Title: To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program.
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
This bill expands the E-3 visa program to cover Irish nationals. Currently, the E-3 visa is only available to Australian nationals.
The employer of an Irish national under the program shall file an attestation with the Department of Labor. The employer shall participate in the E-Verify program during the duration of the applicant's authorized employment period.
For each fiscal year, the Department of State may approve 10,500 Irish E-3 initial applications minus the number of Australian E-3 initial applications approved the previous fiscal year. The total number of approved E-3 initial applications shall not exceed 21,000 in any two fiscal years. Currently, the State Department may approve up to 10,500 initial applications each fiscal year under the program.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7164 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7164

          To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 20, 2018

 Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself and Mr. Neal) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
          To add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. E-3 VISAS FOR IRISH NATIONALS.

    (a) In General.--Section 101(a)(15)(E)(iii) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(E)(iii)) is amended by inserting 
``or, on a basis of reciprocity as determined by the Secretary of 
State, a national of Ireland,'' after ``Australia''.
    (b) Employer Requirements.--Section 212 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating the second subsection (t) (as added by 
        section 1(b)(2)(B) of Public Law 108-449 (118 Stat. 3470)) as 
        subsection (u); and
            (2) by adding at the end of subsection (t)(1) (as added by 
        section 402(b)(2) of Public Law 108-77 (117 Stat. 941)) the 
        following:
            ``(E) In the case of an attestation filed with respect to a 
        national of Ireland described in section 101(a)(15)(E)(iii), 
        the employer is, and will remain during the period of 
        authorized employment of such Irish national, a participant in 
        good standing in the E-Verify program described in section 
        403(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 
        Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note).''.
    (c) Visa Allocation.--Section 214(g)(11) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(11)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``The Secretary of 
        State may not approve a number of initial applications'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in subparagraph (D), the 
        Secretary of State may not approve a number of initial 
        applications''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D)(i) Subject to the limitation in clause (ii), 
                the Secretary may approve initial applications 
                submitted for aliens described in section 
                101(a)(15)(E)(iii) for a fiscal year who are nationals 
                of Ireland only in a number equal to the difference 
                between 10,500 and the number of applications approved 
                in a prior fiscal year for aliens who are nationals of 
                the Commonwealth of Australia.
                    ``(ii) In no event may any application be approved 
                such that the total number of initial applications 
                approved in the period beginning on the first day of 
                the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year 
                for which the application is made would be 21,000 or 
                more.''.
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