Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

144. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress to date of the proposed E3 visa programme; the estimated number of Irish persons who will receive such visas if the programme is implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47884/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government continues to pursue two key objectives with regard to Irish immigration to the United States; firstly, increased pathways for legal migration by Irish citizens to the US; and secondly, seeking some form of relief for undocumented Irish citizens living in the US.

The Taoiseach and I continue to prioritise this issue in all our engagements with the US Administration and Congress.

To this end, I was pleased to see a Bill recently laid in Congress which, if passed, would see Irish citizens being added to those entitled to apply for a pool of 10,500 E3 visas each year. Were the Bill to be passed as currently drafted, an estimated 4,000 – 5,000 visas might become available each year for Irish citizens who wished to live and work in the US for a period. The spouses and children of those who qualify would receive additional visas and would not count against this cap.

The passage of the Bill is far from certain however. The Government does not underestimate the significant difficulties ahead, with the Bill requiring a two thirds majority in the House and sixty votes in the Senate.

The Government - including through the work of the Embassy and of the Government’s Special Envoy to the US Congress on the Undocumented, Deputy John Deasy - will continue to engage proactively with the US Administration and elected representatives, both Democratic and Republican, on Irish immigration issues and specifically on this Bill.