As discussed previously, in order to qualify for an R-1, you need to have two years in the denomination immediately before the petition is filed.   A lot of people think that just means that they have been a member of the denomination for two years at some point in the past.   Actually, it needs to be the 24 months immediately before the petition is filed.  If the petition is filed in October 2017, you need to have been a member of the denomination from October 2015 until October 2017.

What does it mean to be a member of a denomination?  The first question is, “What is a denomination?”.   The USCIS purposely left this a vague definition.  It can be a regular denomination, like the Presbyterian Ch-rch in America or the United Methodist Ch-rch.   It can be a single ch-rch.   I have successfully done R-1s where the membership has been with a r-ligious employer or a m-ssion organization.   In many of these cases, the R-1 job applicant was with the denomination or ch-rch or m-ssion organization for two years.    But, what if he was not with that specific denomination or ch-rch for two years, what can be done?

As I said, the definition of “denomination” was left loose to accommodate this situation.   The law was written to help m-ssionaries come here.   The authors of the law were aware that there are many non-denominational ch-rches or organizations that send or bring m-ssionaries to the US.  And, even if it is a standard denomination, the foreign denomination might not be actually associated with the US denomination.   For example, there are foreign Presbyterian churches which are part of a US Presbyterian denomination.   But there are also foreign Presbyterian denominations which are similar, but not connected with, a US denomination.   What do you do there?

What you do is look at the similarities.   Is there a similar statement of faith?   Is the w-rship style similar?  Is the ch-rch government similar?  Do the two organizations (the one in the US and the one abroad) have previously established connections?  All of these things can be used to show that, although the two ch-rches/denominations are not really one denomination, they are close enough that, for the purposes of immigration law, they can be viewed as one denomination.

It is important to understand that we are not trying to do something deceitful.   We are not trying to create a “denomination” where there is not one.    I have had people in m-ssion organizations or non-denominational/independent ch-rches protest that they are “not a denomination”.  And, it is true, they are not.     But this is “law”.   We are not trying to pretend that they are a denomination.   We are trying to fit them into a legal definition that was intentionally written broadly to intentionally include m-ssion organizations and independent non-denominational ch-rches.

The other question is, what does it mean to be a member.  This can be a tough question.   I generally read it to mean “affiliated” with.    Many ch-rches no longer keep a specific membership roll.   The USCIS seems to understand this and rarely requests a membership roll.    But there needs to be some real ties to the organization, or it will be difficult to satisfy this requirement.   As long as the p-stor is willing to write a letter affirming membership for two years, the USCIS is generally willing to accept this.  But, one or two contacts over the past two years does not constitute membership.   In my opinion, there needs to be regular contact and participation to support the claim that you have been a member.

If you have two years (the past 24 months) of membership in one ch-rch or denomination or m-ssion organization, or if you can establish that, over the past 24 months you were a member of two or more than one groups which can be shown to fit the definition of “denomination”, then you can potentially qualify for an R-1 (provided, of course, that all the other requirements are also filled).

I will add one last thing.   Although the “denomination” definition is broad, it is no guarantee that the USCIS will accept the “denomination” that you are proposing.  I have never had the USCIS refuse to accept a denomination that I proposed, but, often, they did ask for significant evidence that there really were genuine similarities/ties between the two different ch-rches/organizations.

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.

Two weeks ago on this blog I gave an overview of the requirements for obtaining R-1 status.    In regard to the work to be performed, I stated the following:

The job itself has to be r-ligious.  For example, you probably will not be able to get an R-1 to be an accountant, even if you will be serving at a ch-rch.  On the other hand, you need to look at the essential characteristics of the job — I have obtained R status for gardeners and auto-mechanics, because they weren’t really gardeners and auto-mechanics — they were people who were using their gardening and work as auto-mechanics to disciple younger believers.  And discipleship is a r-ligious activity.

Today I wanted to elaborate on this idea.   The regulations relating to this subject are quite complex — although sometimes complexity just creates more opportunity.   The first requirement is that the position itself be viewed by the petitioning denomination (which can be just one ch-rch or one r-ligious organization) as a r-ligious occupation.   In other words, it is not enough that a ch-rch wants to hire someone, they have to view that position as “religious”.   So, normally, it would be impossible to get an R visa for an accountant or a gardener or janitor.   These are not normally viewed as r-ligious, and, in fact, are specifically excluded by the regulations.  I have clients tell me that they have been told by other attorneys that teachers cannot get R status, or, for example, a ch-rch musician cannot get R status.  You will hear that only p-stors and m-ssionaries can get R status, but that is not true.    In my opinion, it is even possible to get R status for a janitor, or, perhaps, even an accountant or secretary or computer technician, but, only under certain circumstances.

The key is, what is the position, and how is it viewed by the petitioning organization.  A p-stor or regular m-ssionary is easy.  A w-rship leader or musician or teacher is still quite workable, but you need to show that the ch-rch or petitioner views those positions as inherently r-ligious — that the ch-rch created those positions with an intent to advance its r-ligious purpose.  Now, you can’t get an R visa for an accountant or computer geek or janitor. But, think about a monastery where the monks spend their time doing manual labor.  They probably satisfy this part of the requirement for an R visa.  Why?  Because they are not manual laborers; they are monks who do manual labor.   I think that there is a reasonable chance that a monk could satisfy this part of the requirements for an R visa even if he did computer work or janitorial work — because, again, he would not be a computer geek or janitor, he would be a monk who did those things.

But there is a second part of the requirement that also needs to be fulfilled, and, in my opinion, this second part, although it is limiting, gives a lot of room for imaginative arguments.   Not only does the position need to be a “r-ligious” position, as we just discussed, but the work itself also needs to be “r-ligious”.   Let’s take a teacher.   Even if the church views it as a “r-ligious” position, if she is just teaching math, then it will not satisfy the requirements for R status.   But, if she is expected to take time to pr-y with the students and to talk with them about G-d and the B-ble, and if she uses the study of math to talk about how G-d is a G-d or order, and things like that, then you have a good argument that the work itself is r-ligious.    You can’t get an R visa to be a janitor.   But if you are a sp-ritual mentor who uses a mop and a scrub brush as a means to teach young b-lievers how to honor G-d with their work, you could qualify for an R visa.    I think it is even possible that such things as being an accountant or a computer geek could qualify if you could show that what you were doing was a ministry, or, like a monk, an act of worship.   But, I will be honest, you will have an uphill battle with those two types of service.  They are different because, at least it seems to me, the work mostly involves you and a computer screen — and it is harder to show how you really are ministering.   But even here, a well framed argument could work.

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.

The R-1 is a temporary Visa/status that allows a r-ligious worker to come and work in the United States for up to five years.  There are a number of requirements to satisfy in order to obtain this visa.  These requirements relate to the petition, the petitioner, the job, and the beneficiary.

First off, the R-1 requires a petition.  You cannot simply go to a consulate and apply for an R-1 visa.  Also, the alien cannot file the petition, the petition can only be filed by the prospective employer.  Nothing specifically says that the employer needs to pay the filing fee, but I think it is best if the employer pays the fee.  Once the USCIS approves the petition, then the alien can go to a consulate and apply for an R visa.

The employer needs to be a r-ligious employer.  The employer doesn’t need to be a ch-rch, but it needs to be r-ligios and have r-ligious purposes.  The employer needs to have a 501c3 (Tax Exempt) letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in order to file a petition.  In the United States, a ch-rch can be tax exempt without getting a 501c3 letter, but the USCIS doesn’t care — they will not accept a petition if the employer doesn’t have that 501c3 letter.

The job itself has to be r-ligious.  For example, you probably will not be able to get an R-1 to be an accountant, even if you will be serving at a ch-rch.  On the other hand, you need to look at the essential characteristics of the job — I have obtained R status for gardeners and auto-mechanics, because they weren’t really gardeners and auto-mechanics — they were people who were using their gardening and work as auto-mechanics to disciple younger believers.  And discipleship is a r-ligious activity.

As the alien, you need to show that you have satisfied all of the requirements of the position — if the position requires a college degree, you need to show that you have a college degree.  Also, you need to show that you have been a member of the same denomination as the employer for the 24 months immediately preceding the filing of the petition.  Fortunately, the definition of denomination is open-ended, so that if you can show that you were a member of a ch-rch that was similar to the denomination of the employer, then that will often work.

Finally, this is the employment position.  There usually needs to be compensation paid or provided by the employer.  This could be actual salary, but it could also be room and board.  Sometimes the alien can be self-supported, but in order to do this the employer needs to show that they have a history of having self-supported workers in their m-nistry.

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.