subject: Dos Publishes Final Rule On Amended Requirements For Religious Workers [print this page] An amendment by the Department of State which came into force on October 6, 2009 states that those applying for the R-1 religious worker visa should get the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-129 approved, which grants them the status of a nonimmigrant religious worker. The Department of State has made this amendment in the visa requirements to bring about consistency with the Department of Homeland Security.
This visa is applicable to alien religious workers who work for religious groups or communities having bona fide nonprofit, religious organizations in USA. This includes ministers, liturgical workers, religious instructors or cantors, catechists, missionaries, religious translators, or religious broadcasters who come to work for these religious groups in the United States temporarily. The term alien includes the spouse or child of the alien religious worker who travel alongside with him/her.
The Department of State has made an amendment in the visa requirements of these immigrant religious workers according to which those who apply for an R-1 religious worker visa should first obtain an approved petition Form I-129 of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from the Department of Homeland Security. (The Form I-129 is a petition filed by the employer for the alien religious worker who has come to perform labor or services in the United States temporarily in order to obtain a nonimmigrant religious worker status for him.)
USCIS has changed the petition requirement so that the bona fides of the petitioning religious organization can be determined. It also helps determine that a religious worker will be admitted to the U.S. to work for a specific religious organization at the request of that religious organization. The consular officers are given the responsibility of ensuring that the applicant for the R-1 religious worker visa has obtained the approved petition Form I-129 from US Citizenship and Immigration Services before issuing the visa.
