Non-immigrant Visas

Religious Work Visa - R1

Religious-worker applicants must not only demonstrate that they are qualified for, and entitled to R-1 status, but the sponsoring organization’s financial resources and/or the applicants’ resources are such that they will not resort to non-religious work in order to subsist in the United States.

Religious(R-1) Visa:

• Sponsoring employers must file I-129 petitions for all aliens for whom R-1 nonimmigrant status is sought.  Self petitions classification can no longer be accepted.
• The alien is a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States;
• The religious denomination and its affiliate, if applicable, are exempt from taxation, or the religious denomination qualifies for tax-exempt status;
• The alien has been a member of the organization for two years immediately preceding admission;
• The alien is entering the United States solely to carry on the vocation of a minister of that denomination;
• At the request of the denomination, the alien is entering the United States to work in a religious vocation or occupation for that denomination or for an organization affiliated with the denomination, whether in a professional capacity or not;
• The alien is the spouse or child of an R-1 nonimmigrant who is accompanying or following to join him or her; and
• The alien has resided and been physically present outside the United States for the immediate prior year, except for brief visits for business or pleasure, if he or she has previously spent five years in this classification.