There are three major options for coming to the U.S. as a m-ssionary.   The simplest is the B-1 visa.  This is a visitors visa for people who want to come to the US for a temporary stay.   Normally, people come on a B visa for a short visit, but, it is possible, in some cases, to come on a B-1 visa as a m-ssionary for as long as a year.   And, it can be extended for at least one more year.  However, there are a number of restrictions and other aspects that can make this less than desirable.   The first is that it can be hard to get a B-1 m-ssionary visa.   You need to satisfy the officer at the consulate, and the officer at the border, that you are just coming for a temporary stay.   If they think that you might be thinking of staying, or that you don’t have enough ties to your home country, they may not let you have the visa or enter the U.S..   The second weakness is that you never know, when you request to be allowed to enter on a B-1 visa, how long you will be allowed to stay.   The third aspect is that you cannot work on a B-1 visa.   There are options for being supported, but you can’t be paid for services.

The second aspect is an R-1 R-ligious Worker Visa.   This allows a person to come to the US for up to five years to serve in a r-ligious position on behalf of a denomination of which he has already been a member for two years.   After he has completed the five years, he needs to stay outside of the US for one year before he can return.

The third possibility is an immigrant R-ligious Worker visa.   This allows a person to come to the US permanently to serve in a r-ligious position on behalf of a denomination of which he has already been a member for two years, and for which he has worked as a r-ligious worker for two years.   This position is somewhat in flux right now, and it is uncertain if it will continue to be available.

Employers are required to fill out an I-9 form for each new employee.   This is to establish that the new employee is allowed to work here in the U.S.   The most recent form is dated 3/8/2013.   Employers may continue to use that form until January 21, 2017.   They can, of course, use the new form, dated 11/14/2016, and starting January 22, 2017, employers must use the new form.

There is a special immigration program that allows m-ssi-naries to come to the U.S. permanently.   However, it is based on a statute that has a Sunset Date — meaning that on that date, the immigration program will end.    The statute actually has two parts — one for m-nisters and one for R-ligious workers.   The immigration program for the m-nisters does not expire.   But, they put a Sunset Date in the part of the statute governing R-ligious workers.

That Sunset date used to come every three years, and for quite a while, they extended the program every three years.    Last year, when the date came up, they extended it to December 2015, and then, in December, they extended it only nine months more, to September 30, 2016.

Days before this past September 30, Congress (and the President), extended the program until December 9, 2016.

We don’t know what is going to happen.   If they extend it (either for a month, or nine months, or three years), the USCIS will continue working on any R-ligious Worker Green Card petition or application that they have or will receive.   And they will be able to issue green cards up to the date that the statute expires.

However, if they do not extend the statute, all non-m-nister R-ligious Worker green card petitions and applications in process will expire, and no new green cards will be issued, and no new petitions or applications will be received.   And, if someone abroad has received a non-m-nisterial R-ligious Worker Immigrant Visa, they must enter the U.S. by December 8, 2016, or they will not be allowed to enter with that visa.  It is possible that they could come in as late as December 9, 2016, but I would not count on it.

Remember that this only applies to Non-M-nisterial R-ligious Worker Immigrants.   People who are applying for R-ligious Worker Immigrant status as m-nisters will continue to be eligible to receive green cards because their program does not have a sunset date.

President-Elect Donald Trump!   This was obviously a surprise to many people.   Some of my readers are ecstatic!   Others are fearful or in despair.    To be honest, we really don’t know what will happen under the new president.   A lot of people think that it will become much harder to immigrate to the U.S.   That is possible.   But we don’t know that.   We don’t know how his deeds will line up with his words.   I expect that he will implement more vetting for people from Muslim countries.   There are Republicans who will want to shut down certain aspects of the current immigration scheme – such as the H-1b and the L-1 (two business employment visas) and the investor green card, and the green card lottery.  Maybe Trump will be open to those ideas, maybe not.   He has talked strongly about stopping illegal immigration.   Hopefully, that will not carry over to restricting the current legal immigration.  One bright side is, hopefully, that the Religious Worker Green Card, which is currently in limbo, is more likely to be approved, I think, under Republicans than under Democrats.   It seems to me that the Democrats have been more antagonistic to faith-based organizations than have the Republicans.

We will just have to see, and pray!