Business Specialty Visa Plan Religious Worker R-1 visa
You qualify as a religious worker if you are a minister or priest of a religion authorized by a recognized denomination to carry out or preside over religious worship and to perform other duties and rituals usually performed by members of the clergy, such as administering the sacraments or their equivalent.
Religious Worker R-1 visa
Let’s say South Asians living in and around Houston, Texas have raised money to build a temple in the traditional south Indian style, called a gopuram. As the temple’s inauguration date approaches, they are looking for two Tamil-speaking Brahmin priests who can staff the temple and carry out day to day priestly duties and one senior priest to give religious discourses and conduct prayers. Finding the religious workers is not terribly difficult because everyone knows someone who knows someone.
What sort of visa would they need to enter the United States and work there?
The R-1 visa is designed especially for religious workers like these, who want to work in a religious organization in the United States. The visa is limited to ministers and others directly connected with religious work. For example, a temple’s administrative workers, clerical staff and other support staff would not qualify for an R-1 visa. The organization must be registered as either a non-profit organization in the US, a religious organization that is tied to any religious denomination in the US or a religious organization which has a group tax exemption.
If you are issued an R-1 visa, you may live and work in the US as a full-time or part-time religious worker for the duration of the visa. You may open bank accounts, get a driver’s license and also take advantage of opportunities to study. You may travel in and out of the US; the time that you are outside the United States will not be counted against your total visa time.
Over 4,000 R-1 visas are issued every year. For example, in 2019, 4,583 R-1 visas were issued.
Who is eligible for an R-1 visa?
You qualify as a religious worker if you are a minister or priest of a religion authorized by a recognized denomination to carry out or preside over religious worship and to perform other duties and rituals usually performed by members of the clergy, such as administering the sacraments or their equivalent. Lay preachers do not qualify as religious workers.
The following individuals are eligible for the R-1 visa —
Ministers: Should have been authorized by a recognized religious denomination to conduct religious worship and to carry out other rituals and tasks that would usually be performed by authorized members of that religion’s clergy. Licenses, ordination certificates, formal letter of conferral, and so on can serve as evidence of such qualifications. Officers of the Salvation Army, deacons and practitioners of Christian Science may also be considered ministers.
Workers in a Religious Vocation or Occupation: This includes the two types of workers —
Professional Workers are persons that want to work in a religious vocation or occupation that requires a US bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent.
Other Religious Workers are persons who work in a religious vocation or occupation.
The term religious vocation refers to a lifelong commitment to religious life, such as those made by nuns, monks, and religious brothers and sisters who have taken lifelong vows.
A religious occupation describes a habitual activity related to a traditional religious function. Good examples include liturgical workers, religious instructors or cantors, catechists, workers in religious hospitals, missionaries, religious translators or religious broadcasters.
Excluded from this category are persons whose work does not have a religious function such as janitors, maintenance workers, clerks, fundraisers, solicitors of donations and so on.
A religious denomination generally should have a formally articulated code of doctrine and discipline, with religious services and ceremonies, some form of ecclesiastical government, a recognized creed and form of worship, religious congregations and established places of worship. However, inter-denominational religious organizations that are tax-exempt tax-exempt may be treated as a religious denomination.
An individual applying for an R-1 visa as well as the religious organization that will employ him in the United States must meet certain criteria —
Individual
Must have been a practicing member of a religion for the past two years
The religion must have a non-profit organization in the US
Must find a job in a non-profit religious organization or an organization affiliated with the religion
Must be a minister or a person working directly in the religious occupation
Must commit to working at least 20 hours per week (part-time)
Must not work in other positions except in their religious capacity
Non-profit religious organization
Must be either one of the following registered organizations in the US
A non-profit religious organization with its own Internal Revenue Service letter of 501(c)(3)
A non-profit religious organization with a group tax exemption
A non-profit organization affiliated with a religion which has tax exemptions under 501(c)(3) rules or other IRS codes that does not make it a religious organization by definition
How long can you stay in the US on an R-1 visa?
The R-1 status is initially for a period up to 30 months. You can apply for an extension up to an additional 30 months. Thus, the total duration of your US stay on an R-1 visa cannot exceed five years (60 months), although only time spent physically in the US is counted towards the visa.
ALERT: It’s been known to happen that an immigration officer at your port of entry stamps a period greater than 30 months on your I-94 Arrival/ Departure card. If this happens to you, you’d be well advised to point it out right there. Although you’d face no penalty for not doing so, your future visa prospects could be affected if you’re seen to have stayed longer than five years in the US as a religious worker.
After staying in the US for two years on an R-1 visa, you may apply for a green card.
How do you apply for an R-1 visa?
Applying for an R-1 visa is fairly straightforward, and similar to other visas where a US-based employer is petitioning to bring you over. The first step must usually be taken by the employer, as described below —
- Your employer or agent in the USA files a Form I-129 petition with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requesting permission for you to enter and work temporarily in the United States on an R-1 visa. They will be required to pay the $460 application fee and furnish the necessary documents.
In addition to Form I-29, the religious organization is required to furnish other documents proving your eligibility. These include —
Your tax returns in the US or, if not applicable, comparable documents
If you will not be a paid worker, proof that you have the means to support yourself during the period of your stay
Proof that you are affiliated with the religion and have been so for the past two years
If the USCIS approves the petition, they will send an approval notice on Form I-797 to your employer, who will send it to you.
- Apply for a Non-Immigrant Visa online through form DS-160: You can apply online for a Non-Immigrant Visa, called Form DS-160. To do this efficiently and successfully, keep the following at hand before going online —
– Your passport, with at least 6 months validity
– A visa photograph (to upload). Make sure the photograph conforms to US Immigration photo specifications
In addition, you may need to supply:
– A travel itinerary
– The dates of your last five visits to the US (if applicable) and/or evidence of your international travel history within the past five years
– A resume or CV
– The US Embassy or Consulate where you will apply for an interview
– Additional information depending on your purpose for travel
More information about filling out the DS-160 form is available online. Remember to print out the DS-160 application confirmation page after completing the form. You will need it at the interview.
- Pay the visa application fee: This is $190 for the R-1 visa, and can be paid online. Be sure to print out a receipt confirming your payment. You will need it at the visa interview later. In some countries, this fee is payable at the time of your interview, and in others it must be paid in advance.
- Find your nearest US Embassy or Consulate. You can find the address online or by checking the global list of US Embassies and Consulates. Make a note of the address. You will need it in the next step.
- Schedule your visa interview. Contact the US Embassy or Consulate nearest to you, preferably the one you named on the DS-160 form, and schedule your interview. Since different embassies have different waiting periods, check at the embassy’s website to find out how long you’ll have to wait.
- Gather the necessary documents. You will need the following —
- Passport with validity for at least six months beyond your intended period of stay
- Visa interview appointment letter
- Photograph. Some embassies may require a copy, especially if you were unable to upload an appropriate one while applying. A complete description of the format requirements is here.
- DS-160 confirmation page
- DS-160 visa application fee receipt: Required only if the fee was paid prior to your interview)
- Proof of your eligibility for the R-1 visa —
Evidence that you have belonged to the religion for the past 2 years
Recommendation letters from other religious affiliations you have had
- Contract with the religious organization that will employ you in the US
- Educational qualifications proving that you are qualified for a religious position such as a minister
- Proof of financial support or a contract with the employing organization stating your salary
- Go for the visa interview. This is a fairly straightforward visa so the visa interview is most likely not going to be an ordeal. The visa officer may request additional documents at his or her discretion and these requirements may vary from country to country.
Need more help?
If you still feel that you would like to have professional help in making your application or would like to consult a lawyer who specializes in immigration and visa matters, you can explore some of your options, including how to access our exclusive list of professional immigration lawyers.
If you have questions or would like clarifications, please send us an email and we’ll do our best to get back to you within 24 hours with an answer.