In a typical minority community in the U.S., immigrant members often find solace and strength in their religious organizations. Churches and temples not only serve as religious sanctuary but also a social community. Continuing their religious tradition is one way for immigrants to keep contact with their old culture and roots. For this reason, ethnic religious organizations thrive in the U.S. and the U.S. immigration law allows for work authorization and immigration not only for ministers but also for all types of foreign religious workers.

Religious institutions that wish to hire foreign ministers and religious workers often ask about the criteria used to qualify a petitioning organization and the individual who they wish to hire. Unfortunately, both the R-1 and the Special Immigrant categories have been abused in the recent years. Because of this, the BCIS and Consular officials have begun to define and apply the law narrowly. In order to determine one's suitability for the specific categories, a qualified and experienced immigration attorney will examine several factors. In this article, I will list a few of the concerns often raised by our clients.

First, the petitioning organization must be a 'bona fide' religious denomination, with nonprofit and tax-exempt status. Such status/identity is not usually a big concern for the immigrant community because most petitioners belong to a widely recognized faith group. However, we have found that some smaller petitioners have neglected to file and keep proper records and may still run into problems due to the lack of sufficient evidence. In addition, although the petitioner does not have to be a certain size, the petitioner must be able to pay a reasonable salary for the service rendered by the religious worker.

Secondly, the offered position has to be examined. The religious position offered must generally be a full-time position and related to a bona fide religious function. Examples of religious occupations include, but are not limited to, ordained ministers, nuns, monks, liturgical workers, religious instructors, religious counselors, cantors, catechists, workers in religious hospitals or religious health care facilities, missionaries, religious translators, or religious broadcasters. The characterization of the position, its duties and responsibilities, are often a complex one and requires close examination by the practitioner to avoid INS scrutiny.

Thirdly, the individual's qualification must be examined. This discussion sometimes revolves around whether the individual may qualify for immigration right away. There are huge differences between the standards for the R-1 status and those for the immigrant status. The temporary status requires the individual to have been a member of the same denomination for two years whereas the immigration category requires him/her to have carried on a religious vocation for two continuous years, immediately preceding the filing.

The thorny points in adjudicating the individual's qualification deal with: whether the petitioning organization and the organization abroad of which the beneficiary was a member belong to the same denomination; whether the beneficiary's prior religious work qualifies as "religious vocation"; whether the previous religious work was compensated and full-time; and if there was any break of time during the two years preceding the filing.

As one can see from the above list, petitions for religious workers, whether temporary or permanent, involve many subtle and complicated issues. In order to skillfully handle such matters, one must closely consult with an experienced immigration attorney who understands the legislative intent and policy guidelines underlying the law.

The information provided throughout the Website is general in nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of Heller Immigration Law Group, LLP, or establish an attorney-client relationship.