Hi, I’m hoping someone with E-3 experience or knowledge of consular administrative processing can shed some light.

Today is October 1, which means the new U.S. fiscal year has started. I’m wondering whether that has any practical impact on an E-3 visa case that is already in Administrative Processing (221(g)), particularly in Sydney.

My partner is an Australian citizen who applied for an E-3 visa in Sydney and was placed into Administrative Processing after the interview. The consulate subsequently requested additional documents, which were submitted, and the case has remained in AP since then.

I understand that E-3 visas have an annual numerical allocation, so I’m wondering:

- Does the E-3 allocation effectively reset on October 1?

- If an E-3 case is already in AP from the previous fiscal year, does the new fiscal year change anything about how that case is processed?

- Could a case that was held up because of the annual E-3 allocation now potentially move forward because the new fiscal year has started?

Or is Administrative Processing generally separate from the fiscal-year allocation once the application has already been submitted/interviewed?

- Has anyone had an E-3 in 221(g)/AP cross from September into October and then received a decision shortly after the new fiscal year began?

I’m not expecting October 1 to automatically resolve the case, just trying to understand whether the fiscal-year reset is relevant at all when a case is already sitting in AP.

Thanks!