timbat

On the US Consulate site for Canberra, it says "All visa applicants must appear at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy abroad to apply, and first time E3 visa applicants will need to apply in Australia."

Is the part in bold the case ? I know waiting times in Sydney are 1 day which is far shorter than Vancouver, which is listed at 15 days.

As a first time applicant, must I return to Australia to apply ?

ian-mstm

Did you look at the responses you received in your initial post a few weeks ago?

Ian

kaimmy

Hi all,

My husband and I are coming to the states for a 3 month holiday and also for him to hopefully find work. My question is if we are to stay our 90days in the US and then head to Canada for a few weeks after to apply for E3 visas (provided we have found work) are we likely to run into problems?
Ive heard the 90days includes visits to Canada - just wanting confirmation or if someone can let us know if in Canada outside of these 90days if we can apply for E3 visa without dramas?

Thanks

ian-mstm

You can apply for an E-3 visa at any time you want... even while you're in the US. I'm not sure of the logic behind going to Canada to apply for an E-3.

Ian

kaimmy

Sorry Ian I did mean go to Canada for our visa appointment..

retzie

Am I missing something? This post makes no sense to me

Apart from the oft cited "a visa is an entry document and can only be obtained at a consulate outside the United States", it appears that kaimmy and husband will be in the US on the VWP, which rules out change of status (COS). Even if they were to be present on a visa like a B-2, COS to E-3 involves an I-129 petition, anulling half the benefit of an E-3 in the first place (adding time, lawyers, and $$$). If they are indeed job-hunting on the VWP, their only option is to exit and apply for an E-3 visa at consul.

Also, from reports in this thread, it looks like Canadian consulates are no longer willing to process initial E-3 applications. Obviously, you can (and should) check directly with individual consulates, but one should certainly not proceed on the assumption that you will be able to get an E-3 in Canada.

kaimmy, to address your question about 90 days directly: after a stay on the Visa Waiver Program, your 90 day clock is NOT reset by departing to 'contiguous territories', eg. Canada, Mexico. This means that if you have already run down your 90 days, you can't expect to be readmitted to the US. Now, I know you are planning to re-enter on a visa BUT where this makes a difference is why would Canada admit you at all? As far as they are concerned, you would be trying to enter Canada, with no means of departing again - what happens if your US visa is denied? Unless you have an onward ticket booked to somewhere other than the US, you may have difficulty even entering Canada.

Taking all of the above into account, I suggest you plan to return to Australia to have any E-3/E-3D processed. Although, you may want to read back through this thread for reports of E-3 processing at consulates further afield than Canada, but closer than Oz, eg. Barbados.

ian-mstm

Yes... it's the difference between applying for a visa and actually getting a visa. You can't get a visa while you're in the US, but you can certainly apply for one to a US Consulate abroad. I apologize - I should have been more clear in my initial comment.


I know that there was a time earlier this year when E-3 application were strongly discouraged in Canada, but I don't recall seeing where they had actively stopped processing E-3 applications and were now refusing to process them.


Agreed. As with all things: caveat emptor.

Ian

kaimmy

Thankyou!! Extremely helpful I didn't consider that we could run into trouble trying to get into Canada. We do actually have a return flight out of the US back to Aus that we purchased if things didn't work out / so we didn't raise alarms bells on arrival to the states.

One last question- would we be better off trying to obtain a b2 visa before we go to travel on rather than the visa waiver to give us more time ensuring the above doesn't happen. Are you allowed to look for work whilst traveling on a b2? And can you change from b2 status to e3 (obv at an outside consulate) without any problems ?

ian-mstm

No - indeed, you might well find yourself unable to travel at all if the B-2 is denied... which it routinely is for those who are eligible for the VWP.


Yes - but don't say anything about it to the CBP officer - or you'll find yourself being escorted to a flight back home. On a B-2 visa (or the VWP, for that matter) you can look for work, go on job interviews, and even verbally accept employment - but you can not, under any circumstances, sign any papers to that effect.


You wouldn't be changing status... you'd simply be getting a new visa in your passport.

That said, you can change status from B-2 to E-3 while you're inside the US if you like... but I don't necessarily recommend it. Can it be done? Yes. Should it be done? Well... that depends - and there are too many variables.

Ian

yogibear14

This has probably been answered, but is the E-3 visa a full-page vignette in the passport (meaning I require a full page free in my passport), or is it a card?

Thanks

docnetau

It's a full-page sticker.

aokashi

Did anyone else follow the 2005 thread all the way to here?

So I went for my visa interview today, he asked a few questions, who my employer will be, what i will do, and my field of study. Unfortunately, this is the first time my company is hiring someone on a E3 and forwarded he LCA form to me without signing it. I also did not check the LCA form to see if anything was missing. I also assumed that as long as the PDF sent to me was the original, that's all I needed. Stupid error on both our parts.

I ended up getting the dreaded 221(g) refusal letter asking for the LCA to be emailed to the consulate.

I guess my questions are
1. has anyone else had this happen to them? ie. missing documents...
2. The guy who interviewed me kidnapped my passport, what does this mean?
3. I've read the administrative proccess can take up to 90 days, will my passport be held captive until then?
4. And if (IF) I can afford it, would it be faster for me to reapply and bring the signed LCA form in person? My Job starts at October 1st, and I really hoped to make it there by then

augigi

I would have your employer overnight the signed one to you to take to the consulate.

retzie

If they specifically asked for it to be emailed, I would have the (signed!) version emailed to whatever address they specified ASAP. The fact they took your passport can be seen as encouraging - as soon as they get the email, they will have it ready for processing. If you still had it, there'd be an extra step of needing to send it in.

October is still a way off. I'd hold off panicking until at least a week after the email has been sent

aokashi

Thanks for the words of encouragement
I've sent the signed LCA off and got a confirmation that they recieved it., hopefully they'll get back to me soon! Alas, The price of plane tickets rises day by day...

Another question, I studied in the USA and recieved 3 student visa previously. Usually when the consulate approves my visa, I have to pay an approval(?) fee. How does this work with the administrative processing if the visa is apporoved?

thanks for the speedy replys I've been looking for info about this all over the interweb.

edit: .... I've been back reading some of the other 100 pages in this thread, and it seems like the job offer is something everyone shows. Should I find it strange that the interviewer never asked to see my job offer letter?