US Immigration Reform 2013: E-3 Visas for Ireland & South Korea, ESTA for Poland & 8 Month Tourist Visas For Canadians

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In the US Immigration Reform 2013 bill submitted in April to the US Senate, there are actually a few provisions hidden in the fine details of the bill that most people, including me, missed. Essentially these are new special immigration rules specific to certain countries to address supposed inequities in the law as stated by Gang of Eight co-sponsor, Senator Charles Schummer of NY.

The reality of these country specific immigration reforms is that they are the result of heavy lobbying from local ethno-centric interest groups and foreign governments on behalf of their citizens. For example the lobbying effort for an E-3 visa for Irish citizens similar to the E-3 visa for Australian citizens has been going on pretty much since 2005 when the Australian version was introduced and in reality in some form since 1990 when a previous amnesty of sorts (often known as the Morrison visa) when a one-off change gave a visa to over 40,000 Irish citizens in the US.

Current estimates state their are probably 55,000 illegal Irish immigrants in the US but these are rarely mentioned in the press and not considered high priority anywhere in US Government or society for demonization because of the long Irish connection of immigration to the US dating back to the 1800s mainly. Cities like Boston, Chicago and NY are well known for their huge Irish ancestry, large St. Patrick’s Day Parades, identification in law enforcement like the BPD & NYPD and major US figures like President John F. Kennedy.

The four country specific changes proposed in the original version of the bill now being scrutinized particularly on the Republican side of the Senate for Canada, South Korea, Ireland and Poland are;

1. E-3 Visa for Irish citizens with a quota of 10,500 (exactly the same as E-3 Visa currently for Australians)

2. Polish Citizens to no longer need a tourist visa like the B-1 and be on the Visa Waiver list with the ESTA

3. Canadian Citizens over the age of 55 who do no intend to work in US be allowed to stay for up to 240 Days consecutively (up from current 180 day level)

4. E-3 type visa for South Korean citizens with a quote of 5,000 given their similar free-trade agreement with US in 2011 (an original separate bill was proposed earlier with a quota of 15,000)

It will be interesting to see if in whole or part if Immigration Reform passes whether these minor parts of the legislation are allowed to stand.

Cj

Location of Foreign H-1B, E-3 & Green Card Workers

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The office of Foreign Labor Certification is part of the US Department of Labor and the source a good proportion of Employers use when sponsoring Green Card PERM Applications under EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 or non-immigrant visas like H-1B, E-3 and H-2B. This is for the purposes of the Prevailing Wage portion of the application which specifies the role under which the foreign is being considered and that it meets all necessary requirements. The data covers the full year of 2011.

Now while this is not the only official source for Prevailing Wage determination it is a significant source and thus provides great direction data as to where in the US and what types of classifications are most popular. Thus you can see where most foreigners are working around the US (and potentially what areas are most conducive and/or competitive for foreigners to work for US visa employer sponsors) as well as what classifications are most popular.

Below is a full table and we will highlight some of the major points to note in summary. It is important to note as to why you see far more Green Card certifications below (i.e. PERM) vs. H-1B or E-3 work visa certification requests is because the annual cap quotas on work visa are far more restrictive and the Green Card certification can be done at any time, however in most cases under current law it will be many, many years before the foreigner is eligible.

  • California has 21% of all foreign workers and 24% of the Green Card Applicants
  • Texas has the most non-immmigrant workers under H-1B and E-3 visa
  • The Top 5 States (CA, NY, TX, NJ, FL) have about 50% of all foreign workers
  • New Jersey is only the 11st biggest state by population in US but had 4th most foreign works
  • Puerto Rico, a US territory, has more foreign works than 4 actual US States (MT, HI, AK, WY)
STATE Total PERM H-1B/E3 H-2B
All 97,541 80,041 12,879 4,621
California 19,774 18,563 1,076 135
New York 8,912 7,933 652 327
Texas 8,491 6,967 1,079 445
New Jersey 6,279 5,933 197 149
Florida 4,908 3,567 919 422
Illinois 4,693 3,632 1,014 47
Washington 3,863 3,550 273 40
Virginia 3,719 3,226 359 134
Massachusetts 3,614 2,886 378 350
Georgia 2,929 2,372 508 49
Michigan 2,859 2,185 557 117
Maryland 2,729 1,855 750 124
Pennsylvania 2,547 2,094 254 199
North Carolina 1,981 1,275 588 118
Ohio 1,850 1,451 316 83
Connecticut 1,433 1,020 379 34
Arizona 1,303 950 260 93
Indiana 1,064 633 405 26
Colorado 970 703 107 160
Missouri 936 654 193 89
Minnesota 875 713 124 38
Wisconsin 791 569 210 12
DC 770 630 137 3
Kansas 710 349 332 29
Tennessee 686 492 172 22
Oregon 683 551 122 10
Louisiana 645 332 102 211
Delaware 567 508 19 40
South Carolina 558 356 131 71
Alabama 549 350 130 69
Kentucky 492 328 86 78
Iowa 480 388 74 18
Utah 409 261 65 83
Oklahoma 389 298 26 65
Arkansas 370 268 68 34
Mississippi 342 133 161 48
Idaho 329 121 162 46
Maine 298 88 23 187
Nevada 291 240 39 12
Vermont 280 254 1 25
Nebraska 266 215 29 22
New Hampshire 250 192 29 29
New Mexico 236 172 43 21
South Dakota 218 65 66 87
North Dakota 202 105 59 38
West Virginia 181 111 59 11
Rhode Island 165 133 9 23
Puerto Rico 137 82 50 5
Hawaii 114 97 15 2
Alaska 98 37 11 50
Wyoming 98 32 14 52
Montana 78 33 17 28
Guam 76 73 3 0
Nthn Mariana Isl. 45 9 26 10
Virgin Islands 9 7 1 1