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Religious Workers

Ministers and non-ministers in religious vocations and occupations may immigrate to or adjust status in the U.S. for the purpose of performing religious work in a full-time compensated position.

The special immigrant religious worker category is one of several employment-based fourth-preference (EB-4) visa classifications. See additional information about other EB-4 classifications.

Non-Minister Religious Worker CapThere is a statutory numerical limit (or “cap”) of 5,000 workers who may be issued a special immigrant non-minister religious worker visa during each fiscal year. There is no cap for special immigrant religious workers entering the U.S. solely for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of a minister.

Sunset Date for Non-Minister Religious Workers

Dec. 10, 2016, President Obama signed Public Law 114-254 extending the EB-4 non-minister special immigrant religious worker program. The new date on which this program will end is April 28, 2017. The law allows these workers to immigrate or adjust to permanent resident by that date. Non-minister special immigrant religious workers include those within a religious vocation or occupation engaged in either a professional or non-professional capacity.

This date on which the program will end applies to accompanying spouses and children of these non-minister special immigrant religious workers. Special Immigrants entering the U.S. solely for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of a minister, and their accompanying spouses and children, are not affected by this date.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify as a special immigrant religious worker, the foreign national must:

  1. Have been a member of a religious denomination that has a bona fide non-profit religious organization in the United States for at least 2 years immediately \before the filing of a petition for this status with USCIS.
  2. Seek to enter the United States to work in a full time, compensated position in one of the following occupations:
    • Solely as a minister of that religious denomination;
    • A religious vocation either in a professional or nonprofessional capacity;
    • A religious occupation either in a professional or nonprofessional capacity; or
    • A bona fide non-profit religious organization in the United States.
  3. Be coming to work for either:
    • A bona fide non-profit religious organization in the United States; or
    • A bona fide organization that is affiliated with the religious denomination in the United States.
  4. Have been working in one of the positions described above after the age of 14, either abroad or in the United States, continuously for at least 2 years immediately before the filing of a petition with USCIS. The prior religious work need not correspond precisely to the type of work to be performed. A break in the continuity of the work during the preceding two years will not affect eligibility so long as:
    • The foreign national was still employed as a religious worker;
    • The break did not exceed two years; and
    • The nature of the break was for further religious training or for sabbatical. However, the foreign national must have been a member of the petitioner’s denomination throughout the two years of qualifying employment.

Note: Full time work is an average of 35 hours per week. Compensated may mean salaried or unsalaried.

We will be happy to clarify all intricacies of these cases. Please contact us for more information.

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