From Sydney to New York in Five Weeks: James Murray's E-3 Story

It was so nice having something I just didn't have to worry about. Concord definitely made it easier.

James Murray

Growth Account Executive @ Tracksuit

Overview

James Murray walked out of his visa interview at the US consulate in Sydney, rang his mum, and caught public transport all the way back to the office before realizing he'd left his laptop at the newsagency next door. That's what an approval does to you.

Tracksuit, the Auckland-born brand tracking platform, had been trying to fill a growth role in New York for about three months. The US business was moving faster than the team on the ground could cover. As Tim Barnes, James's incoming manager, put it, there were so many accounts to go after and unlimited room to grow, but he was tied up in a handful of massive ones. They needed the right person to take the reins, and they couldn't find them in the US.

James had just wrapped a six-and-a-half-month sprint as an SDR, diving deep into AI and booking a fair few meetings along the way, when his promotion to Growth Account Executive landed and a colleague put him forward for the role. He'd never applied for a visa in his life. And Tracksuit wanted him in New York by September.

Challenge

A first visa, with real stakes

James had never dealt with immigration before. He'd only heard the horror stories, including a friend who was turned away by a company after getting approved. If the visa fell through, he'd be stuck in a role with limited growth in Australia, watching his childhood dream of New York slip past.

Three months of hiring pressure

Tracksuit had been searching for this hire in the US market for around three months without finding the right fit. Once they decided to promote from within, the clock started immediately: the offer came through quickly, and the business wanted James in New York as soon as possible.

A consular date three weeks too late

The earliest standard interview slot at the Sydney consulate was 22 September, after his intended start date. The alternative was an emergency appointment for urgent business travel, a process neither James nor anyone else could predict with certainty. It was a gamble on an unfamiliar system.

Three weeks of not being able to plan

The hardest part was the uncertainty. For weeks, James couldn't commit to anything in his personal life because he didn't know if or when he'd be leaving. Add a house move across countries and plenty going on at home, and the visa was one stress he didn't have room for.

Tracksuit already knew Concord, so the moment the role was approved the next step was obvious: get in touch with Christine and get moving. From there, the whole process took about five weeks, a timeline James knows is almost unheard of for a US visa.

Two things stood out. First, the system itself: James uploaded his documents directly and described the process as simply smooth, with Christine on live chat for every question along the way. When he asked whether it was worth attempting an emergency appointment to beat the 22 September date, she was honest that the process was unpredictable, and told him to have a go anyway. There was no reason not to try. It worked.

Second, the preparation. Eun, on Concord's US side, walked James through the consular interview with deliberate caution. James arrived with a folder of roughly 100 documents; the officer looked at two. But that was the point. He walked into an intimidating building feeling confident, because he knew there was nothing they could ask for that he didn't have.

"It takes a toll mentally, the uncertainty. It was so nice having something I just didn't have to worry about. Concord definitely made it easier."

On a Monday morning, James was approved at the Sydney consulate. His passport, visa inside, was back in his hands within 36 hours. Total time from kickoff to visa: about five weeks.

He started in September, joining Tim Barnes and the North American crew to expand Tracksuit's growth with its existing US customer base and, as he put it in his announcement, continue taking over the brand tracking and research world.

A year from now, he's picturing travel around the US, a shot at climbing the ranks, and a career in what he calls the best place to be in tech as a young person. Living in New York had always been the plan; he just never had a convincing plan for how to get there. "I'm just super grateful that it's all fallen into place," he says, "and I've gotten super lucky with where I've landed."