Not too long ago, Lizzie B. created a wonderful chart highlighting some alternatives to the H-1B. In that post she covered the basics of the E-3: that it is for Australian citizens who are coming to the US to work in a professional job, that it is issued in two-year increments and that the Australian national must be getting paid a salary that is in line with what the Department of Labor (DOL) deems appropriate for the position. The E-3 is one of the easiest US visas to obtain. It is a fast process since the application can be made straight at the US Embassy/Consulate, and does not require piles of documents. Some employers choose to do the application themselves, and while most of the time everything goes well, sometimes things can go awry. I thought it might be helpful to create a list of do's and don’ts for the E-3 application to help avoid denials if employers are filing these themselves:

DO...

✔ BE AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN
The beneficiary of the E-3 application must be an Australian citizen with an Australian passport. People who live in Australia without having acquired citizenship are not eligible. The spouse and children of the principal beneficiary need not necessarily be Australian citizens in order to get the E-3 dependent visa (E-3D).

After spending two decades as an undocumented immigrant, Venezuelan-born playwright Pablo Garcia (who overstayed his immigration status to be with his US-citizen husband Santiago Ortiz) has received his Green Card. The NY Daily News reports:

For most of their long relationship, Ortiz, 57, a retired school psychologist, was unable to sponsor Garcia — and being unable to leave the U.S. and return meant Garcia missed both of his parents’ funerals.
Their situation changed in June, when the Supreme Court struck down a federal law against gay marriage. Months later, some of the first same-sex New York City couples — including Garcia and Ortiz — have now been granted immigration benefits like permanent residency.

The article includes two other same-sex couples where one of the spouses has received a Green Card as a result of the DOMA repeal.

USCIS has a helpful Q&A regarding how the DOMA repeal applies to immigration cases. While the release states USCIS will work internally to identify and re-open cases (including the I-130 Petitions for Alien Relative, I-485 Adjustment of Status Applicants, and I-765 Employment Authorization Applications) denied solely based on DOMA section 3, it includes instructions for contacting USCIS to "alert" them of such cases. Importantly, the release notes: "For denials of I-130 petitions that occurred prior to February 23, 2011, you must notify USCIS by March 31, 2014, in order for USCIS to act on its own to reopen your I-130 petition."

USCIS also states regarding same-sex married couples who reside in a state where such a marriage is not recognized: "As a general matter, the law of the place where the marriage was celebrated determines whether the marriage is legally valid for immigration purposes...The domicile state’s laws and policies on same-sex marriages will not bear on whether USCIS will recognize a marriage as valid."