‘Fear and uncertainty’: Aussies caught up in US visa changes
Australian visa holders have been rocked by a sudden rule change that affect many expats. Here’s what it means.
Australians have been affected by the Trump administration’s sudden change to US visa rules after a surprise move by the State Department.
A large number of Australians on e3 visas in the US choose to have them renewed in consulates of countries near the US given the vast distance to travel back home to Australia.
These Australian visa holders were rocked by a directive of the US State Department on the weekend, which stated all applicants for non-immigrant visas to the US “should” schedule their interview appointments at the embassy or consulate in their country of nationality or residence.
Zjantelle Cammisa Markel, principal lawyer at Cammisa Markel Principal Attorney, is originally from Adelaide and has worked in the US for decades.
She said the sudden rule change had caused “fear and uncertainty” among Australians.
Ms Cammisa Markel was one of the first immigration lawyers to process an e3 visa when it was introduced in 2005.
She is now highly specialised in the field and often counsels other lawyers on difficult cases.
“The current administration is certainly implementing procedures to ensure every non immigrant visa application is vetted before they enter the US,” Ms Cammisa Markel said.
“This guidance that non immigrant visa applicants should apply for their visa in their country of nationality or residence has always actually been the guidance.
“It’s not directed specifically at e3 nationals or Australians, but given those on e3 do consular process their visas more than other nations, it certainly does impact them.
“I think it has caused a lot of fear and uncertainty amongst the Australian community over the last few days.”
Ms Cammisa Markel said despite the memo, some of her clients have had their visa interviews in consulates “approved on the spot”.
Those who went to appointments when the memo first came out had been asked to send their passports in — which is generally considered a positive sign.
“The wording is ‘should’ not ‘must’ or ‘shall’ which are definitive words. Given that and given other areas of law which requires consulate to assist, I did feel confident these visa applicants should get approved.” Ms Cammisa Markel said.
Ms Cammisa Markel said her clients interviewed over the last two days reported back they were asked the standard questions seen in e3 interviews about their employers and salaries.
She said she doubted Australians wanting to renew their visas in consulates of countries near America would be forced to attend appointments in Australia as it would be too onerous.
She said if you have attended an e3 renewal appointment and your online portal status is “refused”, it’s not time to panic yet.
“People who went yesterday (when the directive was first issued) have their status temporarily showing “refused” but it doesn’t mean it’s been denied,” she said.
Ms Cammisa Markel said while Australians can certainly go the e3 visa process alone, this was an example of why it’s advantageous to hire an immigration lawyer.
She has been keeping in touch with consulates and advising her clients which ones to book
She said a flow on effect of this directive is that Australian consulates are likely to be overwhelmed with demand with Christmas to be a peak time. She said while renewing a visa in December always takes longer than usual due to increased demand as Aussies head home to visit family and renew visas at the same time, she expects wait times to now blow out to up to a month to get visas back.
“Typically it takes a week, at Christmas we tell people to expect up to three weeks, but now you should absolutely expect a backlog of 3-4 weeks if you go to do your visa at Christmas.”
Ms Cammisa Markel said other factors outside the directive would impact the time it took Australians to get their e3 visas back.
These include that children under the age of 14 who were previously exempt from attending an appointment now must go with their parents.
Ms Cammisa Markel said she had just spoken to an Australian client who was relieved to hear their e3 visa was likely to be approved.
“He said ‘I just want to let you know my wife had a little cry yesterday she just was really scared of the news that’s out there’,” Ms Cammisa Markel said.
“The message I’d like to get out there is there’s always a way to work around this and the wording in the directive that came out wasn’t definitive and that allows the consulates to process these visas for third country nationals.
“This directive issued is casting a very wide net and yes, Australians got tangled up in the consequences and fear but I don’t think it was necessarily aimed at Australians.”
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Originally published as ‘Fear and uncertainty’: Aussies caught up in US visa changes
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