# The road to a green card for an Aussie (E3 vs H1B)



## sunflowers02 (Jun 22, 2015)

Hi,

My family and I have recently moved to the US from Australia for my husbands work. We are on E3 and E3D visa's.

We are looking into the process of the road to obtaining a green card.

Does anyone have advice or legitimate links to information for the path to take on either an E3 or the H1B?

Is the path easier on a particular visa?

Regarding the H1B - is the spouse allowed to seek work on this visa like they are on the E3D (after completing an EAD)?

And finally, what is the best process of changing from E3 to H1B?

Thanks in advance.


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## Bellthorpe (Jun 23, 2013)

Many factors at play here. The path is much easier on H-1B than E-3. It's a well-trodden and well documented path. But (in most cases) your employer has to support you to do this. 

The spouse can only work once the primary visa holder has an application for permanent residence lodged.

Moving from one visa to another is entirely employer-dependant. It's far easier to sponsor someone on an E-3 visa. The paperwork is easier, there are no quota issues to worry about, they don't all get gobbled up on one day each year. What would be the incentive for an employer to go to the trouble of getting you a new visa? That's assuming you stay with the same employer. If you're going to change jobs, you will likely have to leave the country during the transition.


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