Adding Ireland to E-3 Nonimmigrant Visa Program

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2877) to add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 2877

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) Application Allocation.--Paragraph (11) of section 214(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(11)) is amended to read as follows:

``(11)(A) The Secretary of State may approve initial applications submitted for aliens described in section 101(a)(15)(E)(iii) only as follows:

``(i) For applicants who are nationals of the Commonwealth of Australia, not more than 10,500 for a fiscal year.

``(ii) For applicants who are nationals of Ireland, not more than a number equal to the difference between 10,500 and the number of applications approved in the prior fiscal year for aliens who are nationals of the Commonwealth of Australia.

``(B) The approval of an application described under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be deemed for numerical control purposes to have occurred on September 30 of the prior fiscal year.

``(C) The numerical limitation under subparagraph (A) shall only apply to principal aliens and not to the spouses or children of such aliens.''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2877, a bill to add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program.

In 2005, soon after the United States and Australia finalized the Australia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, Congress created the E-3 visa program. That program provides up to 10,500 temporary visas for Australian nationals who are pre-approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to work in a specialty occupation for a sponsoring United States employer.

A specialty occupation is one that requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering, and research and development in emerging technologies. Since the program's inception, Australia has only ever used a fraction of the 10,500 E-3 visas that are available each year. For example, in fiscal year 2019, only 5,800 E-3 visas were issued to Australian nationals.

H.R. 2877 does not increase the number of visas that may be issued, but instead allows Irish nationals to use any unused visas. That bill would take the number of E-3 visas that are left unused by Australia in a given fiscal year and make that same number of visas available to Irish nationals the following fiscal year.

This is a commonsense bill that recognizes the important bond we share with two of our country's closest and most steadfast allies. This bill is not controversial, and, in fact, passed the House by voice vote in 2018 when my Republican colleagues held the majority in this Chamber.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my friend, Mr. Neal, chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, for continuing to champion this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2877, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I would urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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