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15th Dec 2018

New legislation to increase amount of Irish visas in America “increasingly likely” to pass

Rudi Kinsella

Irish visas America

Great news for anyone who’s considering moving Stateside.

American Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is pushing for thousands of U.S work visas to be granted to Irish nationals before he leaves congress.

A bill pushed by Ryan himself, passed through the House of Representatives on 28 November on an uncontested voice vote and is increasingly likely to clear the Senate next week, a GOP aide told POLITICO.

Although this may be good news for any Irish people looking to head abroad, it hasn’t been received well unanimously.

The measure has gathered opposition from the controversial alt-right publication Breitbart, which dubbed the visa program “amnesty for Irish lobbies“ and said it would take jobs away from U.S. college graduates.

According to POLITICO, the bill would give the Irish access to unused E-3 visas, which currently are available only to Australians in “specialty occupations” that require a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent.

In return, we would offer additional work visas to Americans, among other concessions.

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