M0zza

I am in quite a niche profession and am currently in some quite promising talks regarding job opportunities in US. I am British by birth but have an Australian passport so we are considernig the E3 route. My wife is also British with Australian passport and she would prefer to work.

We are both completely comfortable with this being a short term arrangement, say a few years or so, but we are wondering if we should fall in love with the US do we definitely have no path to stay. Current understanding is no, which we are ok with too. We are pretty happy with a short term adventure.

Pulaski

Just because you're on an E-3 there is nothing to stop your employer filing for a green card for you. You should probably have this conversation with your employer ahead of time and consider stipulating it in your agreement that they will commence the process after x months. In the US there is little to stop your employer firing you, so the agreement is far from certain to put you on the path to a green card, but it is better than nothing and gives you some basis to expect help in getting a green card.

scrubbedexpat099

Can our wife get a E3?

Pulaski

What's that in English?

M0zza

Thanks Pulaski for your response, that is very interesting. We are not looking for permanent residency but we would like to get it if we want it.

We thought if we applied for an E3 visa we had to demonstrate we were only interested in temporary residency. Is that not the case then?

Thanks again.

scrubbedexpat099

Down to Your Employer if they wish to sponsor you for a GC that would allow you to stay long term unconnected to them

Pulaski

Aside from the philosophical issue of how to prove a negative (you can't), it is perfectly possible to demonstrate ties outside the US such that the visa is "proved" to be temporary, while negotiating with your prospective employer about a longer term arrangement.

Remember an E-3 is just an H-1B reserved for Australians, and lots of H-1B's become permanent residents.

M0zza

We are currently in the process of selling our house, purely because we are tired of it. Is this going to make proving ties difficult? We don't have any ties to Australia, we are more tied to the UK having lived here longer and having family here.