In the News

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, and Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly want to open a visa program that allows skilled Australians to work in the United States to include people from Ireland

Neal and Kelly introduced their legislation Tuesday. Neal is chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee that has jurisdiction over trade policy.

The E-3 program makes 10,500 visas a year available to skilled Australians. It was introduced in 2005 as part of the U.S. – Australian trade agreement.

This bill would enable qualified Irish workers to access the unused Australian E-3 visas.

According to the Immigrationand Naturalization service, the E-3 program requires highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty. It[s a non-immigrant visa program that gives an initial two-year period of stay and allows for unlimited two-year extensions.

In exchange, Ireland intends to provide Americans expanded access to work visas in Ireland.

“The E-3 visas, combined with these reciprocal arrangements, would provide welcome and long overdue movement of citizens between Ireland and the United States in both directions, which is so important to Irish America, the U.S., and Ireland,” Neal said in a news release .

“With generations of Irish Americans contributing to our country including helping to build and shape my home state of Pennsylvania, it is deeply important to me that we continue to reaffirm the strong relationship between our people and countries,” said Kelly said in a news release. “Recognizing the numerous contributions Irish-Americans have made to the educational, political, and cultural life of America, it is important that we honor their many contributions and continue to support the unique relationship between our shared history and people. I’m glad to join Congressman Richard Neal, Co-Chair of the Friends of Ireland, to ensure this strong relationship continues for the next generation of Americans.”

Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, have identical legislation in the Senate.

In a news release issued in March, timed for St. Patrick’s Day, Toomey and Durbin said a Neal-led bill passed the House of Representatives last Congress by voice vote. But that measure wasn’t voted on in the Senate.