The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an interim final rule removing a long-standing requirement that R-1 religious workers remain outside the United States for one year after reaching the maximum period of stay before returning in R-1 status.
The R-1 visa is a temporary U.S. visa that allows foreign religious workers, including clergy and religious educators, to work for nonprofit religious organizations in the United States.
The rule, titled Improving Continuity for Religious Organizations and Their Employees, took effect on Jan. 16, according to a notice in the Federal Register. It is a step meant to “minimize disruptions to the vital services that nonimmigrant religious workers provide to U.S. churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious organizations.”
Agudath Israel of America praised the policy shift, saying it will ease burdens on religious institutions that depend on foreign-born clergy and educators and provide “much-needed stability for our institutions and the communities they serve.”
“For too long, religious organizations have faced the painful loss of dedicated rabbis, ministers, teachers and other essential religious workers simply because their temporary visas expired before the lengthy green card process could be completed,” stated David Grunblatt, partner at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP and chair of Agudath Israel of America’s immigration committee.
He added that the rule change “recognizes the vital role that religious workers play in American society and helps ensure that synagogues, churches, and other faith-based organizations can continue their sacred mission without unnecessary disruption.”
Agudath Israel of America also urged Congress to pass the bipartisan Religious Workforce Protection Act, which “would eliminate the need for individuals on an R-1 visa to leave the US at all while further strengthening protections for people of faith in the workforce,” Grunblatt stated.
