America Josh

09/04/2026

📆 New E-3 Visa Calendar Update for Melbourne! B. just updated the upcoming available dates for E-3 Visas in Melbourne with the first available being Thursday, October 22nd, 2026.

To see the full list of updates head to https://e3.americajosh.com where you can subscribe for updates!

Check real-time E-3 visa appointment availability for Australian consulates

09/03/2026

Australia's first-ever regular season NFL game is being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground — the San Francisco 49ers vs the LA Rams at the 'G 🏈

While that history is being made on the other side of the world, LA Dragons, BridgeX Global and Netball America are bringing the excitement to the Australian community in Playa Vista with a watch party at PV House.

Come and watch it live, loud, and surrounded by fellow fans. There'll be beers, American-style game day snacks, and plenty of Aussies to share the moment with. Whether you're a die-hard NFL fan, a footy lover who has caught the NFL fever, or you just want to connect with the local Aussie crew, there's a spot for you.

Entry is FREE, but registration is essential — a massive milestone for Aussie sports culture, and one worth celebrating together 🍻🇦🇺

Registration link is in the comments below. Who's in? Tag a mate in LA who needs to see this!

📍 PV House, Playa Vista (Los Angeles)
📅 Thursday, Sep 10
🕛 5:00 PM PDT

09/03/2026

Aussies and Kiwis in Seattle — Mugs with Mates is happening TOMORROW! ☕

Miss the feeling of bumping into someone who just gets it? Someone who doesn't need "yeah nah" explained, knows what a flat white or a long black is, and packed a jar of Vegemite in their checked luggage just in case.

Mugs with Mates is a relaxed monthly catch-up for Australians and New Zealanders living in Seattle and the surrounding area. There's no big agenda — just good coffee and great chats around a table full of accents that feel like home, with friendly faces who know the difference between a jandal and a thong. 🇦🇺🇳🇿

Whether you've just arrived in Seattle or you've been here long enough to own a puffer jacket in three weights, everyone is welcome. Just look out for the Aussie and Kiwi flags on the table, or ask your server to direct you.

Bring a mate, or come solo and leave with a few new ones. Who's in? Tag a mate who just moved to Seattle!

Registration link is in the comments below.

📍 Cafe Hagen, Queen Anne, Seattle
📅 Friday, Sept 4
🕛 10:00 AM

09/03/2026

Parma? Parmy? Parmi? Whatever you call it, we're eating one 🇦🇺

Join us at Isla & Co. Midtown for our Parma and Pot Night — or Parmy and Schooner, or Parmy and Pint, we're not fussy. They'll be serving up classic chicken parmigiana with chips and your choice of a beer or house wine, alongside a whole array of New Mates to meet.

Come on your own, come in a group, or even better, bring a local along to try a true blue Aussie dish. Either way, expect great food and a good laugh with mates.

It's just $26.00 per person and that even includes the tax and tip. Additional food and drinks can be purchased on the night, and eggplant (vegetarian parma) is available when you book 🍽️

REGISTRATION ESSENTIAL — link in the comments below.

Who's in? Tag a mate who's been craving a decent parma!

📍 Isla & Co. – Midtown, New York
📅 Thursday, Sep 17
🕛 6:30 PM

09/03/2026

There's a decent chance you've cried to this song in an airport. 🎬

How to Make Gravy, the film built out of Paul Kelly's 1996 song, is getting its United States premiere at the Australian International Screen Forum in New York. Filmmakers Nick Waterman and Meg Washington will be there for a Q&A afterward.

If you've wanted to watch this one from over here, you haven't been able to. The film has never had a US release, and there's no streaming home for it in America. This screening is the way to see it.

The song is a letter — Joe, in prison, writing to his brother Dan four days before Christmas, worrying about who'll make the gravy now that he can't. The film builds the whole family around it: Daniel Henshall as Joe, alongside Hugo Weaving, Brenton Thwaites, Kate Mulvany, Damon Herriman and Agathe Rousselle. Waterman and Washington spent about five years turning four minutes of song into a feature, and they'll be in the room taking questions.

Watch it in Australia and it's a lovely, sad, funny film. Watch it in a room full of Australians who've had a Christmas on the wrong side of the Pacific, and it lands somewhere else entirely. Bring tissues. 🧻

Presented in partnership with the Australian International Screen Forum. Ticket link is in the comments below — who's coming? Tag a mate in New York who needs this one. 🎟️

📍 Film at Lincoln Center, Upper West Side, New York City
📅 Thursday, Sep 10
🕛 6:30 PM

09/03/2026

One of the most significant artists in contemporary Tiwi art is having his first solo exhibition in the United States, and it's happening on the Upper East Side. 🎨

Timothy Cook: Kurluwukari opens at D'Lan Contemporary with an evening reception, and runs through October 9.

Kurluwukari means circle in Tiwi language. It comes from Kulama, a Tiwi coming-of-age ceremony held in the late wet season, timed to the yam harvest and the halo around the moon. Cook has returned to that form for more than thirty years, and it matters: Kulama is practiced far less often now, so painting becomes a way of carrying the knowledge forward.

The works are painted with ochres collected from the Tiwi Islands, on linen and stringybark. Yellow ochre dug from the earth and heated to make red. White gathered from coastal cliff faces.

And opening night is genuinely special. A delegation from Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association is traveling from Milikapiti to New York to represent Timothy and celebrate the exhibition. Members of his community will be there all evening. As Cook says: "New York is long way from here."

Aboriginal art rarely gets a solo showing in New York, and even more rarely in a room you can walk into off the street. Bring an American friend. Bring the kids. Stand in front of a two-and-a-half-meter diptych and see what made the trip. 🙌

RSVP for the reception: [email protected] — and all the details are in the link in the comments below. Who's in?

📍 D'Lan Contemporary, Upper East Side, New York City
📅 Thursday, Sep 10
🕛 6:00 PM

09/03/2026

Coffee with New Friends is on TOMORROW! ☕

Every Friday we meet at 10:30 and this week we're at Laughing Man Cafe in Tribeca. The time never changes, but the location does, so there's always somewhere new to try.

The idea is simple: have a delicious coffee and a cake, support a local business, and let people connect in the most comfortable setting possible. If you're new to New York, it's a chance to meet some friends and talk through the good and the bad parts of moving here. If you've been here for years, it's a chance to reconnect with familiar faces.

It's casual, it's easy to pop in and out of, and there's always a mix of old and new faces. Come along on your own or bring a friend — everyone is invited, and the morning is only better for having a mix of people around the table.

Register via the link in the comments below to get access to our exclusive WhatsApp chat group, then just arrive from around 10:30 and say hello.

Thanks to our partners Wise and Qantas for backing this community.

Who's in? Tag a mate who just moved to New York!

📍 Laughing Man Cafe, Tribeca, New York
📅 Friday, Sep 4
🕛 10:30 AM

09/03/2026

Houston, this one is for you 🇦🇺

The Australian American Chamber of Commerce Texas is hosting its Annual General Meeting and Sundowner at The Forest Club, and everyone is welcome to come along and see what the Chamber has been up to.

The agenda: President's Report, an update on past and future Chamber events, Board Elections and other business. Once the formal part wraps up, it rolls straight into a networking happy hour with AACC members, sponsors and friends of the Chamber.

The details worth knowing:
Free admission for AACC members
$15 for non-members
First drink on them when you pre-register
Complimentary appetizers
Cash bar

It is a genuinely good chance to catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, and find out what is happening in the Australian business community in Texas.

Pre-register so they can plan numbers, and so your first drink is sorted 🍸

Registration link is in the comments below. Who's in? Tag a mate who just moved to Houston!

📍 The Forest Club, Houston TX
📅 Thursday, Sep 10
🕛 5:30 PM

09/03/2026

Rear-end someone lightly on your Australian license, and your insurance company can quietly step aside and leave you holding the bill.

That's the part almost nobody thinks about. The legal question ("can I drive on my overseas license?") feels like paperwork admin. The insurance question is the one that can bankrupt you — because most policies require you to be driving legally, and if you've been living in your state for more than about 30 days without a local license, you're not.

Josh has read hundreds of "I've been driving on my home license for years and it's fine" posts in Aussie Facebook groups, and this article is his answer to every one of them. It covers why renting a car with a foreign license is legal but living here on one isn't, what actually happens if you're pulled over, how the residency clock works, and how easy the swap is in most states (some are a walk-in exchange, New York makes you sit both tests).

It's one of those chores that takes an afternoon and protects the rest of your life. 🚗

How long did you drive on your home license before you finally swapped it for a state one — and which state made you sit the tests?

Link in the comments below.

09/03/2026

There are over 70 Deferred Inspection Sites across the US and its outlying territories, and one of them can fix the mistake on your I-94. 🇦🇺

Wrong class of admission. Your surname sitting in the given name field. An admit-until date that doesn't match what the officer said at the desk. None of it corrects itself, and even though you didn't make the error, it's your job to catch it.

In the article we walk through what a deferred inspection site can actually change (I-94 number, passport number, class of admission, admit until date, names, country of citizenship), the two situations where you should get in touch, how long to wait before worrying that your details haven't shown up yet, and the direct contact details for JFK and LAX, including the JFK email address that isn't listed on the CBP page.

Also in there: what to do if you're still sitting on an E3D instead of an E3S.

Check your I-94 after every single entry, whether it's your first or your 101st. What did the officer get wrong on your I-94, and how long did it take to sort out?

Link in the comments below.