USCIS Revises Religious Worker Visa Classification

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposes revisions to the religious worker visa classification, in response to reports of growing numbers of fraudulent individuals being granted religious worker visas. A 1999 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) mentioned that some applicants for religious worker visas falsify data regarding their job specificity, length of stay or affiliation with the religious group, and many others. On November 16, 2006, the USCIS announced that they will be opening a public comment regarding the proposed revisions on the policies for application and approval of the R-1 or religious worker visa. This notice was also published on the Federal Register.

The USCIS decides to look over the policies for religious worker visas or R-1 classification visas also based on the reports of the Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS). According to the FDNS, there was a detected 33 percent rate of fraud in the applications for R-1 visas. This report by the FDNS, and prior information provided by the GAO has helped the USCIS in determining measures to prevent fraud in the process of visa applications for religious workers.

The proposal for these policy revisions for R-1 visa classification was released by the USCIS on April 25, 2007. Along with these revisions include changes in the petitioning requirements, performing on-site inspections, evidentiary requirements of organizations, and clarification and new definitions regarding religious workers, to name a few.

Some of the requirements by US religious organizations who are hiring religious workers include submission of the Petition for Non-immigrant Worker (I-129) or Petition for Special Immigrant (I-360). Along with this, the USCIS is authorized to do a comprehensive check on the US religious organization, including on-site inspections to easily verify the legitimacy or the need to petition a foreign religious worker for an R-1 visa.

The applicant that the petitioning organization will be hiring will also be verified by the USCIS. This includes checking the prior work experience of the religious worker, including jobs that are not in relation with the religious job he will be applying for in the US. Aside from this additional change, the initial admission period for an R-1 visa holder will be reduced to a year, unlike the previously set three years.

Thos interested in the public comment on these revisions can mail their inquiries to the Director, Regulatory Management Division, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20529.