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Immigrant Religious Workers
This category includes immigrants seeking to enter the United
States:
- As ministers of a religious denomination;
- To work for a religious organization in a professional
capacity; or
- To work for a religious organization in a religious vocation
or occupation.
With respect to professional religious workers and other religious
workers, immigration for these two categories is limited in
two ways:
- only 5,000 visas are available per year for these immigrants;
and
- immigration in these categories must take place by September
30, 2004.
All religious workers, whether they are ministers, professionals,
or other religious workers, must satisfy the following requirements:
- membership in a religious denomination having a bona fide
nonprofit, religious organization in the United States for
at least two years immediately preceding the time of application
for admission; and
- engaging in a religious vocation, professional religious
work, or other religious work continuously for at least
that two-year period.
A ''religious denomination'' is defined as a religious group
or community of believers having some form of ecclesiastical
government, a creed or statement of faith, some form of worship,
a code of doctrine and discipline, religious services, established
places of religious worship, and religious congregations. A
inter-denominational religious organization recognized under
§ 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is also treated as
a religious denomination.
In Matter of N -, 51 I&N Dec 173 (INS Central Office, 1953),
the INS found the Salvation Army to be a religious organization
for purposes of the immigration statute. The evidence that the
INS found particularly compelling was the fact that the Salvation
Army:
- Was incorporated in various states of the United States,
- Was a worldwide religious organization,
- Had a recognized creed or form of worship,
- Had a definite ecclesiastical government,
- Had a formal code of doctrine and discipline,
- Had a distinct religious history,
- Had a membership, not associated with any other church
or denomination,
- Had ministers selected after completing prescribed courses
of training,
- Had its own literature,
- Had established places of religious worship,
- Maintained religious congregations and conducted religious
services,
- Maintained a Sunday school for religious instruction,
and
- Conducted schools for preparation of its ministers, who
in addition to conducting religious services, perform marriage
ceremonies, bury the dead, christen children, and advise
and instruct the members of their congregation.
These general criteria have been used by the INS as a guideline
to determine whether a religious group is a religious denomination
under the statute.
The religious denomination must have a bona fide nonprofit,
religious organization in the United States. Such an organization
is one that is exempt from taxation as described in §501(c)(3)
of the Internal Revenue Code as it relates to religious organizations,
or one that has never sought such exemption but establishes
that it would be eligible if it had applied for it.
Ministers of Religion
An applicant for special immigrant status as a minister must
meet the following requirements:
- The immigrant must seek to enter the United States solely
for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of minister
of a religious denomination. If otherwise eligible, a minister
coming to the U.S. primarily in an administrative capacity
may qualify, so long as the assigned duties are primarily
related to the vocation of minister.
- The immigrant must have been a minister of a religious
denomination continuously for at least the two years immediately
preceding the application for admission. The regulations
do not require a particular means of financial support for
the minister. The Service, however, has interpreted this
lack of specificity as a requirement that the minister has
been financially supported during her requisite preceding
experience in the same manner that she will be in the position
for which special immigrant classification is sought. A
minister will not be disqualified if prevented from meeting
this two-year requirement by circumstances beyond his or
her control, e.g., confinement in a concentration camp or
flight as a refugee. The two-year ministerial service may
have been with a different religious denomination, since
the U.S. church apparently found his or her religious views
and practices compatible with theirs. And the applicant's
ordination may have taken place at any time, no matter how
recently, provided that the applicant has actually been
carrying on the vocation of a minister for at least two
years.
- The immigrant must have been authorized by the religious
denomination to conduct religious worship and to perform
other duties usually performed by authorized members of
the clergy of that religion.
- The immigrant's services as a minister must be needed
and requested by the religious denomination.
Other Religious Workers
The 1990 Act expanded the scope of the religious worker special
immigrant category by including persons who seek to enter the
U.S. (before September 30, 2004) to work: (i) at the request
of a religious organization in a professional capacity in a
religious vocation or occupation; or (ii) for the organization
in a religious vocation or occupation.
Terms relating to the three types of other religious workers
are defined in the regulations as follows:
- Professional capacity: an activity in a religious vocation
or occupation for which the minimum of a U.S. baccalaureate
degree or a foreign equivalent degree is required.
- Religious occupation: an activity that relates to a traditional
religious function. Examples of individuals in religious
occupations include, liturgical workers, religious instructors
or counselors, cantors, catechists, workers in religious
hospitals or religious health care facilities, missionaries,
religious translators or broadcasters. Such workers do not
include janitors, maintenance workers, clerks, fund raisers,
or persons solely involved in the solicitation of donations.
- Religious vocation: a calling to religious life evidenced
by the demonstration of commitment practiced in the religious
denomination, such as the taking of vows. Examples of individuals
with a religious vocation include nuns, monks, and religious
brothers and sisters.
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