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Washington: Australians have been caught up in a sudden and chaotic change to US visa rules by the Trump administration that saw several people turned away from scheduled appointments before a change of heart.
The State Department issued a directive over the weekend stating 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.
The Trump administration has pursued stricter rules about who can come into the US and procedures around visa applications.Credit: Getty Images
For Australians in the US on a visa, such as the popular E3 work visa only available to Australians, it is common to travel to a nearby US embassy or consulate in Canada, the Bahamas or the United Kingdom for a renewal or extension appointment, rather than making the trip to Australia, where there are sometimes long waits.
But the new ruling appeared to nullify that practice. Immigration lawyer Jonathan Grode, who works with many Australians on visa matters as managing partner of Green & Spiegel, said embassy and consular staff found out about the directive at the same time as he did.
“Everybody woke up Monday and didn’t know what to make of it, and that’s what led to a lot of confusion,” he said.
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“They make these policy changes, and then it’s up to the officers to interpret them, and they have to do it quickly.”
Grode said he had five Australian clients who were in London to renew their US visas on Monday but were refused. However, “this morning they got called back, and they got to reapply”, he said on Tuesday.
The ABC spoke to an Australian woman on Monday who lives in the US on an E3 visa but was already in Europe for her renewal appointment, and feared she would have to go back to Australia and try to schedule one there.
Grode said part of the problem was the imprecise language in the directive, such as stipulating visa applicants “should” schedule their appointment in the country of their nationality, not that they must.
“That’s a big difference and there’s not really any guidance on that yet,” he said.
Thousands of Australians receive an E3 visa each year, which have no limit on extensions. But many prefer to do this at a closer embassy or consulate.Credit: Getty Images
“There are a lot of holes in the way that it has been presented. I do think this is pretty par for the course in this administration … they like the chaos.”
Grode will speak at an emergency webinar on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) with corporate talent agency Aussie Recruit. Founder Amy Meyer said in a video there was “quite a lot of confusion and uncertainty” attending the apparent procedure changes.
This masthead has sought more information from the State Department and from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs.
The E3 visa was made available to Australians in 2005 as a byproduct of the Australia-US free trade agreement under President George W. Bush. The visa is valid for two years, with unlimited extensions in most cases. Up to 10,500 visas can be issued each year, though in 2023 the total was about 4500.
The Trump administration has implemented stricter conditions on entry to the US and people’s visa applications.Credit: AP
Josh Pugh, an Australian who has lived and worked in the US for nearly 10 years and acts as a key community organiser for Australians in America, confirmed most people he was in contact with had been invited to fresh interviews or asked to send in their passports.
“It seems more positive today than yesterday,” he said. “The biggest frustration is the unknowing because it all happens and changes so quickly … This impacts their futures in the US and their lives.”
Pugh is organising a separate webinar for concerned Australians with immigration attorney Zjantelle Cammisa Markel.
Grode said a clarification from the administration could relieve the uncertainty and noted there appeared to have been a decrease in the number of horror stories from people being detained and interrogated at the US border.
“But the feeling, the concern, the trepidation, the hesitation – that has persisted,” he said. The latest changes to visa rules were going to be problematic “but to what extent is unknown at this juncture”.
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