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R1 religious worker Visa :-

The R1 classification applies to an alien coming to the US as a religious worker.

Eligibility criteria :

For at least 2 years immediately preceding the time of application, the applicant must have been a member of a religious denomination* having a bona fide, non profit religious organization in the US.
The applicant must be seeing entry into the US for any of the following purposes :
- Solely as a minister of religion;
- To work for the religious organization at the request of the organization in a professional capacity;
- To work for the organization or a bona fide organization affiliated with the religious denomination, at the request of the organization in a religious vocation or occupation.

(* A religious denomination is a religious group having some form of ecclesiastical government, a common belief or statement of faith, some form of worship, a set of religious guidelines, religious services and ceremonies, established places of worship, religious congregations or comparable evidence of a bona fide religious organization.)

Procedure :

If the applicant is in the US and desires to change from one non-immigrant category to R1 category, the religious organization would petition using Form I-129 for change of status (Note : Form I-129 is also used to apply for extension of stay in R1 status).

The supporting documents required would be :

Letter of support from the religious organization
Proof of 501(c)(3) non-profit status
Proof that the R-1 worker's religious denomination is the same as the sponsoring organization's
Proof that the R-1 worker belongs to the denomination since the immediately preceding two years
Proof that the R-1 applicant is qualified for the religious position
Proof that the sponsoring organization can support the R-1 religious worker

Filing fee payable is $ 190.

Optional payment of $1000 Premium Processing Fee maybe made for expedited processing of the petition. In this case the petition will be decided in 2 weeks. In the normal course (i.e. without payment of premium processing fee) the petition may take upto 4 months to process.

In case of change of status to R-1 in the US, the beneficiary will have to apply for an R-1 visa at a U.S. Consulate the next time he/she travels.

The maximum initial stay for an R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker is 3 years, which may be extended to a total of 5 by filing another I-129 petition.

An applicant outside the US or in the US under a visa waiver program may apply to a US consulate for the R1 visa.

Dependents (i.e. spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age) of R-1 visa holders are classified as R-2. Such dependents are not permitted to accept employment in the US though they may study while in the US.