R-1 Religious Visa

R1 religious visa is issued to religious workers coming to temporaily serve in the U.S. branch:

1. R1 religious visa applies to the priests of religion and to professionals who perform religious occupation or rites.
2. R1 religious visa is issued to a religious nonprofit organization call petition that performs religious roles relating to a traditional religious rite.
3. The visa applicant should be a religious service provider and a member of the respective nonprofit religious association that has been established and successfully organized for at least a period of 2 years in the U.S.
4. The religious association filing the call petition for the alien R1 religious visa should sponsor the applicant and should hold a tax exemption status in the U.S.
5. If the religious worker is already a nonimmigrant visa holder, he may file for an AOS.
6. If the religious worker is in a foreign nation he may apply directly in the branch consulate after the petition has been sanctioned.

The dependents or the immediate relatives of the R1 religious visa applicant can qualify to get a R2 visa. The R2 visa holders can live and study in the U.S. They are not authorized to undertake any part-time or full-time job in the U.S. The dependents can request AOS or R2 visa extension by filing a form I-529 with appropriate proofs.

Requisites for the R1 religious visa call petition:

1. A written statement or certification from the qualifying or authorized official of the non-profit religious organization supporting and validating the fact that the religious organization has been operating and functioning with tax exemption status in the U.S. for the past 2 years.
2. The letter should describe the unavoidability of employing the applicant religious worker with valid proofs for salary and other benefits offered to such.
3. In case the religious worker is just a visitor working without a salary any authorized official of the religious organization can issue the letter; however, if the religious worker is employed the USCIS requires letter from the religious unit organizing the I-9’s.

The R1 religious visa process starts with I-129 form after which I -797 should be filed in the branch consulate. In stances where the applicant where the religious worker is a nonimmigrant, AOS can be filed after petition approval. If the nonimmigrant leaves the country without parole then the I-797 should be filed again.