"R" Religious Workers

Members of a religious denomination having a genuine non-profit religious organization in the United States may be admitted to work for the U.S. organization for an initial period of 30 months. A thirty month extension is available for a total of five years. The following requirements must be met:

• The applicant must have been a member of a religious denomination for two years immediately proceeding the application. A religious denomination is a community of believers having some form of church governance, a statement of faith, a form of worship, a code of doctrine and discipline, religious services or ceremonies, established places of worship, religious congregations, or similar indications of a legitimate religious organization.
• The religion must have an organization in the United States which qualifies for nonprofit treatment under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
• The applicant must be coming to the United States to serve in one of three categories: (1) an ordained minister or equivalent under the religion's practice; (2) a person committed to a religious vocation, such as a nun or monk; or  (3) other religious workers performing a traditional religious function, such as liturgical workers, religious instructors, cantors, catechists, workers in religious hospitals, and missionaries.
• The person must work for a minimum of 20 hours per week.

All religious organizations must file an I-129 petition with R Supplement before a religious worker may be granted R status. This is now true whether the person is seeking a change of status in the United States, or will be seeking a visa abroad. It is no longer possible to apply for a visa without an approved petition. These petitions are scrutinized carefully by USCIS because of fraud concerns. A physical site visit by CIS fraud investigators is now required in every case.

After two years of continuous full time employment, a religious worker may qualify for a Green Card as a special immigrant. This is done on Form I-360. Once the I-130 is approved the person may apply for adjustment of status. It is not possible to file the I-360 and adjustment application. This requires careful planning to ensure the beneficiary will be able to file for adjustment before the five years in R status is used up.