Federal Court Denies Work Visa to Foreign Religious Worker

Immigrant ministers must fulfill several requirements to qualify for work visas.

Church Law & Tax Report

Federal Court Denies Work Visa to Foreign Religious Worker

Immigrant ministers must fulfill several requirements to qualify for work visas.

* A federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) can deny a special immigrant religious worker visa to ministers who did not work full time in the ministry for the two years preceding their visa petition, even though federal law does not directly require two years of full-time employment. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) denied a Hawaiian Presbyterian church’s petition for a “special immigrant religious worker” visa for its minister. The church appealed, claiming that the CIS erred in requiring it to prove that its pastor had worked full time as a minister during the two years immediately preceding the visa petition.

Federal immigration law specifies that a minister may qualify for a special immigrant religious worker visa only if he or she (1) has been a member of a bona fide religious denomination for at least two years, (2) “seeks to enter the United States solely for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of a minister of that religious denomination,” and (3) “has been carrying on such vocation continuously for at least the [immediately preceding] 2-year period.” The law does not specifically require religious workers to carry on their vocations full time during the two years preceding their petitions for a special immigrant religious worker visa, but neither does it prevent such an interpretation.

The court concluded that the CIS’s adoption of a full-time employment requirement was consistent with previous cases. To illustrate, in Matter of Faith Assembly Church, 19 I. & N. Dec. 391 (BIA 1986), a court held that “part-time ministerial employment” did not qualify a minister for special immigrant classification. The court explained that the law “requires the minister to have been and intend to be engaged solely as a minister of a religious denomination.” Hawaii Saeronam Presbyterian Church v. Ziglar, 243 Fed.Appx. 224 (9th Cir. 2007).

This content is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. "From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations." Due to the nature of the U.S. legal system, laws and regulations constantly change. The editors encourage readers to carefully search the site for all content related to the topic of interest and consult qualified local counsel to verify the status of specific statutes, laws, regulations, and precedential court holdings.

ajax-loader-largecaret-downcloseHamburger Menuicon_amazonApple PodcastsBio Iconicon_cards_grid_caretChild Abuse Reporting Laws by State IconChurchSalary Iconicon_facebookGoogle Podcastsicon_instagramLegal Library IconLegal Library Iconicon_linkedinLock IconMegaphone IconOnline Learning IconPodcast IconRecent Legal Developments IconRecommended Reading IconRSS IconSubmiticon_select-arrowSpotify IconAlaska State MapAlabama State MapArkansas State MapArizona State MapCalifornia State MapColorado State MapConnecticut State MapWashington DC State MapDelaware State MapFederal MapFlorida State MapGeorgia State MapHawaii State MapIowa State MapIdaho State MapIllinois State MapIndiana State MapKansas State MapKentucky State MapLouisiana State MapMassachusetts State MapMaryland State MapMaine State MapMichigan State MapMinnesota State MapMissouri State MapMississippi State MapMontana State MapMulti State MapNorth Carolina State MapNorth Dakota State MapNebraska State MapNew Hampshire State MapNew Jersey State MapNew Mexico IconNevada State MapNew York State MapOhio State MapOklahoma State MapOregon State MapPennsylvania State MapRhode Island State MapSouth Carolina State MapSouth Dakota State MapTennessee State MapTexas State MapUtah State MapVirginia State MapVermont State MapWashington State MapWisconsin State MapWest Virginia State MapWyoming State IconShopping Cart IconTax Calendar Iconicon_twitteryoutubepauseplay
caret-downclosefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepauseplaytwitter-square