Morrisson Foresees E3 Visa Deal For Irish

Under the proposed new visa scheme, 10,500 people per year would be able to work legally in the USA as long as they get a job in advance of going there.

"The proposal is for 10,500 per year not counting dependents - so spouses and children would count extra - and that's every year and renewable every two years without counting against the total. So it's a big number for the actual demand to come and live in the US, even in bad times like this. And in good times it probably wouldn't be fully subscribed," he told RTE news during a visit to Dublin last week.

He said there is agreement on the issue in the US Senate, and it could be voted on by the end of the year.

He rated its chance of success as 50/50 but he said the scheme will get passed either as part of a comprehensive immigration reform, or ahead of it.

"It will get done either ahead of comprehensive reform or part of comprehensive reform. There is no doubt that it will happen. It's just when," he said.

He was less optimistic about the prospect of a deal for undocumented Irish living in the US.

Mr Morrison said despite a commitment from President Obama in the wake of his re-election to tackle immigration reform, he believed it was still some time away.

He said the anti-reform language used by Mitt Romney during his campaign did not play very well at the margins and was perceived as being costly.

Since the election, there has been a lot of talk of Republicans getting on board with immigration reform.

However he said, beneath the surface, the issue was a lot more complicated than that, and no-one can be assuming a deal will be reached.

Mr Morisson, a former congressman from Connecticut, helped create a visa program that bore his name in the early 1990s, which granted green cards to thousands of Irish citizens.