Hi All,

Hopefully someone can enlighten me. My partner works for a world wide company and are based in Australia at the moment. We are both eligible for the E3 and E3D visa which allow us to work for 2 years in the USA. However, as my spouses company is world wide there are lots of vacancies advertised for the USA which he is qualified for.
If he transferred to one of the position which visa would he be eligible for and would I be eligible to work in the USA also.

Would a transfer with your company give you automatic residency status or is this after a period of time.

Your replies are most welcomed.

A company transfer would be an L1 visa. You would get an L2, which allows you to apply for work authorization after you arrive in the USA.

US Permanent Residency is not automatic. The company has to be willing to apply for that for you. So if this is your goal, get it in writing from the company, with a specific date they will apply for your green cards. If you don't get a date in writing, the company can drag their feet so long that you'll have to go home before they've started the process.

Rene

But in truth you can't force the company to apply for green cards even if it has been put in writing, and given that people can be transferred out of the US as easily as they can be transferred in, or the visa can be cancelled because of a change in circumstances (one case on BE involved the head office being sold, so there was no office to be transferred from, and something similar can happen if the US end of the operation is sold) there is really very little certainty that green cards will be applied for just because they have been promised.

Very true.

Rene

Hi Rene & Pulaski

Thank you very much for your quick and very helpful replies.

Rene, thanks a million, I just wanted to know if I could work on a transfer visa, it is great to know that I can.

Just make sure ahead of time that it will in fact be an L1 visa. It probably will be, but there are other visas where the spouse is not allowed to work.

- Eric S.

Thanks Eric, We will check which visa they apply for.