R Visa (Religious Worker)

The R visa is a type of nonimmigrant visa that allows foreign nationals to come to the United States temporarily to work as religious workers. The purpose of the R visa is to allow religious organizations in the United States to bring in foreign workers to work in a professional capacity in their religious ministry.

To qualify for an R visa, the foreign national must be a member of a religious denomination that has a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the United States, and must be coming to the United States to work as a minister, or in a religious vocation or occupation. The foreign national must also have been a member of the religious denomination for at least two years prior to applying for the R visa.

There are two types of R visas: the R-1 visa for nonimmigrant religious workers who will work in the United States for up to five years, and the R-2 visa for nonimmigrant religious workers who will work in the United States for less than five years.

To apply for an R visa, the foreign national must first obtain a petition from the religious organization that will sponsor their stay in the United States. The petition must be filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and must include evidence of the foreign national's membership in the religious denomination and their qualifications for the religious occupation or vocation they will be performing in the United States.

Once the petition has been approved, the foreign national can then apply for the R visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. To apply, the foreign national must submit a completed visa application, a passport that is valid for at least six months beyond the intended stay in the United States, and other required documentation.

If the R visa is granted, the foreign national can come to the United States to work in their religious occupation or vocation for the length of time specified on their visa. The R visa does not allow for permanent residence in the United States, and the foreign national will need to leave the country once their visa expires. However, they may be able to extend their stay or apply for a different type of visa, such as the EB-4 visa for special immigrant religious workers, if they wish to continue working in the United States.