In 1998, Congress passed the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program Act (IPPCTPA). This program is designed to further steps toward peace in Ireland by providing employment and training opportunities to young people who live in areas where sectarian violence has been common. The most important aspect of the IPPCTPA is the creation of a new visa, called the Q-2, or the Walsh visa, after the author of the IPPCTPA, Rep. James Walsh (R-NY).
The purpose of this visa is to provide an opportunity for young people in areas that have a long history of violence and chronic unemployment to learn job skills and conflict resolution and then contribute what they have learned to the rejuvenation of the region. Q-2 visas will be issued in only three years, 2000, 2001 and 2002, and the visas are good for a maximum of three years.
The program is unique in that it is run not only by the INS and the State Department, which jointly control the approval and issuance of visas, but also by the Training and Employment Agency of Northern Ireland and the Training and Employment Authority of Ireland. The State Department is responsible for the design, policies and procedures of the program, the selection and supervision of the program administrator, coordination between involved US government agencies and the involved agencies in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and establishing requirements for US employers. The INS will be responsible monitoring the status of those in the US on Q-2 visas and reporting any visa overstays to Congress.
There are many special requirements for qualifying for a Q-2 visa. First, the applicant must be from Northern Ireland or one of the counties in the Republic of Ireland that border Northern Ireland – Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo. The second major restriction is that the applicant must be 35 or under at the time of entry into the US.
The applicant must have resided in a qualifying location (Northern Ireland or one of the six counties in the Republic of Ireland) for the three months prior to the application. Also, the applicant must fit in either of the following two categories:
- First, they may be unemployed and have been unemployed for the past three months, or have completed a training program sponsored by the government of Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, or any other publicly funded training program. In this case the applicant must be nominated by either the Training and Employment Agency of Northern Ireland and the Training and Employment Authority of Ireland.
- Second, if the applicant is employed, they must be nominated for participation in the program by their employer. In this case, the experience and training to be received while in the US must benefit both the employee and the employer.
After a person is nominated, they must still find a US employer who is willing to offer employment or training. If there is no such US employer, they will not receive the visa. US employers can indicate their interest in participating in this program by contacting Logicon, Inc., the program administrator. They have a website, www.walshvisa.net. To be eligible for participation, the US employer must
- Provide jobs or training that correspond to designated employment areas,
- Offer health insurance,
- Pay program participants the minimum wage or prevailing wage for US workers,
- Agree not to petition for a change of status for program participants,
- Grant permission to the program administrator to conduct on-site inspections to ensure program requirements are being followed,
- Notify the program administrator when employment is terminated, and
- Prepare a written submission describing the work experience that will be gained.
The areas in which employment is authorized are limited to those that the governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland have determined would be of the greatest benefit to the country. The areas currently designated are:
- Hospitality and tourism,
- Customer service,
- Information and communications technology,
- Pharmaceuticals,
- Engineering,
- Sales,
- Marketing and promotion, and
- Furniture
Additional areas may be designated upon the agreement of the Department of State and one of the employment training agencies of either Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Spouses and minor children will be allowed to accompany Q-2 visa holders. They will be designated Q-3 and will be able to attend school without violating their status.
Q-2 visas will be counted toward the annual limit on H-2B visas. The annual cap on H-2B visas is 66,000, but less that 3,000 H-2B visas are issued each year, so counting Q-2 visas toward this cap should not create any problems.