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Home Page > News > New move means Irish E3 visa bill now likely to pass senate

New move means Irish E3 visa bill now likely to pass senate

‘No reason not to pass this bill’ -- Senator Chuck Schumer

NIALL O'DOWD,

IrishCentral Founder

Published Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 7:23 AM

Updated Friday, February 10, 2012, 4:22 PM

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Senator Chuck Schumer

Photo by ILIR

The prospects of passage for an E-3 visa bill allowing up to 10,000 Irish a year to come and work permanently in the U.S. have increased dramatically this week.

On Tuesday New York Senator Charles Schumer hotlined the bill in the Senate, meaning that he is seeking unanimous consent for its passage.

The bill, known informally as the Schumer/Leahy/Durbin bill, is attached to other legislation which would allow more skilled hi-tech workers from China, India and Mexico into the U.S.

In its original form, without the Irish component, the hi-tech bill passed the House 319-14, with Silicon Valley companies in particular playing a major lobbying role.

However, when that bill came to the Senate, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa placed a hold on it. The Irish lobby then became involved, demanding an Irish E-3 bill.

Reacting to that, Schumer introduced the Irish amendment which would allow the E-3 visas.
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E-3s are temporary work visas that allow individuals or married couples to come to U.S. with a job offer and work legally for two years at a time. The visa is indefinitely renewable.

Fifty-three U.S. senators, all Democrats, signed up to support it, while it is believed that up to eight Republican senators are now also in favor.

The bill hotlined on Tuesday has removed the automatic waiver for those who are undocumented. But former Congressman Bruce Morrison, who is the chief lobbyist on the Irish side, stated that discretionary waivers could still be achieved even under the current law.

Morrison rated chances for passage of the current bill as “better than 50/50,” but stated chances were “very good” for an overall or revised bill at some point.

Attention now switches to the Republicans in the Senate, where up to eight senators led by Scott Brown of Massachusetts have indicated that they are in favor of the bill, which would give it a filibuster-proof majority.

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Mamba11 | Feb 09, 2012, 07:10 PM EST

I would like to remind everybody that because quota does not change, allowing more immigrants from India, China, and Mexico means allowing LESS immigrants from other countries, including Ireland. Is this what we really want?

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rohitsh | Feb 02, 2012, 04:53 PM EST

You guys just killed H.R.3012. It is so sad, we are living in US for decades now, we are legal, employed but can't get green card because lot of people from my country applied. H.R.3012 is to remove that discrimination, it is about fairness. There is no reason, why my collegue from Egypt should get his green card before me. But sorry folks you killed our hope. HR3012 should have been left alone, you should have looked for other vehicle. Why did you kill 3012 ?

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GirlDoc | Feb 02, 2012, 10:36 AM EST

My husband and I left Ireland seven years ago, and came to Canada, where my sister and her husband had been living for three years before us. Our brother Liam chose to go to the U.S.. We live in Toronto which is a beautiful city, we've both got great jobs, and have a beautiful home in a clean and safe neighbourhood. Forget the U.S. I say. Speaking from experience I can say that university professors and teachers in Canada are paid more than they are in the U.S., and even the minimum wage here is higher than it is in the U.S.. Canada is happily welcoming Irish. Our brother Liam is thinking of joining us as the job he emigrated for has turned out to be not so great as he thought. Now he's stuck because he and his wife live in a place where the value of their house has dropped so far they'd can't sell it without taking a big loss.

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rohitsh | Feb 01, 2012, 10:24 PM EST

Mr. NIALL O'DOWD, I'm sure you did enough reseach before writing this article. You mentioning 'The bill, known informally as the Schumer/Leahy/Durbin bill, is attached to other legislation which would allow more skilled hi-tech workers from China, India and Mexico into the U.S', is highly deplorable. HR3012 is about elimination of country limits, which would create a first in and first out system. We are people living in US for decades, but are not getting green cards because of country limits, while people from other countries are getting it in time. There is no new green cards added. No new people are brought in.

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hollabackgurl | Feb 01, 2012, 09:12 PM EST

Ireland is a tax haven and a cash bonanza for the biggest corporations from America. They profit at astronomical rates from the Irish nation. Why shouldn't the Irish expect some payback?

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Monsoonman | Feb 01, 2012, 11:48 AM EST

I say no more bills passed in the senate by media whores like Schumer, until they do the job they are getting paid for: passing a budget. The US has been without a budget for over 3 years because of cowards like Schumer and the rest of the spineless jellyfish in Washington. The govt needs to grind to a halt until they pass a budget. The $ printing presses need to be shut down until a budget is passed. Paychecks for politicians need to cease until a budget is passed.

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KittyMurphy | Feb 01, 2012, 11:40 AM EST

@irishcoffeekid I take your point but this will be far easier and likely less expensive than H1B visa ($6,000) and seems to me that it would be more like a J1 / some other kind of work visa. Also this bill is a massive step forward as it will allow for a future flow of Irish immigration into the United States. Something that hasn't been possible, legally, for most people since 1965.

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irishcoffeekid | Feb 01, 2012, 10:27 AM EST

The important thing that people need to note, if i'm reading this article correctly is YOU MUST HAVE A JOB OFFER! So it needs to be clear that its not simply a case of applying to get the E3, you have to have a job offer to qualify for the E3 - in some ways it doesnt make it any easier as thats the issue a lot of my friends have already. Without the job offer you can't come and in order for a US company to offer you the job, they first have to prove that they cannot find the same skills in their own State, in neighboring states and across the United States (which is extremely rare to prove anymore given how many IT people are out of work in the USA). Its a great bill but its not going to solve the problem that so many Irish people want to come to the USA. Australia will still get more because the law requires so much work and evidence that there is no US employee for the position here before they can offer it to anyone from Ireland or elsewhere!

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donal1951 | Feb 01, 2012, 09:55 AM EST

I am delighted to see this amendment. Certainly qualified Irish men and women have as much to offer the United States as skilled workers from India, China and Mexico. Speaking of Indian physicians, I had a young woman from India who was my pulmonologist. The woman was a genius and medical care in Maine would have been poorer had she not been allowed to immigrate under a visa that allowed her to serve medically underserved areas. I suspect Irish doctors, if they had her diagnostic skills, could make an equally important contribution.

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