Is there a QUOTA applicable to the number of E-3 visas issued each year?

Yes. The E-3 category carries an annual numerical limit, and the figure has not changed since the category was created. The limit is narrower than the question suggests, however: it reaches only certain applications, and it excludes family members entirely.

The limit. Section 214(g)(11) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides that the Secretary of State “may not approve a number of initial applications” for the E-3 classification greater than the applicable numerical limitation, and sets that limitation at 10,500 for each fiscal year. The Department of Labor states the same figure in describing the program. Because the count runs by federal fiscal year, which begins on October 1, a fresh allotment becomes available each year.

Spouses and children are outside the count. By statute the limitation applies only to principal applicants, and not to their spouses or children (section 214(g)(11)(C)). A spouse and unmarried children under 21 receive dependent E-3 classification without consuming a number, so a family of four uses only one.

Only initial applications count. The statute is directed at initial applications. On the face of that language, an extension of an existing E-3 classification, or a renewal of the visa for someone already classified, does not draw a new number. This reading is widely followed in practice, though the statute does not spell out the treatment of extensions in terms.

Whom the limit binds. By its terms the restriction applies to approvals by the Secretary of State, which is to say to visa applications at consular posts. A change of status to E-3 granted by USCIS on Form I-129 is not an application approved by the Department of State. The number is nonetheless generally treated as the annual allotment for the category as a whole, and no authority within the statute or regulations carves out change-of-status cases.

No rollover and no lottery. Nothing in section 214(g)(11) carries unused numbers forward to a later fiscal year. Equally, the E-3 category has no advance registration or selection process of the kind used for the H-1B cap. Numbers are used as applications are approved, so the practical question in a given case is whether numbers remain available, not whether a filing window has been met.

There is no implementing regulation in 8 CFR part 214 addressing the E-3 limit; the numerical ceiling exists in the statute alone.

Related questions in this section address the requirements for an E-3 visa, how long an E-3 visa is valid, and whether an E-3 visa can be renewed. The E-3 overview introduces the category. Questions about a specific case may be directed to the firm through the contact page.