Green card routes for Australians in NYC

The E-3 visa is Australia's special deal with America. It's quick, cheap and renewable. What it isn't is a road to permanent residence, so you have to build that road yourself.

The short version

The E-3 requires nonimmigrant intent: you're meant to leave at the end of your stay [1]. Starting a green card process while on an E-3 is common, but the timing needs care.
The main routes are an employer-sponsored green card (usually PERM labour certification), the EB-2 National Interest Waiver, family and marriage, and the diversity visa lottery.
PERM is slow. In late 2026, the US Department of Labor was taking about 300 to 360 days on average just to review applications [3].
If you file to adjust status and then leave the US without advance parole, your application is usually treated as abandoned. E-3 holders don't get the exception H-1B and L-1 holders have [8].
Australia has allowed dual citizenship since 2002, so becoming a US citizen doesn't cost you your Australian one. The tax side is a bigger deal.

Why the E-3 doesn't lead anywhere on its own

The E-3 is a specialty occupation visa only for Australians. Status is granted in two-year blocks and can be extended in two-year blocks, with no lifetime cap [1]. That's a better deal than most nationalities get.

The catch is intent. To get and keep an E-3, you need to intend to leave the US when your temporary stay ends [1]. A green card application signals the opposite. The H-1B and L-1 visas are treated differently: the rules let holders of those visas pursue a green card and still travel in some situations [8]. The E-3 has no such allowance.

In practice, plenty of Australians move from E-3 to green card. But you, your employer and your immigration lawyer need to plan when each step is filed, and what happens to your E-3 renewals and trips home while it's under way. Some people switch to an H-1B or O-1 for the green card years. Get advice before your employer files anything.

The main routes compared

Route	Who it suits	Who files	What slows it down
Employer sponsorship (PERM, then I-140)	Most E-3 professionals with a supportive employer	Your employer [2]	Prevailing wage, recruitment, DOL review, then the visa queue [2][3]
EB-2 National Interest Waiver	People with an advanced degree or exceptional ability whose work has national importance	You can file yourself [4]	Evidence-heavy; USCIS processing and the visa queue
Marriage to a US citizen	Australians with a US citizen spouse	Your spouse files the I-130 [5]	Immediate relatives don't wait for a visa number [5]
Diversity visa lottery	Anyone eligible who gets lucky	You enter yourself	DV-2027 registration hasn't opened; see below [7]

Australians are counted as "rest of world" in the US visa queue, not in a high-demand country like India or China. Whether there's a wait in your category depends on the month, so check the State Department's monthly Visa Bulletin with your lawyer.

Employer sponsorship and PERM

For most Australians in New York, the realistic route is an employer green card, usually in the EB-2 or EB-3 category. Before the employer can file the main petition, it normally has to get a labour certification from the Department of Labor showing there's no qualified US worker for the job. This is the PERM process.

Prevailing wage determination. The employer asks the Department of Labor what the job must pay. In late 2026, the DOL was working on PERM wage requests received in June 2026, so expect a few months [3].
Recruitment. The employer advertises the role in the ways the regulations require and reviews any US applicants.
File Form ETA-9089. The employer files online through the DOL's FLAG system. The filing date becomes your priority date: your place in the green card queue [2].
DOL review. As of 31 October 2026, the average analyst review was about 300 days for recent decisions and 360 days over the past six months [3].
File Form I-140. Once certified, the employer has 180 days to file the I-140 petition with USCIS, or the certification expires [2].
Adjust status or go through a consulate. When your priority date is current, you file the I-485 in the US, or process through a US consulate abroad.

Two points that surprise Australians. First, the filing is the employer's responsibility, not yours [2], and so are many of the costs. Second, the green card is tied to that future job. Changing employers mid-process can mean starting again, so think hard before you jump ship at month 18.

The EB-2 National Interest Waiver

The EB-2 category covers professionals with an advanced degree, or a bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive experience, and people of exceptional ability [4]. Normally it still needs PERM. The National Interest Waiver (NIW) skips both the job offer and the labour certification, and you can file it yourself [4].

USCIS weighs three factors [4]:

Your proposed work has substantial merit and national importance.
You're well positioned to advance it.
On balance, it benefits the US to waive the job offer and labour certification.

The NIW suits researchers, doctors, engineers, founders and specialists whose work goes beyond one employer. It's evidence-heavy: publications, citations, letters from experts, a clear plan. Because you don't need an employer, it can free you from being tied to one job. If the I-140 is approved, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 may be able to come along [4].

Marriage and family

If you're married to a US citizen, you're an "immediate relative". Visas are always available for immediate relatives, so there's no queue for a visa number [5]. Your spouse files Form I-130, and if you're in the US you can file Form I-485 to adjust status alongside it [5]. US citizens can also petition for a fiancé(e) using Form I-129F [5].

If you've been married less than two years when you're approved, the green card is usually conditional, and you later apply to remove the conditions with evidence the marriage is genuine. Marrying a green card holder, rather than a citizen, puts you in a family preference queue, which is slower.

Expect USCIS to look closely at whether the relationship is genuine: a joint lease, shared bank accounts, photos over time and people who know you as a couple.

The diversity visa lottery: currently stuck

The diversity visa lottery offers green cards to people from countries with lower US immigration, and Australians have traditionally been able to enter. It's a long shot in any year, but right now it's stalled.

In December 2025, after a shooting allegedly carried out by a lottery green card holder, USCIS paused decisions on pending diversity visa adjustment applications and the State Department suspended issuing diversity immigrant visas at embassies and consulates [6].
The State Department didn't open DV-2027 registration as expected. A district court ordered it reopened, but an appeals court stayed that order. As of 2 November 2026, registration was still closed with no timeline announced [7].

Don't pay anyone who claims to enter you in the lottery. When registration does open, it's done through the State Department's own website.

Travel while your green card is pending

This is the trap that catches E-3 holders. Once you've filed an I-485 to adjust status in the US, leaving the country generally counts as abandoning the application, unless you have advance parole and are inspected on return [8]. H-1B and L-1 holders (and their H-4 and L-2 family members) can travel without abandoning their application if they keep their status. E-3 holders aren't on that list [8].

So before you book Christmas in Melbourne:

Apply for advance parole on Form I-131 and wait for it to be approved before you leave [9].
Know that advance parole doesn't guarantee you'll be let back in [9].
If a family emergency comes up, talk to your lawyer before you get on the plane. Smartraveller and the Australian Consulate-General in New York can help with emergencies abroad, but they can't fix a US immigration problem.

From green card to US citizenship

After five years as a permanent resident (three if you've been married to and living with a US citizen), you can usually apply to naturalise. You need continuous residence, at least 30 months physically in the US in the five years before you apply, three months in your state or USCIS district, basic English and a civics test [10].

Australia has allowed its citizens to take another citizenship without losing Australian citizenship since 4 April 2002. Check the Department of Home Affairs' citizenship pages if you lost citizenship before that date or have unusual circumstances.

The bigger issue is tax. A green card holder is generally treated as a US tax resident, and a US citizen is taxed on worldwide income wherever they live, including if you move back to Australia. That affects your super, Australian bank accounts and any property at home. Read our guides to New York tax for Australians and Australian tax residency after moving before you take the oath.

Talking it through with people who've been there? Join Cooee USA, our Facebook group for Australians in the USA, where members share how their E-3 to green card journeys actually went.

Green card routes from New York: how Australians get beyond the E-3