We have been favored in the United States with an Immigration Law that was designed to make it easier for m-ssi-naries and p-stors to come and go.   That is not to say that it is easy, but there have been a number of accommodations made specifically for m-ssi-naries.   There are specific m-ssi-nary and p-storal categories identified under the B-1 visa that allow people to come here to serve as volunteers.   There are the non-immigrant and immigrant R-ligious worker provisions that allow people to come here temporarily or permanently to work as m-ssi-naries or p-stors.    These are not easy visa categories to obtain, but there is nothing like them for any other occupation.  Every other type of work visa is considerably more difficult or expensive to get.

Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) are supposed to live in the U.S.— it is a “residence” card.   If they want to become U.S. citizens, they need to live here three years if they are married to a U.S. citizen, and five years if they are not.   This creates a problem for m-ssi-naries who serve overseas for extended periods of time.   They could possibly lose their green card if they are determined to no longer live here, and it is hard to rack up three or five years of residence time in the U.S. if you are never here.

However, in view of the important service that m-ssi-naries do, the U.S. Immigration Law has two different options for obtaining citizenship for m-ssi-naries.   The first is for spouses of U.S. citizen m-ssi-naries.   These non-citizen spouses can get U.S. citizenship without ever even living here in the U.S.!  If a m-ssi-nary green card holder is not married to U.S. citizen, he still needs to accumulate his five years of residence, but the law allows him to do that while he is outside the country!!   The law will treat his time abroad as if he were living in the U.S.!   That is an incredible benefit.   However, in order to take advantage of this benefit, he will need to, at some point, live here in the U.S. for one year without leaving.

Of course, these benefits have other requirements as well — if you think you might be qualified, be sure to call me before making any concrete plans.

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.