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RELIGIOUS WORKERS R
VISA
R visa is for Religious workers. Religious
workers include ministers of religion who are authorized by a
recognized denomination to conduct religious worship and
perform other duties usually performed by members of the
clergy such as administering the sacraments, or their
equivalent. The term does not apply to lay preachers. A
religious vocation means a calling to religious life,
evidenced by the demonstration of a lifelong commitment, such
as taking vows. Examples include nuns, monks, and religious
brothers and sisters. A religious occupation means a habitual
engagement in an activity, which relates to a traditional
religious function. Examples include liturgical workers,
religious instructors or cantors, catechists, workers in
religious hospitals, missionaries, religious translators, or
religious broadcasters. It does NOT include janitors,
maintenance workers, clerks, fundraisers, solicitors of
donations, or similar occupations. The activity of a layperson
that will be engaged in a religious occupation must relate to
a traditional religious function: i.e. the activity must have
religious significance, relating primarily, if not
exclusively, to matters of the religion as they apply to the
religion.
The R1 visa may be obtained by a
religious worker who:
Has been a member of a US religious
organization for the preceding two years and
Seeks to enter the US for five years or less
The R1 visa is initially valid for three years
and may be extended for an additional three years. Positions,
which qualify for an R1 visa, are too numerous to list.
Applicants should qualify for the visa as long as there is a
religious component to the position.
Ministers and priests may apply for
permanent residency (green card).
Spouses and children of the R1 visa holder may
obtain an R2 visa to enter and remain in the US. The R2
visa holder may attend school but if he or she wishes to
work, he or she must change his or her status to obtain
a work visa.
For whom is a R1 Visa
appropriate?
Foreign nationals coming to the US to work in
a professional religious capacity for a religious group or
community
What are the requirements for
obtaining an R1 Visa?
An alien who, for at least the two (2) years
immediately preceding the time of application for admission,
has been a member of a religious denomination having a bona
fide nonprofit religious organization in the United States,
may be admitted temporarily to the United States to carry on
the activities of a religious worker for a period not to
exceed five (5) years. The alien must be coming to the United
States for one of the following purposes: solely to carry on
the vocation of a minister of the religious denomination; to
work for the religious organization at the request of the
organization in a professional capacity; or to work for the
organization, or a bona fide organization which is affiliated
with the religious denomination, at the request of the
organization in a religious vocation or
occupation.
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