 4 business days, but they say that you should expect 7 to 10 business days. Keep this in mind when you book your appointment with the US consulate in Step 4 below.
4. Booking a Visa Appointment
Once you’ve submitted your LCA application – and ideally, you should wait until you’ve had your LCA granted – you need to make an appointment to the US consulate. This process is surprisingly straight forward, even if the wording is a bit weird.
- You pay for a PIN, which is the right to book an appointment, it is only $14, and they don’t accept American Express 😉 (Visa and Mastercard only)
- The system will show you available booking slots. My advice – get in as early in the day as you can, as the place is a bit like a doctor’s surgery – the later you book, the longer the backlog will be if they’re running behind time. When you book an appointment, you can move it a maximum number of times.
- You can only move the appointment more than 2 business days before the appointment date. So, if the appointment is on Monday, you only have until midnight on Thursday night of the week before to move it. This is in the time zone of the appointment, so if you come in on Thursday morning in the US and realize your LCA still hasn’t come through yet, bad luck – you have to pay for a new PIN.
5. The DS-160 Application
The DS-160 Application is a form that forms the basis of your actual visa request – the LCA is just one of the supporting documents you need.
The application is actually the sharpest thing I’ve seen the US government do online. The form is smart and high quality. You can come back to it any time using the Application ID in the top right and the security question you enter just after you start.
The application is started from https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/.
A few notes:
- You’ll need to upload a digital photo. Their system for handling these uploads is very clever. It will tell you if your head is too small or too big in shot. It will tell you if the background isn’t plain and boring. It will tell you if the light isn’t good enough. It will tell you if it can’t see your eyes (so make sure the flash is on). You can, however, take the shot using a smart phone camera, since they don’t need it to be super huge in pixels or filesize. More info at http://travel.state.gov/visa/visaphotoreq/digitalimagereq/digitalimagereq_5327.html.
- You’ll want to have your passport on you. Unless you know not only the number, but also the issue date and expiry date. Since Australian passports don’t specify the location of issue, I just said “Canberra” and all was good.
- You’ll need to know the data and place of birth of both of your parents. Since you’re probably doing this in a hurry, ask them first.
- They’ll want you to list all the countries you’ve visited in the last 5 years. I don’t think this is a big deal, but if you have been to somewhere America doesn’t like – like Iran or North Korea or Syria – this might be a problem. I don’t know how they can check this though, other than looking at the stamps in your passport.
- There are lots of crazy questions about things like moving to the US to be a prostitute, or having an army of child soldiers. As far as I can tell, the reason they do this isn’t because you’ll admit to those things, but because it makes it very easy for them to cancel your visa if they have reason to believe you lied on your application. Much easier than having to prosecute you in an American court for having an army of child soldiers in your past in another jurisdiction.
Once you’ve submitted the DS-160, you’ll get a confirmation page with your photo, a summary of key information and a barcode. Print this and take it with you on the appointment day.
6. Visa Appointment Day
The visa appointment day is pretty interesting. A few notes and tips.
- Make sure you bring all the documents and evidence they want. I won’t list it here because the appointment confirmation in Step 4 will tell you, and I don’ t want to get you in trouble if you rely on this blog post and they change something. I was super prepared, and took the following:
- My passport. Very important.
- The full print out of the LCA. They only took a couple of pages from it, and gave me back the rest of it. Suggest you take it all too.
- The confirmation page for the DS-160. This was critical – they needed it, and it became the anchor for all their other paperwork.
- My actual degree. They didn’t need it.
- My transcript. They didn’t need it.
- A print out of the P&L of my Australian company to prove I could afford to live in the US. They didn’t need it, but if they suspect your newly formed US entity is a sham/shell being able to prove you have clients, revenues, etc is going to be a very big deal. I got questions about this and answered them confidently, and know companies I’ve been an investor in have had questions (we’ve raised venture capital and we’re moving the business to the US is legit), but “I set up the company so I could get a visa and then be a contract labourer with no job security or likeihood I can pay myself to be honest” is what you don’t want to be flagged as.
The rest of this is specific for my experience in Sydney. Hopefully knowing what you’re in for will make it a bit easier and you’ll be a bit more confident. Remember, this is an interview – they’re deciding at this point if you can get your visa.
- For Sydney, the reception area is on Level 10 of the MLC building, which is just above the food court and near a bunch of doctor’s surgeries. This reception area is just used for screening you, and your bags stay down in this area. They have a dedicated lift that goes to the super-secure consulate on Level 59 after you clear screening, and you’ll be escorted up there. It is all pretty serious really.
- The screening process is hard core, with you going through a metal detector and your bag going through a screening process too. Bring the barest of stuff in any bag. You not only have to take out your laptop, but also any “wires” in your bag. If you bring a laptop bag with lots of cables like I did, be prepared to have them rib you – where’s the kitchen sink? – and also realize you’re slowing down everyone else in the line.
- You can’t take your mobile phone upstairs, so when they say to turn it off, turn if off. Same with laptops – sleep isn’t good enough, but hibernate would be (they just want to make sure they’re not seeing flashing lights).
- Take a book to read. These are still allowed when you go upstairs, and since you’ll be waiting for around an hour all told, take a book.
- After you pass screening, there will be some staff who check that you’ve got the key things you need, outlined above. They will combine the key things – your passport, your DS-160 confirmation, your express post envelope and your receipt from Australia Post and your LCA – and put a rubber band around it. If there’s a problem here, they’ll send you on your way.
- When this is done, you’ll wait for a trip up to Level 59 in the lift.
- When you get to Level 59, a security person behind very bullet proof glass will check you first and allow you through the heaviest bullet proof glass door I’ve every seen to your right hand side. Have a look at the security console while the guard is checking your paperwork wad – it looks like something from a James Bond flick.
- After you go through the door on Level 59, get a ticket from the machine just to your right after pressing “non immigrant visa”. Then line up and you’ll be called by this number to windows 2, 3 or 4.
- They’ll check your rubber band collection of papers, and hold onto them, leaving you your number. Grab a seat to the room on the right of the big heavy door you walked in through and take a seat in the waiting room. This is where the book comes in handy – you’ll probably be waiting half an hour or so.
- Wait for your number to come up. You’ll be called to windows 6 or 7, where someone will talk to you on the other side of bullet proof glass through a microphone and speaker system. Everyone in the waiting room will hear your conversation. If you ticked the box in the DS-160 saying you have a sexually transmitted disease, everyone will now know. If you have a criminal record, expect to be asked about it in detail, and expect everyone waiting to hear. Suck it up – you don’t know any of these people (probably), and if your time waiting was like mine, you’ll hear plenty of stories of woe from weirdos and freaks that will make you seem much more normal. I don’t know if my favourite was the 65 year old cooking teacher/missionary who ticked yes to being arrested even though she was just cautioned 25 years ago when her friend shoplifted a bottle of lemonade, or the guy who was an unemployed musician having a lot of difficulty answering the question about what he does for work.
- I was asked by everyone if it was my first E-3 visa. I don’t know if things were smoother or more difficult because of it, but everyone official wanted to know.
The Interview
Expect to get questions about your company, why you’re moving there, what your company does, how many staff you have here in Australia. If you’re well prepared, confident and make a compelling reason why you’re going to be a good visitor – and remember, the E-3 is a visitor or non-immigrant visa – then you should get through smoothly. If you’re lucky, the interview will go for 5 minutes maximum, and you’ll be told then your visa is approved.
When you leave, head down to Level 10, get your stuff from the guards, and be on your way.
They’ll then stick the visa into your passport, and send it back to you. My appointment was on a Monday morning, and I got my passport back on a Wednesday morning (in Wollongong), but your mileage might vary.
Fallacies (in my case at least)
As with all things that relate to governments, laws and other black-boxes which you’re desperate to have a good outcome from, there are a lot of things I heard from people that didn’t bear out in my case. Just because they didn’t happen to be issues for me doesn’t mean they’re not ever true, but they just didn’t happen to be issues in my case.
- “You need to have a board of directors in your company who can ‘fire you’ otherwise they won’t see you as being in an employment relationship and won’t grant you an LCA”. This wasn’t the case for me – hell, the people at the LCA assessment centre didn’t even have up to date records on the EIN. Delaware has a very strong corporate veil, and I don’t think you even have to disclose outside Delaware who your company directors are. Basically, this was a non issue – I submitted my LCA in my own name, saying I wanted to hire myself, for a C-Corp which had just been formed. And they gave it an approval in under 4 days.
- You have to go to Australia to get your first E-3 Visa. While this used to be the case, I’ve got friends who’ve gotten their first E-3 Visa in Toronto, for example. My understanding is that any consulate outside the US will do, BUT, this is still such an unknown visa class that you’ll probably be out of luck most places. I have a friend who WAS turned away from Mexico City, and others who’ve successfully gotten them in Canada – not sure how to check in advance, but just letting my East Coast friends know they can avoid LAX hell and get one from the friendly Canadians just north of the border.
- A three year degree in Australia doesn’t count as a Degree (since in the US a bachelors degree is 4 years). This sounds like bullshit immigration lawyer advice earned legitimately through getting people through the nightmare paperwork associated with H1B and Green Card applications. I’ve never heard of it applying AT ALL to the E-3 process; the paperwork in general is a LOT lower and the decision is made by an officer in the consular office while they’re talking to you for a period normally no more than 3 minutes.
Saying Thanks
I’ve had a bunch of people email me and ask how they can say thanks for the advice. If you’d like to say thanks and you don’t already have an account with Uber or Lyft, feel free to say thanks by using my invite code (below) and you’ll be helping me out with extra credit and getting some credit to start with yourself too:
- Uber: 9xybb
- Lyft: GEOFF304
Asking for Help
A few people have been contacting me directly asking for comment, advice, a call to discuss their specific circumstances, etc. I’d love to help, but I’m not going to, and even if I wasn’t working 100 hour weeks, I wouldn’t answer your personal, specific issues. This post exists solely as a journal of a personal experience. I’m not a lawyer, and I’m in no position to give specific advice. You are, however, most welcome to tap the accumulated personal experiences of the thousands of other folks who’ve gone through their own journey by entering a comment below with your questions, feedback or personal experience for others to benefit from. But please don’t waste your time and mine asking me directly for advice.
geoffmcqueen.com 
Hi Geoff,
Thank you for your advice, it has been an amazing help to me.
My LCA has been denied 3 times now 😦
I followed your steps the last time I filled it in but it has just come back as denied again.
If I send you the summary can you please help me fix one part?
I really need to start work ASAP and this form has already help me up for one month now. My employer is getting frustrated and I’m worried about losing my US job before I even get started all due to this form…I have everything else sorted 😦
Thank you,
Rachel
I had mine denied the first two times because I filled part of the form out incorrectly. Post your reason from the Dept of Labor here & we’ll try & help.
Geoff, as everyone has said, your information and dedication is amazing, so firstly thank you. I’m currently in the U.S on an E3d as my wife has been sponsored, and I’ve registered an LLC which I plan to use to hire and sponsor myself, so I can be on the E3 and my wife can be on the E3d (for reason I wont go in to here) My question is, do you have any suggestions about transferring an E3D to an E3? is this something I can do without leaving the States? And also I read in a previous comments that if you apply for a new visa your current visa get cancelled, is this true? My last question is, when applying for the EIN you need to provide an ITIN, is that something I can get easily?
Thanks again, really appreciate your help
One last question Geoff, do you see any problems if I were to use my social to apply for my LLC’s EIN and then attempt to changed my visa status from an E3d to an E3? If not, how did you apply for an ITIN. Thank you again.
Really good question, and in short, I don’t *know* the answer. My guess though is that you’d probably want to do it from Australia; the fact you’ve already been given a Visa in the past (your DS-160 checks out), combined with your ability to prove the company who’s hiring you is the real deal and your degree shouldn’t make it a problem. I know when I was renewing my E3 they were a lot easier on me (but that had the advantage of being an existing employer as well as someone that had already been granted a visa).
Applying to a EIN is a piece of cakke (you can call them and they’ll issue it over the phone), and then you can apply for your LCA. From there, I don’t know the best way to transition from E3D to E3 😦
Thanks for this! AMAZING!
Just wondering if I’m able create an LLC without physically working in the states? I’d like to be based in Australia while doing business with the states. I hope that makes sense?! i.e. I’m more likely to get business in the states with an LLC but can work from Australia to do this.
Again thank you! saved me so much time!!!
Sure, you can create an LLC no problem and work from Australia… just don’t do visa stuff until you need it because when you get one the clock is ticking (they last for 2 years) and you need to put your best foot forward.
Hi Geoff,
Love your site! It’s been such a great help to me.
I am doing the E3 visa application myself and am worried about the prevailing wage info and having my application rejected. I followed your instructions to put the level 1 pay scale for the job I have been offered (an account manager for a digital agency) but isn’t level 1 for entry level employees? My job offer is slightly above this pay scale which is good, just worried it will get rejected. Do you have any advice?
Thanks in advance for your help, and Merry Xmas!
I wouldn’t worry about the level stuff much; while Level 1 might be entry level, the entry level for the CEO role is very different to a burger flipper at Maccas. So, go with Level 1 and be confident about it and I think you’ll be fine.
Hi Geoff,
Thank you for setting up this website, it has been really helpful and a gem of a resource!
I have a question regarding the prevailing wage on the LCA. I am in the process of applying for my first E3 and will not be using a lawyer. I’m pretty stressed that the LCA will be rejected as the employer wants me to start ASAP.
I have been offered a Digital Account Manager role at a digital agency. Using your guide, I found two different types of occupations that might fit this description and matches the role responsibilities: Advertising and Promotions Manager, or Advertising Sales Agents.
According to the FLC, advertising and promotions manager has a higher prevailing wage as it is a more qualified occupation. My pay is just over the threshold of the level 1 pay scale. On the other hand, the advertising sales agent does not demand as high the qualifications but the pay is over the threshold of the level 2 pay scale.
My question is whether it will be an issue if the level 1 wage is chosen? Did you get rejected originally because of the prevailing wage?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas!
Go with the Level 1 for the higher category – since it is your first job in the US, it is quite reasonable that you’d be taking a level 1 position.
Hi Mellie,
I’d be interested to hear which occupation you went with on your LCA (Advertising and Promotions Manager or Advertising Sales Agent) and how you went with the overall LCA/ visa process?
Thanks Sara
Hi Geoff,
I’ve got the E3 and have applied for E3 for my wife. Can I apply for social security number from Australia or do I have to be in the US ?
Apart from SSN and health insurance what else do I need to ensure I have sorted out (not talking about employment or accommodation)
I have a feeling you need to apply for your SSN from a social security office in the US; it is kind of a big deal, they don’t do online stuff very well here at all, and you need to show them your passport with the visa in it.
And make sure you have some other forms of ID – at least 2. The people on the counter at the SS office are not always the best and brightest – When I applied for my SSN, they wanted a US driver’s licence as a 2nd ID – it took several attempts to grasp the concept that until I had an SSN, I couldn’t get a licence.
Yeah, imagine Centerlink staff, but half the IQ. Admittedly they are working in an environment I wouldn’t be able to handle for more than 10 minutes (and another tip – when you go to the SS office, you’ll get a slip and it will forecast something like a 4 hour wait. Don’t believe it – because so many people leave and do something else productive, the line moves more quickly (since a lot of dominoes ahead of you pull out) – take your laptop and if you’re planning on going there with dependents, leave them with your better half outside doing something less miserable and as your number gets closer call them and tell them to come on in.
Hi Geoff,
Thank you so much for this information, such a huge help. I’m currently in the States on another visa but just received a job offer that will require an E-3. I’m planning to fly to Canada in the next few weeks to apply for it. I have a few questions I was hoping you, or anyone else, could help me with:
1. I’m going to ask my potential employer to begin the LCA this week because they want me to start asap, but I’ve noticed through the FLC website that my title falls under two job categories really. For one my salary is above the level 1 minimum and for the other it is below. Am I safe if I just choose the lower category so my salary is above the minimum wage?
2. I completed my degree in Australia but it was only a three year Bachelors degree. I’ve heard of many people having a ‘credential evaluation’ show it as equivalent to a four year degree but I’m not sure how. Are you aware of any places that do this or whether it is completely necessary – on that note, do I need original university papers in the interview? I ask because they’re back in Australia.
Hi Ethan, congrats on landing the job!
1. Go for the lower priced category. The whole category thing is something they’re not super strict on in my experience. There are *so many* categories and unless you’re a PhD with 3 degrees applying to be a cleaner, I think you’re safe.
2. I haven’t heard of you needing to do credential evaluation. When did you graduate? As for the original papers, I took mine to the interview (back in Australia – thanks mum for keeping that stuff safe) but a verified transcript might do the job. They just need to know that it is real so the more official the printout or posted transcript is, the better. They’ll likely just glance at it and give you a pass – like all things in the interview/credentials process, if they start delving into things you’re in trouble and you’d better have lots of stuff and the confidence that you’re right for them to go “right, this is legit”.
HI Geoff,
Very nice article, well detailed. One question, if I get a E3 visa through my LLC. Assuming I open an IT service company. How do I search for jobs in US, can I work through my llc ? or if the employer want like a permanent staff, does my current E3 allow me to work for that corporation ?
Basically wondering whether it is legal to work for a different employer through the E3 visa obtained with my llc.
Thanks,
san
No, you can’t be an employee (known as a W-4 here) unless you get the employer to get an LCA and then change your E3 across to be under the new company. You can, however, get your company to contract to the client/employer.
Thanks for your quick reply mate…how does the spouse visa works, should she automatically get an e3 and not tied to any employer ?
Effectively, yes, and she can work for any employer in any role; it is known as an E3-D. Mostly I’ve heard of people applying for the E-3D in parallel to the E-3 (they go to the same visa interview). I guess you can get the D subsequently, but the smoothest path would be to get the D for her at the same time.
Fantastic mate. I thought of registering in California, as I may do the business there. Looks like it will cost $800 an year. Also for LLC, they ask for registered agent. Even in Delaware, they ask for registered agent, who physically live in that state. Do you need to use some private service for this ?
Thanks in advance.
Do. Not. Do. That. You can be incorporated wherever you like, and Delaware is the most popular for a reason (and it isn’t because anyone actually goes to Delaware, ever). Search online for company registration LLC Delaware, and you’ll find outfits with a physical presence you can handle it all.
Just one thing to add, you can hold 2 E3 visas, one for your “own llc” and one for your new employer. If you leave your new employer, you still have your “own llc” to fall back onto.
Interesting Stephen; I’ve never heard of that before. I have heard of people who are on different visas of different classes having trouble at the border; can you share your experience in a little more detail?
I couldn’t figure out how to reply to the exact posting, but we have one specific employee who has followed your advice, and is working for his own LLC under a E3 for that business, whilst also being employed full time as a regular employee under a different E3 visa. It has caused no problems him coming and going to the USA. Even the AU embassy where he got it done had no problems (and was able to use the mailin process for E3 “renewal”).
thanks for the advice, will look more into delaware. Looks like need to pay some agent for a registered address, but will search more. If you have any reco. on agents, please pass it on.
so if you register in delaware and work in California, you need to register (foreign) again in california and pay CA taxes ?
Thanks for your help mate.
Hi Geoff,
This guide is great, thanks for taking the time to record it. My question is regarding E3 renewal for self sponsored E3s (your own company). Did you need to demonstrate any information regarding the success of the business, in the US, for the preceding two years (first E3 visa period) as part of the renewal process? I have heard this is the case for E2 renewals.
Thanks.
I can see why they’d want it for an E-2, but honestly, for the E-3, there was nothing at all. I didn’t even have to show payslips to prove I was actually paying myself (thankfully I was and could if I needed to); it was very very smooth as a renewal.
I liked your blog better when it looked like a 1990s porn site. Please change it back.
My husband is setting up a company in the U.S. and we want to send our son over there to work in it, so are you able to let us know what visa he should be applying for. He is ready to go now, but is very confused as to which one he should apply for. Your advise in this, would of course be very much appreciated.
If he has a degree & you’re actually going to pay him & have a real business there, definitely go E3. Else things get messy/difficult fast.
Thanks so much for this amazing post Geoff – it’s been an eye opener for me!
I just went to NYC for 3 months to interview and search for a job (I’m in marketing). I came close to a firm offer several times but mainly people have been interested in hiring my services as a consultant so now that I’m back home I’m seriously thinking about setting up my company. I have a couple of questions:
1. Since it would be a new business that I’m building in the US from scratch, how would I justify being able to pay myself the required wage? I know I will be since I have money aside and I already have 3/4 companies ready to start contracting but how do I prove that to immigration officers?
2. I will have 2-3 other people as members of my LLC board – as you recommended. Do they have to be American and/or US residents? Do they have to really have a role in my business? Do I make myself as the majority shareholder?
3. When I make the offer letter, do I really make it to myself, signed by myself? How does that go through? Would it maybe make more sense to have it signed by another member of the board?
It looks like an amazing opportunity but with a lot of tricky parts!
Thanks so much for any extra information/experience you can share with me!
Since you don’t have any revenue it gets a bit tricky. What I’d do is set up the LLC (you don’t need any visas or residency for that), go back as a tourist on the visa waiver (and at the border make it clear you’re having a holiday as well as going to conference x and y), and land those clients. Get the revenue so you can show the business has ability to pay you, then go to Canada for the E3.
Thanks Geoff! That is something I had in mind indeed so I think I’ll go that direction.
When you applied for your Visa, did you need to give any guarantee that you could make your business work in the US as well as it had in Australia? Did you have already signed contracts or letters of intent or anything else?
I my case I didn’t, but I think the fact I already had a team of 8 people gave them enough confidence to make a judgement call that it would be OK. I did bring along P&Ls (or as they call them in the states, Income Statements) to make sure if I needed to I could justify things, but it wasn’t ever needed. My advice would be to be as far along as you can before switching over.
Amazing resource; I wish I’d found this earlier before paying a lawyer $2000! I’m on the E-3 currently, but Im itching to have the freedom to do a variety of work for different companies (as opposed to the one I’m currently tied to). So I’m thinking of setting up an LLC and start to build up enough revenue to eventually be able to sponsor myself. Question is, is it legal for me to be working full-time with an employer and simultaneously be contracting out my LLC with other companies? I’m in the film/animation industry, if that helps. Thanks in advance, any advice is golden 🙂
I don’t think you’d have a problem Belinda. The trick with any employer sponsored visa is that the right to work (and stay in the country) is only granted while you’re working for that employer. My guess though is that moonlighting as a contractor, Lyft driver, etc, would be fine (and more importantly, has 0% chance of being detected IMHO), so I’d say go for it but make sure whenever you’re crossing borders etc you focus on your main job and the work you do, and resist the urge to talk about the more cool moonlighting projects you’re involved in to make sure you don’t tempt fate.
Thanks Geoff. Much appreciated. One more thing – if I’m sponsoring myself through an LLC I started, would the position have to be related to the admin side of running the business (e.g. General & Operations manager), or could I list my position as the actual day-to-day tasks I’ll actually be responsible for (which in my case would be Multimedia artists & Animators, with a prevailing wage of $44k/yr)?
Belinda, I think you’ll likely be safe focusing on the work you’ll actually be doing (and if it is more honest/accurate AND it is a lower price tier, all the better). I’ve heard of people coming in on an clerical/admin assistant/secretary tier (and its very low price) but I wouldn’t recommend that (remember, this is supposed to be for degree positions), but she got in fine (with her three kids), so if you’re being honest and accurate and confident then I think you’ll be fine.
Hi Geoff,
I have found this blog extremely useful as I am currently working through a Job offer I’ve received from a small company in the US. Thank you very much for your effort.
Basically my roommate from college (I did a four year degree in the US and am an Australian citizen) has recently started a company and wants to hire me to head up sales/business development. The business has already made revenue through 2012/2013. We are worried about the prevailing wage because most of my pay will be commission based. Will there be an issue if we state my wage on the LCA form is “X” and through my sales commissions I don’t end up earning “X” for the year? Do you think that the DOL will check pay slips and financial statements for such a small, young company?.. and do you think the fact that I’m mostly paid commission will affect the acceptance of the LCA form? Would it be better to make my job title something different as most of the titles similar to the one I have been offered set a minimum wage above what the company could maintain at the moment and also above the commission I could earn?
From your experience do you think it is worth getting advice from a lawyer even if its just a short phone call or 1 or 2 meetings? This is an offer that I am 100% committed to taking so hopefully it will work out!
I know that’s a lot of questions, but thanks again for your help.
Thankfully, they’re pretty quick to answer.
1. They won’t be happy with a low base and a commission wage. If you don’t make sales, you go hungry, and become a social burden on the US Taxpayer. I know it sounds harsh, but that’s the way they (have to) look at it. Basically, DO NOT MENTION COMMISSION – you’re being paid a fixed salary which meets the prevailing wage minimums. That’s it. But, I think you’re already onto the solution because:
2. I don’t believe there is any link/correlation between the Department of Labor (employment rights), Department of State (visa rights) and the Internal Revenue Service (the agency you need to disclose income to). I’ve heard of people needing to produce proof of their income at the border in the form of bank statements, but as you’ll know as soon as you spend time in the US, the whole immigration prosecution/enforcement thing is pretty light on – otherwise the restaurants, housekeeping and agricultural sectors would grind to a halt 😉 So, make sure you’ve got the evidence you need when you cross the border, and don’t try and cross the border much, especially during the income ramp up period.
3. Choose the most junior title you can get away with, period.
4. If you want to make a donation to a lawyer, go ahead, but most of the stories I’ve heard is that the average immigration lawyer does more harm than good (and I’ve seen the harm with close friends multiple times). Someone once said to me “If you were a good/smart lawyer, you’d do something other than immigration law (commercial, criminal, even labor law), which means the ones doing immigration law are…”
Thanks for your quick answer, this is very helpful. I just wanted to add some additional questions from the employer perspective. The guy hiring me is worried about his capability to pay a certain wage level and what will happen if he doesn’t pay me correctly. Will he have to provide evidence of income and the ability to pay after or when the LCA is filed? What happens if the amount actually paid is less that what has been filed, how does the DOL (or the IRS of whoever it is) keep track of that? When you opened up your company in the US, did you have to provide any evidence of income in the US and the ability to pay a certain wage level? We are confident of earning above a certain level of sales with an additional employee but the company’s historical earnings probably aren’t at a level to prove the capability to pay most miniumum wage levels. DO you have any advice for him as the employer?
Geoff, thank you a ton for this. I’m i the US, currently switching from the j-1 to the E3. A lot of my income has been freelancing (back in oz) and most of the work in my field here is on the w-9 (obviously not on the J-1), so I’m looking at the LLC. My questions are:
Do I need revenue in the bank to prove I can pay myself (my freelancing is still at beginners phase). I can also prove I’ve been paid via freelancing in Oz and,
Is it acceptable in the US to invoice businesses, thru my own business, who would usually use a w-9?
Also, I’m looking at the LLC becuse I have a job offer that is part time and I want to be able to supplement m income…
THANK YOU!!
Reblogged this on Unsealed Roads.
Geoff! Thank you for this great info.
I’ve a couple of questions around the w-9/ freelancing possibilities..
I’m transferring from the j-1 to the e-3. I know you can’t do a w-9 on either of these, so I was thinking of the LLC as a way round this.
My first question is, as most of my work is freelance, do you know if employers in the US would be happy for me to invoice them from my own biz rather than use the w-9? Would that be a standard practice?
Second, I don’t have up front revenue to show I can pay myself. I can support my case by showing my freelancing activity in Australia, (but obviously not in the states)? Do I need to prove that I can pay myself or can I just provide letters of project employment?
Third, you’ve answered this above but I want to check again, I’m being sponsored with a part time job. As far as I can see, this is possible on the e-3. My plan is to do the LLC as support/the second sponsor. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Thank you!
Hi Kate,
Firstly, while we do them in my business, I’m not super familiar with the intricacies of a W-9. I’ve always thought of them as a group certificate where the employer withholds your taxes, the alternative being a contractor (or what they call a 1099 here) where you have to make your own tax provisions.
Anyway, back to your questions, I think most employers would be happy if you’re not full time to have you invoice them through your LLC. You’d need to provide them with a 1099 at the end of the year (which is how the IRS can chase you down if you don’t file your taxes), and it makes sense to do this if you don’t care about getting benefits like health insurance.
As for the proof points needed for your visa, this is a tough one. I’ve heard of people getting in with no revenue and a compelling story, especially if they have investors (I mix mostly with tech entrepreneur immigrants and that is their path). If I were you I’d focus on the fact you’re taking your Australian business (don’t call it freelancing) and expanding to NYC, and have as your proof points total income of you as a person as well as across the AU and the US businesses (from a freelancing perspective) to show you’ve got the ability to pay yourself if everything keeps on going like it has been (and they’re right to assume it will).
As for part time vs full time roles and being sponsored, I really don’t know – haven’t ever thought of it before. I’d probably play it safe though and get your E3 through your LLC and focus on the fact you’ve got contracted forward income (rather than a part time job) to show you’re solid.
(apologies for posting twice. thought i’d lost it.)
thanks for the speedy response. good tip r.e the term ‘freelancing’. i will suss this out and let you (and future others) know.
such a great resource – thank you
Hi Geoff,
I might have an offer with a company in the US, however i dont have a degree but i do have 7 years of work experience and a Masters in IT degree, would this be sufficient for an E3 Visa. I am worried about this 😦
Thanks for your assistance.
Regards
Sam
I’m not sure where you went to uni, but a Masters is a degree to me, and more importantly, my only worthless piece of paper is a masters and they waved me through, so you should be good.
Hi Geoff thanks heaps for your reply.
I feel a bit better with your reply.I went to Uni of South Australia, Did you have to prove of your experience? Did they as for official letters from past employers etc?
Apologies for asking so many questions or if i missed this in your blog above 🙂
Thanks again heaps
You need a degree (bachelors or better) OR 10 years experience. So, no, you don’t need to prove any experience.
thanks buddy
Hello Geoff,
I am so glad to found your blog. I and my wife is interesting to have the E-3 visa. We live in Gold Coast and we are Australian citizens. We have a Trust ABN since 4 years ago. We have some customers in California and will want to register a LLC in US to continue our business in States. Can we register a LLC without the E-3 visa and without the visiting US to register the LLC? If we have the LLC, do we have to hire a USA citizen to get the E-3 visa? We will just want to work by ourselves without hiring any person. My wife will be a director and I will be a manager. Just two as we do in Australia. If all is okay as we want, we will use an attorney to set up the LLC and applying the E-3 visa together.
Thank you for your help.!!
Justin
Wow, so there’s a lot in that question that is waaaay off base.
1. You can register an LLC from Australia and not need to set foot in the US; get one out of Delaware. There’s no need to hire a US citizen.
2. You won’t be able to get an E-3 without a company getting an LCA approved, so yeah, LLC comes first.
3. You can hire an attorney to do any of these steps, but you don’t need to. However, if you actually read my post and the steps and you’re still confused about it then you probably will want to hire a lawyer who’s got experience with this since the concept of getting a company and then applying for permission to hire you is pretty fundamental… so if you missed that, you’re probably not well equipped to do it yourself.
4. Finally, you’ll want to be careful about the structure being to hire only yourselves. You’ll need to show an ability to pay yourselves, and if they think you’re setting up the entity solely for immigration purposes you’re likely to get rejected.
Thank you for quick answer and great information. Yeh, I don’t want to hire an attorney for this but I thought we need it because my case could be much more complicated than the one that getting a job position in US. I will have to register an LLC and get an LCA approval. Per #4, how about we show our past ATO tax return record to US consulate when we have an interview with them in order to prove an ability to pay ourselves in US? My customers are in California.
Thank you again!
Justin
Justin, I really think you need to get a lawyer. There’s only ONE way to get an E-3 visa, and that’s for a US company to offer you a position in that company. That’s it. My experience is that you can set up a company and make yourself an offer, but you need to make sure the company that is hiring you can pay you, and make a compelling case. A single rejection (refused visa) is enough to screw you for life (the visa waiver program requires you to tick a box saying “I’ve never been refused a visa” – if you fail that test, every trip as a tourist for a week to the US requires a manual visa), and the next agent to consider your case (should you try the E-3 again) is likely to reject it out of hand; no-one at the border gets fired for refusing entry to someone who can’t vote and has no rights of appeal.
The E-3 doesn’t exist for a husband and wife to move to the US and work at a company for themselves; you might be able to make it happen, but you’re going to want good advice or make sure you actually understand the system, which so far you’re a long way from based on your questions.
Geoff, thank you again! another question: do you know if you can earn income from an australia while on the E3 (as proof of ties to oz and that i have money!)?
(i freelance write for a company back home)
TA.
The income test is that the US company that sponsors you can pay you. If that company has clients in Australia who pay them, fine, but don’t highlight it or make an issue out of it; keep it simple and focused on proving the US company can and will pay you, that’s it – anything more runs the serious risk of you getting rejected (I’ve had friends get rejected because their employer wasn’t deemed “serious” based on a Google search; the company was a multi-million dollar consultancy so the immigration people weren’t accurate or thorough, but my point is that they have the power to reject you for a hunch that something doesn’t seem right). This visa was invented to allow professionals to work for US companies and have temporary residency in the US; keep that in the front of your mind as you go through the process.
Kate,
Too much is made of the ties to Australia piece. In 5 E-3s visas, it never came up as a question once for me. I usually just took a bank statement showing my Australian address, which I’m convinced would have been sufficient.
Lee
Geoff
I do not have a bachelor’s degree. I have, however, had an assessment of my experience/education completed by a professor in Maryland. His assessment states that my experience (7 years) and education (advanced diploma) is the equivalent of an American Bachelor of Finance. Have you heard of anybody having any problems in this area?
I have also completed a test which gives me the qualifications required for my profession in the US.
Thanks Michael
Hi Michael, As it turns out I do; here’s two comments from entrepreneurs in the last month or so. The first talks about him getting his E3 with the help of an external certification agency, TrustForte; he doesn’t provide a “number of years” reference though:
The second was from another entrepreneur who was able to prove himself with a mixture of 6 years real experience and some letters of support for skills:
As you can see with this second example, the elapsed time was 4 years so he’s really a long way from 10 years. Based on this, if you get some more letters of support from people who you’ve worked with that you know your shit more than other people they’ve hired with a degree (and your test result) I’m hoping you’ll be in good shape.
Thanks for your quick reply. I believe I will be OK with this professor’s assessment (which is a situation similar to your first quote) but obtaining letters of support is an excellent idea.
Much appreciated
Hi Michael, I also want to apply for GM position. Can you email me what your relevant work experience you provided to Trustforte? I understand I will have to “make it my own” but it will help me greatly. My email is bravo39er [at] gmail [dot] com
Hi Geoff, Would you be able to ping me Michaels email so I contact him about his GM Resume? Thanks!
Hi Geoff, Thanks for this post very helpful.
I am in a different situation. So i already have a Visa, but i initiated it on Job A back in June 2012 in Ottawa. A month after i returned to my job I was offered another job (better employer/opportunities etc). At the time i got my new employer (Job B) to do an LCA, effectively making my visa i had obtained under Job A null in-void. For the past 18 months i haven’t left the US which means no need to re do the visa, but i am leaving to go back ho,me in April.
I want to renew my visa with my current job (Job B), so does that mean i need to do another LCA? Are LCA’s defined by the length of the visa (ie two year)? or can i use my original LCA application (Job B) for the next two years?
Any help is much appreciated.
Cheers
Reed
Woah, you’re not saying you got job B, and the LCA, and then DIDN’T get a new E3?
From what i have read (and from other people i know) you can change jobs and re-apply for the LCA. I received an approved LCA from my Job B which i printed out an kept with my passport. When you leave the country next time you get a new visa. It is not until now (18 months later) that i am finally leaving to go home. Have i completely missed something here?
Change of job means new visa within 10 days. Admittedly ‘Merica doesn’t have the best systems for notifying change of job (and IRS doesn’t talk to immigration: lots of Mexicans pay lots of tax) but you will want/need to get an updated LCA to be safe & then your story is that you’ve *just* landed a new job. While you *might* be right & it is OK, I’ve never heard of this strategy & given Aussies have it so good with the E3 I think cutting corners on something like this when you don’t need to is pretty high risk and/or super lazy.
To address your first question, you will need a new LCA. They are for 2 years from the date of issue, so that current one you have will only have 6 months validity from now.
I’m with Geoff, this is a high risk strategy to avoid a flight to Canada and I’ve never heard of anyone approaching it this way. Your I-94 would still be valid, which means you are in status, but you are not maintaining status by having a valid visa.
OK. i have just contacted a lawyer to get to the bottom of this. I have a friend just do exactly what i described. He just got back in the country after Christmas. I will let you know how it goes.
Cool – good luck, and one thing I’ve learned with the E-3 is that it is so uncommon you can get lucky with border folks (even if by the letter of the law it is wrong/prohibited); the problem is, if someone at the border rejects you, your grounds of appeal are pretty much nil, your visa is revoked and then you have to tick the box “yes, I’ve been denied entry to the US previously”… which kind of scars you for life.
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for the great blog. I followed your steps and and got the E3 visa about two weeks ago in Melbourne. Thought I’d post a little about my experience.
I am self employed in the services industry and was running my own business in Melbourne, essentially as a sole trader. I had heard of E3 Visas but was told I needed to employ someone – which I simply couldn’t afford. So after reading your blog I was greatly encouraged. As I said, I followed all your steps and it all went very smoothly.
At the embassy interview I went dressed in a suit, and was very well prepared with a business plan, financials (that didn’t look very impressive!), and academic history etc. They only asked me two brief questions and that was it. It certainly felt like my application was already considered and accepted even before I went to the embassy. The interviewer said it was a case of “ticking the boxes” and I had nothing to worry about.
As the hiring company was called “My Surname (US), LLC)”, it was pretty obvious that I was very connected with the US hiring company. I didn’t even have any other shareholders or directors. But I did have an existing, real, business in Melbourne and that’s where I took your advice of keeping the story as real as possible in the sense that I really am working from the US for my company. I could have named the LLC something like “Best Services, LLC”, but decided to go with the connection to my existing business. So now I essentially have a US and Australian office address.
So from my experience, at least for me they didn’t look too deep into the US company that I had set up, so long as the paper work looked OK. However, I think in my case I got through on the basis of my existing sole trader business being real and not fake.
Thanks so much again. Prior to reading your blog,I doubt I would have believed it possible to get an E3 visa, but afterwards I was more confident of it being possible.
From Max
You’re most welcome Max – thanks for sharing your story here for everyone else too!!
Hi Geoff, awesome article mate! Many thanks. I’m a keen snowboarder of many years and I’m at a point where I want to settle in a great ski town in the states and run a cafe. Whilst I’m not currently running a business or anything in Australia I know how the food services sector works and I have about 40k capital to get things moving. My question is just how legal/legit is it to establish a company over there for the purpose of that company to ‘hire’ you in order to get this visa? I would hate to run into trouble a year or two down the track. Also, regarding directors, can they be family or friends in Australia? Really appreciate the help! 🙂
Hi Max,
I believe I may be in a similar boat to you, I am a Pilates-trained physiotherapist, effectively functioning as a sole-trader here in Perth. I’m looking to move to NYC. I have been having trouble finding a Pilates company to sponsor me (I cannot work as a physiotherapist under Australian qualifications).
Thus, I am considering setting up an LLC under my name, like you did, and operating as a sole-trader to subcontract out to other Pilates companies once I get to NYC….
Does this sound like what you did? Did the embassy grant you the E-3 visa on the grounds that you were a being employed by the LLC as a worker in Melbourne? How did you determine your salary seeing as you are a sole-trader?
Sorry to bombard you with questions and I really appreciate any help and advice you can offer!!
PS: THANK YOU FOR THIS PRECIOUS BLOG/RESOURCE GEOFF!!! it is invaluable!!
Dear Geoff and all, thx for the advice.
I am in the process of setting up a LLC over there. I just received the following from my to-be registered agent regarding obtaining a FEIN. This was extracted from the page1 guidleine whcih comes with the SS-4 form:
“Change to Domestic Employer Identification Number (EIN) Assignment by Toll-Free Phones
Beginning January 6, 2014, the IRS will refer all domestic EIN requests received by toll-free phones to the EIN Online Assistant. You can access the Assistant by going to http://www.irs.gov, entering “EIN” in the “Search” feature and following instructions for applying for an EIN online.”
I thought this was worth sharing here; I hope this will not make the process any longer . I am leaving only the 1st of April but need the visa number as early as possible to send the container ahead…I don’t want to be camping over there for too long before it arrives
LLC registered 😀
I just called the overseas number; as I feared they don’t give anymore the FEIN over the phone for domestic entities, i.e. US-registered LLC.
It has to go by FAX (or online by the agent if he is also a tax agent) which can take up to four days…possibly a couple more according to the officer on phone. Not a big deal, but worth noting.
Dear Geoff…while filling the SS-4, I ma facing a sort of chicken&egg. Apparently I HAVE TO fill out the 7a / 7b fields (Name of responsible party + SSN, ITIN or EIN..).
Do you think I just leave that blank?
Regards
That’s why you need an EIN; they’re free and don’t require residency. Can get one over the phone. SSN on the other hand requires work/living status
Geoff,
Awesome info here and great job. I have 2 queries:
1. How to find E3 jobs? online or have to be in US and find a job?
2. Does any sponsors take interview remotely when I am here in Australia?
Cheers
Rat
1) Same as normal jobs. 2) Unless your skills are insanely in demand in a country with record unemployment, no.
Shameless self promotion
http://www.limaechoecho.com/2013/07/how-can-australian-get-job-in-usa.html
Thanks Lee!
Hi Geoff, Just wanted to commend you on the time and effort behind putting together all this information. This is awesome!
I am on a E3 visa, and wanting to setup a hookah bar. But worried that on a E3 visa I cant own a company here. My accountant advises to setup a C-Corp, and be a 100% shareholder. His opinion is its same as owning shares or google, or apple. I have a lawyer’s appointment which will cost me $250, but I am willling to spend that if I can get a confirmed answer. That I am not going to jeopardize my E3 visa setting up a business in this fashion.
So, thought of asking you if you have had such a situation before? I will share with you what my lawyer advises.
regrads
Peter
I’m the sole shareholder in my company. As Elias has found, have two other directors, even if temporarily, gives you the necessary ability to be fired which defines the employment nexus.
I’ve *never* heard of anyone getting grief for ownership – much more likely is capacity to pay your salary, and since you’re doing an E3R your questions will be super lightweight (someone else has decided you’re legit so if you turn into an Axe murderer the first person to approve you carries the blame).
Remember: you *are* dealing with a govt bureaucracy.
Visa Approved!
Thank you for all your quality information Geoff. I had my interview at the US consulate in Perth. What is the name of your company, Where will you be working, What is your title, Where did you study. All that they looked at was my LCA, DS-160 & Offer of employment. No degree, work history, financial statements etc
Well done Luke!!!
Hello Geoff, Just wanted to thank for your time and effort behind putting together all this information. This is really helpful.
A quick question, do you think the Offer Letter presented to the Consulate needs to be original or a printed version of the scanned copy is good enough
Since most letters of offer now are emailed at attachments, a scan and print should be fine.
Hi Geoff, I’ve had my LCA denied and would love to show you my application – I think I may have made some stupid mistakes regarding the prevailing wage and am a bit clueless.
I was denied twice – just do more research and submit again. They usually tell you the reason why
Hey Geoff,
Thanks for the information, it has been wonderfully helpful!
Quick question, I have been told that a 3 year Bachelor’s degree is no longer equivlent to a 4 years US degree? Is this true? I have 4+ professional experience, which i believe 3 years = 1 year of a degree?
I was told I would need to get an ‘evaluation report’ to prove I have the neccessary experience from a site like : http://www.globaledu.com/evaluation_document_by_document.html
I am not sure if you have any knowlege or experience on this, but any info would be greatly appreaicted. Thanks in advance.
Who’s telling you that? I don’t think they care in the case of the E3 – it is true that US degrees are 4 years but I’ve never heard of this being a problem for an E3. Some of the documentation heavy visas might need this detail/distinction but I’ve never heard of it for an E3.
I heard from a lawyer i recieved a free consulatation from. I have read it a few times before, but you could be right that it doesn’t matter for the E3….? I am not too sure. This lawyer said it was a ‘recent development’. I am waiting to hear from a few other sources.
Find it in black and white. Sounds like classic lawyer FUD. With the E3 the key is being offered a job you can prove you’re qualified for and that you have a degree; I’ve never heard of it being an issue and the interview process is very cursory & mostly focused on the job/employer & making sure they’re paying you properly.
Hi Geoff, I’m looking into getting a sponsorship from a company that doesn’t have anything to do with my field, but are looking for a graphic designer (my field) — I know my E3 offer has to be in my line of work, but does it matter if the sponsor themselves aren’t in my industry?
Thanks in advance!
Not at all – it’s all about the role
Hey Geoff,
Thanks for the information, it has been wonderfully helpful!
Quick question, I have been told that a 3 year Bachelor’s degree is no longer equivlent to a 4 years US degree? Is this true? I have 4+ professional experience, which i believe 3 years = 1 year of a degree?
I was told I would need to get an ‘evaluation report’ to prove I have the neccessary experience from a site like : http://www.globaledu.com/evaluation_document_by_document.html
I am not sure if you have any knowlege or experience on this, but any info would be greatly appreaicted. Thanks in advance.
I just read your post after leaving my reply below…
Hi Geoff.
This is a great blog and very helpful. My wife and I have been in the US since 2008 and have renewed my E3 and her E3D (dependent) visas 4 times. I was researching what is involved in converting my E3 to Green card so I don’t have to keep going through the process but couldn’t figure out what happens to my wife’s status when my application is in. After reading your blog we realized that she can now get an E3 visa in her own right. Since we moved here she has done a masters in Psychology and started her own practice in which she has a company registered as a PLLC (professional limited licence company) so half the work is already done!
A friend of mine wanted to come to the US for a working holiday so he applied for an E3 sponsored by the company I work for (owned by a mutual friend of ours). His only qualification being that he ran a kayak tour company and said that he had the equivalent of a bachelors degree in marketing. He went to interview with one of his brochures as the only evidence and they granted him the visa! He didn’t really care if he got and the rules say you have to have a bachelors degree or equivalent. I don’t have a degree, but I had run my own electrical contracting business for 15 years so I got an agency to certify that I had the equivalent qualifications to a BA in business management.
As with all my advice, it starts with saying to speak to an immigration lawyer, as there are pretty serious implications in getting the E-3 to GC conversion wrong.
In my experience, your wife will not need to get an E-3, so save yourself the expense and the trouble of a trip out of the country. During my E-3 to GC process, my wife stayed working on the EAD attached to her E3-D (She is British, so would have had to get a H-1B if she needed her own visa). At the time of applying for advanced parole and EAD following PERM approval, the law firm could have also applied for an EAD and advanced parole for my wife. She had no travel planned and plenty of validity on her existing EAD, so we didn't bother.
http://www.limaechoecho.com/2012/11/e-3-visa-to-green-card.html
Dear all,
Update on my “own” process (I am actually creating the LLC for my current Australian employer, not for myself): I submitted the LCA with the Red Flag warning that my EIN was not recognized. I spend an hour on the pone with the IRS, who have given it to me verbally but advise a 2 to 6 weeks timeline to receive the paper certificate)!
Does anybody have any experience with getting this EIN number on a fax or pdf promptly?
Cheers
Even if you get it on paper it won’t help you; the Dept of Labor use their own database lookup.
Thank you Geoff. I’ll preemptively send them a verification request then.
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for your advice: I applied for my E3 with a part-time job (22-30 hours a week) and wanted to share that I had the E3 granted. I went to the Toronto office and whilst I had extra income coming from Oz, they didn’t ask for it. Just asked what the company was, the hourly rate (which, to be honest, was not a lot!) and what I studied. My passport only took a day to process.
HUGE thanks.
Hi Kate – was the prevailing wage for your part time job higher? E.g. if prevailing wage for fulltime in your field was $25, for part time would it have been, say, $33?
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Kate!
Hi,
no my hourly rate is $17. I found a prevailing wage, which most suited my position and would actually work in with what I was being paid, which was much lower ($9.17). I looked long and hard for this. Also note, that the prevailing wage did not specify I needed a degree. I did, however, have this (degree needed) stated in my employment offer letter (which they asked for). Also, I was already in the states on a J-1 student visa, so it was obvious I had a degree….(sorry more info than you’d asked for).
Very to much info! What classification/role did you end up going with?
My job is in the not-for-profit sector and the classification was in education, library, other (it was 25-something and the company was listed as a 61161, i think – education and arts)
Great news Kate and thanks for sharing!! I hadn’t heard of the E-3 being available for a part time job before – nice work!
Hello Geoff,
Although I have experience working and living in the US for many years, we are looking to return to the US after having made the mistake of moving back to Australia where we originated from. We’ve always paid an arm and a leg in attorney fees, and I would like to try my luck in saving us money by filing the E3 visa and DS160 form without the aid of a lawyer. I was hoping you may know the answers to the following questions.
I have 6 questions regarding the DS-160 form. I am hoping someone can help me.
Question 1: With regard to last visa issued, we had an E3 that was renewed. Is the renewed E3 visa number the same as the original E3 visa number (in red, on passport) issued 2 years previous to the renewal?
Question 2: With regard to Visa refusal/rejection: We applied for an R1 Visa in 2005 and were told it was the wrong Visa type. We then reapplied for the R1 a few weeks later and were successful. Was the first a rejection?
Question 3: With regards to educational information for my children: My children are all homeschooled. What do I enter for “Name and address of institution?”?
Question 4: With regard to LCA information: I tried to save time and did the DS-160 before I had the LCA approved. I simply answered “no” to “do you have the LCA information”. It accepted the answer but will this delay me?
Thank you your help,
Andrew
Question 5: With regard to “where was the last passport issued?” : I said, Chicago, USA, since we submitted our passport renewals at an Australian Consulate in Chicago. Is this the correct answer?
Question 6: With regard to the Visa photo used: All our photos did, in fact, pass the online test on the DS-160 site but had a non-plain background. Is this going to be a problem?
I would appreciate any help.
Regards,
Andrew
1) If you’re filling in your DS160 and there’s a question about your current visa, then put in your current visa (since the DS160 is to get a new one that you don’t have yet, they shouldn’t be asking for that number). But I’m guessing here since your question really makes no sense to me.
2) I wouldn’t call that a rejection; sounds like they told you you should withdraw your application and reply again. A rejection is a very big deal and a very big problem – I’d answer no to that question.
3) No idea there. Prob just homeschooled and see if you get away with it. The E-3 is really about you and not your dependents.
4) Yes, bad idea. Get your LCA first.
5) No idea; I always put Canberra even though AU passports don’t have a place of issue (and I’ve never been to Canberra to get one; I just assume they get posted from there).
6) No; if you passed the test that is it.
Thanks for the great article.
I have a question related to setting the start date for an E3 visa (renewal). Lets assume the following scenario:
– Existing E3 Visa expires on December 17th 2014 and start date for new E3 Visa requested for December 18th 2014
– New E3 visa secured at US consulate on August 1st 2014
In this scenario, am I unable to work in the US between August 1st and December 18th because the old / previous e3 visa was superseded by the new one?
The date you get your renewal becomes the start of the new 2 year clock & means your previous visa is canceled without prejudice
Thanks Jeff. A follow-up question: In the scenario above, which assumes that I plan to acquire a new E3 visa a few months before the existing one expires, how do I go about setting the start date on the LCA form (for renewed employment)?
Is it a new job/employer? You should make the start date be very shortly after the new E-3 is requested; the old E-3 is cancelled when the new one is issued, and the new one is tied to the new employer, so your start date will want to be in sync with the new E3
Thanks. It is with the existing employer. Should this influence my strategy?
No. You’ll just be cutting short the time on your existing one and starting the 2 year clock early.
Hi Geoff,
I have furtive plans to move to the U.S in the next couple of years, but I’m curious as to how strict the E3 visa is in terms of the bachelor’s degree- line of work connection.
I have a combined law/bachelor of arts degree, and am pursuing a career as a writer on online publications. Much of my current work is freelance, as I’ve just started. I’m looking to have built enough of a resume in the next 2 years to secure some kind of employment in media in the U.S.
Is my combined degree (particularly the bachelor of arts part) sufficient to qualify me for the visa? I don’t know that you specifically *need* an arts degree to write (maybe a media communications degree would make more sense) but I guess it has some tenuous link to writing.
It just depends on how strict they are with the application. Do you have any idea??
Cheers
It really isn’t strict at all based on everything I’ve heard – as long as you have a degree & a job offer paying above the minimum I think you’ll be good to go.
Thanks for that
Hi Geoff,
You might have already answered this questions, but when naming my LLC is there any problems with calling it “Reed Goossens Consulting” ie; using my own name in the LLC names? Do they frown on that at the interview, or will that be grounds to not approve an E3 as they can clearly see that i am starting my own company?
Also, can an LLC issue W2’s? the reason i ask is that i have heard of ppl starting a company (LLC) then they try to renew it in two years, they are asked to produce W2’s at the interview and they can’t, which leads to a disapproved E3 visa. I have heard starting an S-Corp is better as they can issue W2’s. thoughts?
Finally, paying taxes…. as i start a LLC I will ultimately pay tax on the business, if i then pay myself i will be hit again with personal tax, any advice on how to avoid this? Maybe a question for a CPA?
Reed
Good questions for a Friday morning. Firstly I definitely wouldn’t name the LLC after me. You’ll want to make the business look as much as possible a going concern with the ability to pay you – calling your LLC this makes it all a lot harder. Remember, if you get rejected there’s no appeal & you have to tick that box in the ESTA saying you’ve been refused a visa. For the rest of your life. So don’t call the company that, make sure you’ve got a website & it looks good (and is in Google – I know people who’ve been rejected because the officer googled the company & didn’t find them).
The W2 and taxes are intertwined I believe. As far as I know there’s no reason you can’t pay yourself payroll through an LLC (a W2 is basically a Group Certificate in Aussie terms). The reason most people don’t is because an LLC is similar (but different) to an Aussie Trust – the LLC can’t retain (taxable) profits; they have to be passed through to the ‘members’ (like a shareholder or an Aussie trust beneficiary). This means for many people the company books (profit/loss) get combined with personal income/expenses at the end of the year to create their company+personal tax filing all at once.
I’ve never heard of someone’s renewal being rejected because of a lack of W2’s but I have heard of people being stopped on reentry & immigration demanding to see proof of recent payslips etc. Given the importance of the prevailing wage and the employment relationship to the E3 I think you’d be mad to shortcut things though – pay yourself the salary you’re promising as a W2 employee & at the end of the year any remaining business profit becomes your total taxable income (or you can offset any loss against your income I believe).
Hi Geoff,
I’ve been working for the same employer on an E-3 now for a number of years, and now I’m looking for work in a different state (following my heart). Naturally the job climate is a little more difficult (visa AND relocation) but I have an extremely promising prospect. The trouble is that their company policy prevents sponsorship. They even worked with their legal team to try and find a loophole, but direct employment is a no-go.
They are open to contracting me, however. The recruitment firm I am working with can possibly sponsor me and then contract me out, but in reading your LLC set up idea I thought it might be possible to just set that up myself. I do not have a company in Australia to ‘bring’ to the US, so it sounds like it might be difficult to prove my ability to pay my ‘employee’. I could possibly get some US investors (friends and such) or board members if that would help.
Do you think it’s worth a shot? Or would it make more sense to continue to look for an employer who’d directly sponsor me? I’m not in a forced rush, as my current employer is very happy with me – although I’d like to move as soon as possible!
I’d like to switch to (or rather apply for) a GC which would obviously make this easier, but I think I’ll do that at a new employer – I know I have to keep my status the whole way through the process and I’d hate for there to be a hiccup. I have dual nationality with another country which is eligible for the GC lottery, so I might try to use that angle as well. Seeing an immigration lawyer shortly to discuss it all.
Just in support of the other folks who have discussed bits and pieces here, my initial process in 2006 was easy – Got the LCA and letter from the employer, filled out the forms, got the interview set up, brought a copy of my resume (I have no degree but had 10+ years of IT experience when I applied) and the process in Sydney was only a few minutes – getting through security and waiting took a lot longer. I’ve renewed internally twice, in 2008 and 2010 (which takes a long time to process). In 2012 I had received a promotion, and had to go to Canada to get a new visa. The company put a legal team on it to help, but the paperwork and the process was the same (I got the new E-3 in Montreal). I had a 3 minute interview at a window at the consulate, where the fellow asked me a few questions about the company (so it pays to know a little about your prospective employer, really stuff from the website) and some personal details – that was it. I’d encourage taking a trip to Canada to ‘renew’ (i.e. get a new E-3 instead of renewing with the USCIS) if you can, even though it costs more. It’s quicker, and you get the bonus of being able to enter the US freely if you leave.
I also renewed my Australian passport while in the US, which was also simple – just follow the process from the links at the consulate/embassy website. It was a little nerve-wracking sending my existing passport off (as they require it to issue you a new one) as it still had my visa in it – they just tell you to keep both, and if there’s a question about the visa, you show it in the old expired passport while also holding your new valid passport.
Bob
Bob – When you got your promotion in 2012 did you have to get a new E3 visa or did you co-incidentally need a new E3 visa as your old one was expiring? (2008, 2010, 2012..) I am being offered a promotion at my current employer and my E3 still have 9 months to run. Am wondering if I need a new visa or can wait till next year?
Carl
Hi Geoff
I work as a IT Contractor (using ABN) in investment banking in Melbourne and I
wish to continue doing the same in NYC. Hence need the E3 visa.
1. My question relates to Step 2 “Prevailing Wage”.
I understand the new US company that I wish to form needs to demonstrate that they can pay me.
a. To demonstrate this, can these funds be sitting in my personal account in Australia OR rather in the US LLC account that I wish to form? I doubt the latter is possible.
b. As per BLS, pay for a 11-1021 General and Operations Managers in NYC is around $115K http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes111021.htm. Is it fair to say I should have atleast an year’s salary sitting in the account?
2. IS it advisable to prepare a business plan also as a supporting document?
Thanks
Sumo
Quick question for Geoff or anyone who’s had a similar experience — I’m supplementing the income of my E3 job with some freelance side jobs; however I’ve been asked by one of these jobs to submit a W-9 —- will I be jeopardising my E3 status by filling one out? Should I wait until I’ve established my LLC and submit my W-9 through the LLC?
Any advice is appreciated! Thanks
I don’t believe so Belinda – one day the American govt might get their shit together enough so the the IRS data can be paired to ICE databases but given the American taxpayer does quite nicely out of Mexicans paying taxes without legit immigration status I imagine the IRS is in no hurry to make this big group if taxpayers avoid paying tax to avoid deportation.
Hi Geoff,
I comment on here all the time… its very helpful site.
I want to know if you have come across anyone who has obtained a conventional loan for a investment property on an E-3? I know E-3 visa’s qualify for a FHA loan for a primary residence, but for an investment property i haven’t been able to find a lender.
Please advise if you know or anyone with experience in lending to E-3.
Reed
No idea, *but* non resident aliens (ie non green card holders) have all sorts of problems – basically your capacity to repay (time, life of loan/lease/other finance) is limited by the expiry of your visa. Some institutions will take an ‘intention to renew/continue’ letter from your employer as a sign you won’t be disappearing into thin air at the expiry of your visa, but getting a car lease etc is a big PITA on the E3 since the min term for most leases is 24 months & that’s the max lifespan of the E3.
Reed,
For our first house we were on E-3 and applied for conventional and FHA at the same time. Ultimately went for FHA through Chase, because it was much less of a downpayment requirement. Sadly it took 6 months to close because it was a short sale. For our 2nd house, we already had green cards. I’d advise you to go to a mortgage broker, because they will know which banks/lenders have what residency requirements. Most big realtors will have brokers they work with, so finding a realtor and seeing what recommendations they have is also a good starting point. I’d also recommend pulling your credit report to understand your position. A house loan will be tough without at least 2 years of clean history and multiple lines of credit in your name to prove credit worthiness.
Lee
Lee,
Thanks for that info. I am aware of the FHA loans, but the personal loan i am looking for is for a income property, In terms of my personal credit etc, its very good and i have 2xW2’s, which i know the banks require before looking at someone. I have reached out to both Wells Fargo and BOA. Wells Fargo said that they do loans for investment properties for E-1/2 but not E-3, which is very strange, BOA said it was too small a loan amount.
If you hear of anything in your network of people please let me know. I would also consider hard money lender with the right interest rate and a few points down.
Cheers
Reed
Reed,
I’d say definitely go to a broker. They will tell you straight up among all the banks and other lenders, which might be able to accommodate your situation. We spoke to WFB when we were on E-3 and they said no to us as well, but that is who we have our mortgage with now. I hadn’t seen the 2 X W2s as being as much of an issue, because we were able to borrow enough just considering my W2 without having to involve my wife given she was pregnant at the time. Having sufficient money for downpayment and closing costs is far more important.
Lee
Thanks Lee,
I will try a mortgage broker. The 2xw2’s was something i was told by BoA when i first moved to the US; they wanted to see two years of taxes. You are right in terms of income, enough for down payment etc. That’s very interesting that your loan is now with WFB but they initially denied you..
I was told but an underwriter its a Fannie and Freddie requirement that they can;t lend to an E-3 visa holders at that particular bank (first Niagara), however i can’t find any specific wording on their site about E-3’s, which makes me think that each bank has their own requirements for lending to ppl on visa,
Thanks again for the advice.
Reed
I misunderstood what you meant by 2 X W2s. Your credit will be virtually non existent prior to that 2 year mark, so yes you are probably right that most will require 2 years of history.
The challenge with E-3s and banks, is most will have no idea what an E-3 is and will default to no, as that is the easiest, lowest risk answer for them.
Good luck.
I am looking at setting up a food truck in the USA. It will be fully funded and setup with all the requirements, permits etc….
I do not have any Degrees or Formal Training of any sorts only work and life experience and Passion.
My Questions are, in regards to the LLC Board Members and/or Shareholders and Employing Myself.
Can they (Shareholders/Board) be people who are currently on an E3 Visa in the USA?
Do they have to reside in the USA only?
Do they (Board/Shareholders) require a fee, dividend or Salary?
Will there be many issues in relation to the LLC I create, hiring me as the only employee at the start up, as I cannot provide any P/L for this new Venture how can I provide proof that this business will generate enough P/L to pay me the Level 1 Salary as per Department of Labor, FLC. 11-9051.00 – Food Service Managers
Thank You.
Hi Denno, I am in a similar position. Did you end up getting the visa and setting up your business? I’d love to hear your story. Thanks!
Hi Geoff,
I just wanted to say Big Thank You for all the hard work you have done by providing the information on E3 Visas.
Here is a quick question:
We recently moved into our own house, just on the same day of my home loan settlement I was notified about my redundancy (October ’13) & my wife has also lost her job in December ’13 😦 , since then we couldn’t find a decent job. So we have decided to move to US & one of the company is willing to sponsor for E3 & they are about to file LCA in weeks’ time.
Now we seriously considering to sell our house as it is financially cumbersome, does this have any impact during the interview with US consulate…. Also I am not an Australian by birth & I don’t have any family in here..I also have an investment property which I’m planning to hold to it for now.
Once again many thanks for your help.
Thanks
The first rule with the E-3 interview, is only answer the questions you are asked. The consulate has no way of knowing you have sold your house and it is unlikelt to come up. The standard 4 questions each time I’ve visited the consulate have been:
1. What company are you working for?
2. What do they do?
3. What will you be doing for them?
4. What makes you qualified to do this job?
5. Will your wife be working?
The last one is the only sort of trick question. The answer is that your wife intends to work, once she gets the appropriate work authorization.
Not once have I been asked about ties to Australia, but I would think still owning an investment property in the country is a pretty good indication of ties.
Hi Geoff,
I am applying for E3 Visa where my US office in Houston have provided the LCA. My question is I didn’t complete my degree but have had13 years experience in this specialised role. What documents will I require to show that…reference letters from past employers showing dates when I was employed and outlining job requirements during that time…..am a bit nervous about the interview.
I’ve been told that Trustforte USA is a good place to get your equivalency paperwork organized. If you want to DIY, this was my friend’s experience: ” When I went I took a spreadsheet that showed I had done 6 years worth of contracting (normal work week) in 4 years along with 4-5 reference letters to prove equivalency of a 3 year computer science degree.” 13 years is clearly well beyond the 10 year mark, so I think having resume style evidence (showing that those 13 years were specialist industry experience years, not Burger King) along with a couple of reference letters from smart people with impressive titles will do just fine.
Hi Geoff,
I wish I had read your post before I went through the whole process. However, I didn’t find it all that difficult. I already had a job offer.
I do however have a question for you. I am looking to renew my E3 ViSA as it runs out in October 2014. Do you happen to know how I can renew it, whilst still in the states? Will I need to leave the states?
Any advice would be fantastic!
Many thanks,
Marija (pronounced Maria)
Hi Maria,
I’ve always renewed by leaving the country – I believe it might be possible to do it now from within the US but I don’t know off hand.
Geoff
It is possible to renew from within the US – I looked into this last year. The problem is that the processing time is 3 – 4 months (which I didn’t have at the time), and the E-3 is not eligible for the expensive (sorry, I meant expedited) processing that is you can get with other visas like the H-1B.
Thanks for the clarification Steve; does it mean changing your status via USCIS and basically being a prisoner and unable to get back in if you leave while they’re doing their decision?
Oh, ok. Thanks! Did you actually go back to Australia?
Yeah, I’ve still got two thirds of my team in AU and mum likes it when I visit so heading back wasn’t a problem. There appeared to be a part in the E3 renewal process where you could say you were with the same employer in the same role and then go down a path which looks like petitioning for a temporary change in status with USCIS; I know people who’ve done this when transitioning to a green card (instead of going back to home country and visiting the US consulate there) but I’m told the process is slower (a number of months) and during that period if you leave the US for any reason you can’t come back in (so hope you don’t need to travel for work or you don’t need to make an emergency trip to see a sick loved on outside the US).
Given how easy it is to fly to Mexico or Canada to do it, I’d def recommend that path. See Lee’s great blog on the renewal process in Mexico City: http://www.limaechoecho.com/2011/11/e-3-visa-renewal-in-mexico-city.html
Thanks for all the help. Very much appreciated! 🙂
Yep – caught up with friends and family while waiting out the processing time
Thanks! Btw – do you know of anyone that has actually renewed whilst in the US?
Marija,
I know a few that have done this process http://canberra.usembassy.gov/nonimmigrant-visas/renewing-a-visa.html, but it basically involves sending a passport to a family member or friend in Australia and having them send the paper work in as if you were in Australia. Highly advise against this path, because if they reject you and ask you to show up for an interview, you are basically screwed and they will know that you have lied.
My understanding is that even if doing the in country renewal, as well as the 3-4 months wait, you are still required a trip to a consulate to get a new visa and new I-94.
Lee
I’ve been here for 7 years on an E3. I’ve renewed internally twice (2008 and 2010) and flown to Canada once (2012). Honestly, even though you can renew internally, it’s worth going to Canada. The renewal process is simple, there’s no true petition – you fill out the first two pages of the I-129 form, and put ‘N/A – E-3 renewal’ in the petition box(es). Finding out that process was fairly laborious, but it works just fine. If your visa expires in October, you should apply for the LCA as soon as you can (April) and then submit the renewal as soon as you can (also April). I waited until fairly late on the first one (2 months until visa expiry) and I did not receive a renewal approval until late October (my visa expires in mid-October). I read up and spoke with the USCIS and they said that while I had a pending renewal application that my status remained active – so I was technically still able to work and live in the US. They will send you a new I-94 through the post, so you don’t have to leave the country. But it was a stressful time, and even though your status is now extended for a couple more years, the actual visa travel document is not. If you can, go to Canada. It’s quicker and you get the travel document.
Also, if you get a promotion (or your job changes somehow and it’s under a different LCA prevailing wage category, even though you’re still employed by the same company) you need to get a new visa. You can’t renew to a different position, because your LCA has changed, and thus your visa needs to change. I tried to renew in 2012 and found that out the hard way. It was an interesting time 🙂 I flew to Canada and got a new visa (which was a breeze) and then cancelled my renewal.
Nathan – I have questions.. This is Marija, had to change profiles and missed your post. I just lost my job and am currently looking for a new one. Should I start the renewal process now, or should I wait until I have a new job offer? As per my previous post, my VISA ends in Oct this year.
I will definitely renew in Canada. How long does the process take in Canada? Also does my new company have to fill out the LCA? Will I have to fill out the DS-160 again? Sorry, this may seem quite obvious and I assume that I would have to do this with every new employer. Just wanted to confirm with someone that may have experience with this.
Thanks in advance 🙂
Mia,
You can’t start the renewal process now. Yes you need a new LCA. You can not get an LCA until you have a job offer. Yes you have to fill out a new DS-160. You can’t fill out the DS-160 until you have an LCA. You are for all intents and purposes getting a completely new E-3, even though it is referred to as renewal.
My blog post covers the process I took to renew in Mexico. http://www.limaechoecho.com/2011/11/e-3-visa-renewal-in-mexico-city.html. Logically the same steps that need to be followed in Canada. You will need to know this process inside and out, because you are going to have to convince an employer that this is a super simple visa to get and that they shouldn’t have any concerns hiring you.
So if hypothetically you had a job offer today, you could do all the paperwork and have a new visa in less than 2 weeks. The biggest variable is the time to get an appointment in Canada. Can be as little as 1-2 days. If they are busy, it can be much more than that. This is what drove me towards renewal in Mexico.
Lee
Great! Thank you for the advice. Much appreciated!
Oh.. Nathan – where in Canada did you go to get the renewal?
Mia,
I went to Montreal. I’ve looked at the wait times online and today they have a 1 day wait time on an interview, and a 1 day turnaround on the visa. You can pick it up from the consulate, so don’t be concerned about them having to mail it somewhere (which I think you have to set up when you fill in the application). I stayed in a hotel within 15 minutes walking distance of the consulate, but could have found somewhere cheaper and closer I think 🙂 There are other cities which have short wait times (like Halifax) but I don’t have experience there.
Wait times can be found here: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/wait-times.html
Consulates can be found here: https://usvisa-info.com/en-ca/selfservice/us_consulate_information
Nathan