The USCIS has proposedregulations that will allow H-1B1, CW-1, and E-3 visa holders to have dualintent.  The proposed regulation willalso grant extended work authorization to these visa status holders who timelyfile their visa status extension petitions. These changes will bring these three categories into harmony with similaremployment-based visa status programs, such as the H-1B and the L-1.
Allowing dualintent will remove an unnecessary legal headache when these visa status holdersapply for permanent residency. Currently, H-1B1, CW-1 and E-3 visa status holders must be extremelycareful when preparing their green card petitions or risk running afoul of theimmigrant intent rule.  Strictly speaking,these visa status holders cannot intend to file for US Permanent Residency.
Granting extendedwork authorization is also a welcome for these visa status holders.  Under the current interpretation theseworkers were forced to stop working unless their visa status extension wasapproved prior to the expiration of the initial visa status.  When the new rule is finalized, those in H-1B1,CW-1, and E-3 visa status will be allowed to work during the pendency of theirvisa status extension petition, even if the extension petition is not approved beforethe expiration of the prior status.  This work authorization is for 240 days, per 8 CFR 274a.12(b)(20).
These visacategories were all established in the mid-2000s.  The H-1B1 provides an H-1B-like visa status forSingaporean and Chilean nationals.  TheE-3 functions similarly for Australian nationals.  These visas were approved by Congress whentrade deals were struck with these three countries.  The advantage of these visas is that they arenot subject to the H-1B cap.  There arequotas for these categories, although none of the quotas have veer beenreached.
The CW-1is transitional visa used for foreign nationals seeking to enter the Commonwealthof the Northern Marianas Islands.  TheCW-1 visa was set to sunset in 2014, but recentlegislation extends the transitional visa until December 31, 2019.
Healthcare workerswho work in occupations that require at least a Bachelor degree may qualify forthese visas.  Typically we see thesevisas used by Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Doctors,Pharmacists, and Speech Language Pathologists.