Category Archives: R-1 visa

Applying for a Visa, Of Interest, R-1 visa

Understanding the difference between a visa and status in the US — Part 2

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Last week, I started this two-part series discussing the differences between Visas and Status.  Visas are just a document that indicates that someone at an Embassy or Consulate has reviewed your visa application and believes that you are qualified to enter the U.S. and that for the validity period of the visa, you are allowed to come to the US and request permission to enter the US in that status.

At the border, you will be examined by a customs inspector — an officer of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  The officer, if he agrees that you meet the qualifications to enter the US in the requested category, will grant you status.  Status is permission to stay the US in the requested visa category.  That grant of status will also decide how long you may stay here in that visa category.

That grant of status is what is important.  He can give you one day of status, or he can give you two or three years or more.  Your status can end before the expiration date of your visa, but it can also extend past the date of your visa.  But, because of the great authority given to these border inspectors, their determination will almost always be the last word.

Several employment visas are governed by USCIS petition approval notices.  The R – r-ligious worker visa and the H – temporary professional worker visas, for example, cannot be issued for a period extending past the validity already approved by the USCIS.   But when you enter the US, the border guard will frequently feel free to completely disregard what is written in the approval notice, and go ahead and issue what he wants to.  As I stated above, thus frequently goes past the validity period of the visa and the petition.

It is my understanding that, officially, the USCIS does not like this situation.  It is their position that, if the border officer gives you extended time past the expiration of the petition approval, then you should go back and ask the CBP officer to “correct” it.   In general, if you do that, the CBP officer will refuse to do it, taking the position that he had the authority to do what he said.  And to be honest, I have never seen a USCIS officer give anyone a hard time for being past the end of his “petition-approved” status if he also had a currently valid I-94 from the CBP officer showing current status.

 I hope this is interesting and helpful. Remember that this is not legal advice. It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation. I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

Non-immigrant Visas, Of Interest, R-1 visa

Understanding the Difference Between a Visa and Status in the US — Part 1

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I have people tell me all the time that their visa expires in six months, when what they really mean is that their stay here in the US expires in six months.   Likewise, I have had people say that they can stay here ten years because they have a ten-year tourist visa.  What is a visa?   And what does it have to do with how long you can stay in the US.

I will try to explain.   Like everything else in immigration law, it is a complicated concept.   A visa has nothing to do with how long you can stay in the US.   A visa is simply advanced permission to come to the border and ask if you can come in.   The idea behind a visa is that you have gone to an Embassy and they have said “We have reviewed this person, and, in our opinion, he is qualified to enter the US, and so we are giving him advanced permission to request permission to enter the US in the requested category.”  If they give you a 45-day visa, you have 45 days to come and request permission to enter the US in that category.   If they give you a 90-day visa, you have 90 days to come and request permission to enter the US in that category.   If they give you a ten-year visa, you have ten years to come and request permission to enter the US in that category.

In addition, they will give you either a one-entry visa or a multiple-entry visa.   A one-entry visa is just that — you are allowed to use it to enter the US only one time, and it must, of course, be within the validity period of that visa.    A multiple entry visa can be used for an unlimited number of entries during the validity period of the visa.

It is also important to remember that a visa is in no way a guarantee that you will be able to enter the US.   A visa only means that the Consulate talked to you and reviewed your documents and determined, to their satisfaction, that you are qualified to enter the US under the requested category.   It is not a determination that you are qualified and should be admitted.

When you come to the border, the border guard will make his own determination.   He has complete authority to decide that, regardless of the Consulate’s approval, he does not think that you are qualified to enter.   He will understand that the visa means that the Consulate reviewed your case, but he has complete discretion to ask his own questions and require his own evidence, and to decide that he does not agree; to decide that he thinks you do not qualify to enter under that visa.

Then, if he does let you in, he is the one who decides how long you may stay.  It has nothing to do with the length of time that the visa is valid.

I will continue this discussion next week, focusing on the “Status” side of the discussion.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

Non-immigrant Visas, R-1 visa

Premium Processing

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The USCIS offers a Premium Processing Service for those willing to pay extra fees in regard to certain I-129 and I-140 petitions.   This Premium Processing Service is quite useful if you can afford it.  If you are filing for an R-1, the new Premium Processing fee is $1,500.  Other visa categories have higher Premium Processing fee.   If you pay the $1,590 extra filing fee, the USCIS will give you a money back guarantee to process your petition in 15 days — basically two weeks.   Within those two weeks, they will either approve it, deny it, or issue a request for further evidence.    The Request for Evidence, will, of course, delay things until you can provide the remainder of the evidence, but, once you return it to the USCIS, they will then have 15 business days to either approve or deny.   So, in that case, the three weeks turns into six weeks days (plus however long you take to gather and submit the requested additional evidence), but it is still much faster than waiting five to ten months for an approval.

Premium Processing is not available for all services provided by the USCIS.  Unfortunately, it is quite limited.  It is only available for certain I-129 and I-140 employer-filed petitions.   It will cover R-1 petitions, but only if there had previously been a successful USCIS site inspection at the location where the work will be performed.    It will not cover Religious Worker Green Card petitions (which are filed on form I-360).   Premium processing does not cover family-based immigrant petitions or any naturalization applications.

Important Note:  The fifteen-day processing fee only covers the work done by USCIS.   If you need to then apply for a visa at an Embassy, that process at the Embassy or Consulate is completely outside of the 15-day guarantee from the USCIS.

Is it worth it?  If you qualify for it, and have the money, I have generally strongly recommended getting Premium Processing.   The reason is quite simple.   The workers at USCIS are under pressure to be picky.   And, regardless of how well you document a petition, they can always find a reason to send out a time-consuming Request for Evidence.    However, the workers in the Premium Processing division are also under pressure to get these approved in fifteen days.  They don’t have time to be picky — to look for potential problems just to demonstrate that they are earning their pay.   They don’t want to send out a Request for Evidence unless it is clearly necessary, because that doubles their workload.   So the result is that if you pay the extra money for Premium Processing, you not only get a quick answer, but you usually get spared the aggravation of an unnecessary Request for Evidence.

However, lately, like everything else, Premium Processing has been becoming less reliable.   I have experienced them improperly rejecting Requests for Premium Processing of many R-1 petitions (this does not deny the petition — it is just that they refuse to do the petition in 15 days).   They will say that they do not have a successful site visit, when, in fact they have done a successful site visit.  But even when we point that out, they send back the same answer.  As far as I can tell, they are probably too busy and this is an easy way to lighten their load because we have no way to force them to admit that they are wrong.   This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t request Premium Processing, but you should not build your plans around assuming that you will receive it.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

 

R-1 visa

Receiving Financial Support from Overseas

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If you are an R-1 M-ssionary and are receiving support from overseas, I want to encourage you to have your foreign supporters contribute directly to your R-1 employer.   That way, your R-1 employer can use that money to pay you, and then, at the end of the year, your R-1 employer will be able to give you a W-2 or a 1099 form.   You then can use those forms to file tax returns.   And, as I said in my last article), you want to be filing US tax returns each year reflecting income from your R-1 employer.  This will help you when you file for an extension of your R-1 or for a religious worker green card.1

However, there are some things here that you need to be aware of.    I am not talking here about having your foreign supporters donate to you and then you give the money to your R-1 employer.   That is completely forbidden under the USCIS regulations.   You, as the R-1 m-ssionary are not allowed to provide your R-1 employer with the money that they will then use to pay you.   You are allowed to make regular donations to your R-1 employer, but you are not allowed to give them your own salary.

This could make things complicated for some people.   Donating directly to the U.S. R-1 employer could have negative tax repercussions for some people — they could lose their tax deduction in their home country.   Also, if you are paid in the US, that may affect you negatively in your home country if some government benefits are based on how much you earn in your home country.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

 

R-1 visa

Deputized Fundraising

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If you are in the US on an R-1 m-ssionary visa and you are supported rather than receiving a regular salary, remember that you are allowed to do Deputized Fundraising for your employer.   That is fundraising where the supporter gives the money directly to your employer rather than to you.   Under the tax law as I understand it (I am an immigration lawyer, not a tax lawyer), the money has to be given to the employer without any direction from the supporter.   But often there is a way to let the employer know who you want to support.   Then the employer often passes the money on to the m-ssionary (maybe with a small amount taken out for administrative fees).    This is very common among m-ssion organizations in the United States.

The reason this is important is that as an R-1 m-ssionary, it is good if you can file tax returns each year.   And if you want to file tax returns each year, you will need income from your R-1 employer each year and you will need a W-2 form or a 1099 form from your R-1 employer each year.   Remember that you can only work for your R-1 employer, so you can only get salary/compensation from your R-1 employer (I will talk about foreign donations in my next article).

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

 

Non-immigrant Visas, R-1 visa

H-1B vs R-1 for M-ssionaries

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I have mostly been writing about coming to the US as a m-ssionary in R-1 status.   There is another option.  However, I think that it is a difficult option to work with.   That option is the H-1b.   The H-1b is a temporary option for professional employees to come to the US — usually this would be positions that require a college education.  The advantage of the H-1b is that it usually doesn’t have as much paperwork involved.  You don’t need to prove two-years membership in a denomination.   You usually don’t need to provide all the information that is required for an R-1 about the employing m-nistry and the nature of the employment and all the information about the job.  You don’t have to submit as much evidence showing that the employer really needs the R-1 employee and you don’t have to prove that it is a “r-ligious” job.  Therefore, the H-1b would be available for m-ssionary jobs that are not so “r-ligious” but can still very much be “m-ssionary” service — such as accountants or computer IT workers.  I have obtained R-1s for many people in widely varying (not obviously r-ligious) areas of service — but I have drawn the line at accountants.  I have not been able to come up with a realistic argument for how being an accountant is a “r-ligious” occupation.

However, there are a number of reasons why an H-1b is often not the best fit for most people who would normally be applying for R-1 status or an R-1 visa.  The first is the money.   There are a number of significant filing fees that must be paid by the employing entityand the attorney must be hired by the employing entity.  Also, the wages that must be paid are, to a certain degree, set by the government.   The Department of Labor has decided what the minimum levels of income are that can be paid to an H-1b employee, and these tend to be significantly higher than what would be paid to most m-ssionaries — sometimes as much as twice as high or more.  Another disadvantage of H-1bs is that there is a limited number of them (and usually there are more people who want them than can have them).  This results in a high proportion of H-1b applications being returned unaccepted.  Finally, due to the way the H-1b process works, most new H-1b employees must start after September 30 of the year they are approved.   This could cause delay for people who otherwise would not need to wait that long.

The other major issue is the college degree.   The H-1b is only available if the position requires a bachelor’s degree and if the job applicant has a bachelor’s degree.   In other words, if the church requires a pastor who has a college degree then an H-1b could work.  But if your ministry needs a receptionist, you can’t use the H-1b because the USCIS will say that most receptionists don’t need college degrees.

Sometimes an H-1b would work.   Your ministry needs an accountant or a director or a college professor or an agricultural engineer for your ministry’s ranch or farm and you pay a reasonably high amount and you want to bring one from abroad — you can use the H-1b.   But, for most other types of positions, the R-1 will probably work better.  Some churches pay their pastors well enough to qualify for the H-1b, but even there it might be easier to bring a pastor through the R-1 program.   The R-1 requires more documentation, but it is more flexible and you can probably bring the pastor sooner —- and you don’t have to worry about being rejected simply because there are too many applicants for the visa.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

 

Applying for a Visa, R-1 visa

Preparing to apply for an R-1 Visa at a Consulate

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So you have your R-1 petition approval?  What is next?  If you are outside of the U.S., you need to apply for an R-1 visa at your nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.   If you are in the U.S., and you want to travel, you will need to go to an U.S. Embassy or Consulate to get an R-1 visa before you return to the U.S.

In January I wrote about applying for a visa at a Consulate.   Now we will discuss the particular considerations that you need to have if you are applying for an R visa.  But first I want to discuss whether or not you should apply for an R visa.

Of course, if you were out of the US when your sponsoring/employing organization filed the petition, you need an R-1 visa in order to come to the U.S.  You don’t have a choice.    However, if you changed status to R-1, or extended your R-1 status, then you need to decide if you want to take the risk of filing for an R visa — the same considerations apply whether you are the primary R-1 applicant or an R-2 dependent.

What I am talking about is that it is becoming increasingly risky to leave the US to apply for an R visa.    I am not sure exactly why.  I think that there has been increased pressure for the consulates to “vet” the visa applications.   It used to be that an R visa denial was very rare.  Now, it is not uncommon.   A number of the denials, in fact were based on improper reasons, and I would get conflicting answers when I requested explanations.  And now, the US Department of State has even changed the rules for approving R visas.  It used to be that they were supposed to treat the USCIS Approval as binding unless they find something that the USCIS didn’t know about — but now they have more freedom to question the approval itself.   And I have been seeing an increased amount of questions that reflect what the consulate staff wants to see and not what the statute requires.   For example, the position may not require a theological education, but the consulate officer may ask the visa applicant why they don’t have a theological education.

The other problem is that the consulates seem to be increasingly strict about making sure that the position pays enough to cover the visa applicant’s needs.  The R statute and regulations are quite flexible on income — it doesn’t have a minimum, it just requires compensation.   I deal with a lot of m-ssionaries who have quite low incomes, and I have been always able to get approvals for them.   However, lately, some consulates have been more demanding in this regard to income as well.

I am not saying that you should not apply for an R visa.   Most of my clients still get their visa applications approved.   What I am saying is that it is more risky than it used to be, and I recommend only applying for a visa if absolutely necessary.    It would be sad to spend all that effort and money to get an approval from the USCIS only to lose it all because of a denial at the consulate.   Once the consulate denies you, you will not be able to come back to the US in  R status unless you can convince them to change their mind — which is very difficult.

Now, back to what you need to do.   Last week I discussed the general outline of applying for a visa.   Now, I will briefly discuss what you need for an R visa.  In general, it is the same as what I wrote last week.   The additions are that you need a letter from your R-1 employer confirming that the terms of the R-1 petition are still in effect and that you will begin working with the R-1 employer as soon as you enter the US in R status.   If you have already been working for the R-1 employer, you should bring proof that you have been paid.

You also need to be ready to discuss you’re the nature of your R-1 employment — what the job requirements are (education, work experience, etc.), and the religious nature of the employment.   If there are educational or experience requirements you will need to have proof that you completed these requirements.  It is very important that you are able to explain the r-ligious nature of the position if it is not a typical m-nister or m-ssionary position.   I have been able to get R-1s for a variety of positions that are not what you would necessarily think of being “r-ligious” positions.   These are positions that are typically “secular”, but in this case have a strong “r-ligious” emphasis.  Too often, my clients just want to say, I will be a teacher or mechanic or a video editor or a camp director.   You cannot get an R visa for being a teacher or mechanic or a video editor or a camp director.  You can only get an R visa for being a r-ligious worker.   You need to explain how your position is r-ligious — how you will be teaching r-ligious subjects or teaching them in a way that emphasizes G-d’s truths, or, as a mechanic or camp director, working with students or young people to mentor them sp-ritually as they work with you or attend the programs at your camp or how you will use your editing skills to produce videos that communicate the truths of the B-ble.

You also need to be able to explain what the compensation is that you will be receiving.   Sometimes this is simple — if you will be receiving a regular paycheck.   But if it is food and housing that your employer will be providing to you, you need to be able to explain that to them.  Many times, people come to the US as m-ssionaries on a B visa and they are given room and food to allow them to stay here and serve.   That is not compensation.   But, when a person is here on an R visa, that becomes compensation.   That can be confusing, but it is an important distinction.

In summary, most people with R approvals from the USCIS will get their R visas.   However, you need to be prepared.   The R Visa interview can be difficult and you need to be ready to discuss the most common issues that may come up.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consult an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

757 Appleton Road, Elkton, MD 21921

Gunnar.L.Armstrong@gmail.com

 

R-1 visa

Timing Considerations for R-1 petitions.

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When should you file for R-1 status?  That is a major question to be considered when you are looking at an R-1 petition.  Two weeks ago, 11/29/2019, I wrote that it usually takes about five months to get an R petition approved unless you qualify for, and can afford and can obtain, Premium Processing — which takes 15 days.   See last week, 12/6/2019, for further discussion regarding Premium Processing.  Knowing that, when should you file?

There are a number of factors that affect this decision.   Whether or not you are in the U.S.  When you want to start?  If you are in the US, the most important question is, are you in status?   You want to file before you are out of status if at all possible.  If you are still here in status when you file, you will normally be allowed to stay here while the application is processed (but see below).   If you are out of status, they will normally not allow you to stay here while it is being processed.

If you are currently working, you will want to consider whether or not you need to be working while the petition is in process.  If you expect to need to travel, that will also affect when you file.   Finally, if you are hoping to file for a green card, that will affect your decisions regarding timing as well.

Before we go any further, I want to remind you that the processing timing is not certain.   You should expect at least four to five months, and it can take longer — and that is just for the petition.   It will take two to four weeks to prepare a well-drafted petition.  If you are out of the country, and not in Canada, you need to plan on two to four additional weeks for your interview at the consulate in order to get your visa and come to the US.   If you are Canadian, you can simply come to the border with your petition approval notice, so there is no extra delay for Canadians.

The most important issue is that if you are in the US, you need to file while you are still here legally.   You can file up to the last day that you are in status.   As long as the USCIS receives the petition while you are still here legally, then, the generally accepted rule is that you can stay here until the petition is approved or denied.   This rule is not found in any regulation as far as I can tell, I believe it goes back to a letter written by a USCIS Commissioner decades ago.   However, it has been generally accepted by the USCIS as the rule governing whether or not you can stay here while you are waiting for a petition or application to be approved.

The reason I say “generally accepted” is that there is a regulation which has been interpreted by the USCIS to say the opposite — that if your status ends before the new petition/application is approved, they will not grant you a change or extension of status, they will require you to leave the US and apply for a  visa before you can come back in that status.   I have only seen the USCIS use this regulation a few times, and only with people who were in F status when the petition was filed and whose F status then ran out.   So, I tell people that they can reasonably expect to be able to stay here until the new petition is approved, but, if the USCIS should choose to enforce their interpretation of the regulation on you, they will pretend that the rule allowing you to stay doesn’t exist.

So, you can, normally, file up to the last day that you are here legally.  If you are in F status, and want to change to R status, you should be able to file up to the last day of your sixty-day grace period.   However, to minimize trouble with the USCIS, I recommend that you file, if you can, while you are still in school — before the start of the sixty-day grace period.

I suggest that you file about four months before your current status ends.  This reduces the time that you will be “between” statuses and reduces the likelihood of the USCIS deciding to apply their restrictive interpretation of the regulation instead of the more general and less restrictive rule.  Also, if you are already an R-1, and are applying for an extension, you are allowed to work for 240 days (8 months) after your current R-1 ends.   Filing four months early will give you plenty of time to continue working even if your R-1 should take eight or nine months to process, which is unlikely, but possible.

If you are filing to change status to R-1, and you want to start working as soon as the new R-1 petition is approved, then you should probably file about five months before your current status runs out.   I haven’t found any rule that states this, but the USCIS seems to disfavor filing more than six months before your current status runs out.   And, I know that the Premium Processing unit will reject a request for Premium Processing if you file more than six months before your current status runs out.

Another consideration to keep in mind is that if you have recently arrived in the US in something other than R status, you don’t want to file to change status to R until at least 90 days have passed after you have entered the US.   There is a new rule that if you file to change status within the first 90 days, they could decide that you committed visa fraud when you entered the US requesting one status but, apparently, intending to switch to another.

If you are out of the US, the factors are simpler.  You will want to file about five months before you want to come to the US.   It would be good to file before that, but I don’t recommend filing more than six months before you want to come to the US.

If you need to travel, you need to keep several things in mind.   If you need to travel on your current visa before you switch to R status, you need to wait until after you get back before you file the request to change status to R.  If you file the change of status request before you leave the US, it will be denied.   Also, if you file the change of status request within 90 days after your come back you run the risk of being charged with immigration fraud.   Once the petition is filed requesting R status, you cannot leave the US until you receive R status.   At that point, you can leave, but you will need to get an R visa before you can come back (unless you are a Canadian — who do not need visas).    So, you should file a petition to change status 90 days after you enter the US, and at least five months before you will need to travel because it will probably take that long to get R status unless you can successfully request Premium Processing.

Finally, if you are hoping to file for a Green Card.  I strongly suggest that, unless you have at least a year remaining on your R-1, you wait to file for a Green Card until after you have requested and received your R-1 extension.   I would recommend filing for your R-1 extension four or five months before your current R-1 runs out and then, after it is approved, wait 90 days if possible before filing for a Green Card.   This 90-day wait is not so important when you have R status and want to apply for a Green Card, but I would do it if you can.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

 

 

R-1 visa

Premium Processing

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The USCIS offers a Premium Processing Service for those willing to pay $1,410 extra (this may be slightly increasing in the next several months) in regard to certain I-129 and I-140 petitions.   This Premium Processing Service is quite useful if you can afford it.  If you pay the $1,410 extra filing fee, the USCIS will give you a money back guarantee to process your petition in 15 days.   Within that 15 days, they will either approve it, deny it, or issue a request for further evidence.    The Request for Evidence, will, of course, delay things until you can provide the remainder of the evidence, but, once you return it to the USCIS, they will then have 15 days to either approve or deny.   So, in that case, the 15 days turns into 30 days (plus however long you take to gather and submit the requested additional evidence), but it is still much faster than waiting five to ten months for an approval.

Premium Processing is not available for all services provided by the USCIS.  Unfortunately, it is quite limited.  It is only available for certain I-129 and I-140 employer-filed petitions.   It will cover R-1 petitions, but only if there had previously been a successful USCIS site inspection at the location where the work will be performed.    It will not cover Religious Worker Green Card petitions (which are filed on form I-360).   Premium processing does not cover family-based immigrant petitions or any naturalization applications.

Important Note:  The fifteen-day processing fee only covers the work done by USCIS.   If you need to then apply for a visa at an Embassy, that process at the Embassy or Consulate is completely outside of the 15-day guarantee from the USCIS.

Is it worth it?  If you qualify for it, and have the money, I have generally strongly recommended getting Premium Processing.   The reason is quite simple.   The workers at USCIS are under pressure to be picky.   And, regardless of how well you document a petition, they can always find a reason to send out a time-consuming Request for Evidence.    However, the workers in the Premium Processing division are also under pressure to get these approved in fifteen days.  They don’t have time to be picky — to look for potential problems just to demonstrate that they are earning their pay.   They don’t want to send out a Request for Evidence unless it is clearly necessary, because that doubles their workload.   So the result is that if you pay the extra money for Premium Processing, you not only get a quick answer, but you usually get spared the aggravation of an unnecessary Request for Evidence.

However, lately, like everything else, Premium Processing has been becoming less reliable.   I have experienced them improperly rejecting Requests for Premium Processing of many R-1 petitions (this does not deny the petition — it is just that they refuse to do the petition in 15 days).   They will say that they do not have a successful site visit, when, in fact they have done a successful site visit.  But even when we point that out, they send back the same answer.  As far as I can tell, they are probably too busy and this is an easy way to lighten their load because we have no way to force them to admit that they are wrong.   This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t request Premium Processing, but you should not build your plans around assuming that you will receive it.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong

 

R-1 visa

How long does it take to Petition for an R-1 visa or Status?

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In general, I tell people to expect about five months for an R-1 petition to be granted.   This number has stayed pretty much the same over the past number of years.  Sometimes it is taking longer, sometimes it goes more quickly, but usually not much quicker or much longer.   On the other hand, I have had some that have disappeared into the depths of the USCIS and have taken more than a year — but, fortunately, that seldom happens.  Sometimes, if the petitioner has had a large number of these petitions approved, it might go as quickly as two or three months, but that is rare — even if the petitioner is a frequent petitioner.   Just to be clear, there is no “category” known as “frequent petitioner”.  It is just that a petitioner who frequently gets R-1 petitions approved sometimes gets favorable consideration.

Now, remember that this is just five months from filing to approval.   This doesn’t count the time it takes to prepare an R petition — usually at least two weeks, and often three or four.  Also, if the USCIS sends out a Request for Evidence, that could stretch out the processing by up to three months or more.

Also, remember that this “about five months” is just until the approval of the petition.   If you are here in the US you will receive the R status at that time.  If you are out of the US, you will need to apply for an R-1 visa at your local embassy or consulate before you can come to the US.  At most embassies and consulates this only takes a few weeks, but at a busier location it could take longer.   If you are Canadian, you can simply come to the border with your petition approval notice, so there is no extra delay for Canadians.

Finally, remember that if the petitioner has had a successful site visit, your petition might qualify for “premium processing”.   If that goes well, you should have your approval in 15 days.   I will have more information about “Premium Processing” next week.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Gunnar Armstrong