Religious Workers
An individual may obtain Lawful Permanent Residence through an offer of full-time indefinite employment as a religious worker.
There are two steps to the process:
- Filing and approval of the Form I-360 Petition for Special Immigrant.
- Filing and approval of the Form I-485 Adjustment of Status application (or an immigrant interview at a U.S. Consulate/Embassy abroad).
The requirements for filing an I-360 are:
- The individual must have been a member of a religious denomination that has a bona fide non-profit religious organization in the U.S. for the immediate past two (2) years.
- The individual must be coming to U.S. to work full-time (at least 35 hrs/week)
- The individual will be compensated as a minister (solely), in a religious vocation, or in a religious occupation.
- The individual must be coming to work for a bona fide non-profit religious organization in the U.S. (or an organization affiliated with the religious denomination).
- The individual must have worked in one of the qualifying positions, either abroad or in the U.S., continuously for the immediate past two (2) years. (A break in the continuity of employment is allowed as long as the individual was employed as a religious worker, the break did not exceed 2 years, and the break was for religious training/sabbatical. There can be no unauthorized work in U.S.)
Either the individual or the prospective U.S employer can file the I-360 petition with USCIS. The petition is attestation based.
The prospective U.S. employer must attest:
- The employer is a bona fide non-profit religious organization or an organization affiliated with the religious denomination.
- To the number of members of the religious organization.
- To the number of employees who work at the same location as the beneficiary and provide a summary of the type of responsibilities of those employees.
- To the number of employees holding special immigrant or R-1 status, currently or within the last five (5) years.
- To the number of I-360 and R-1 petitions filed the employer in the last five (5) years.
- The title of the position offered to the individual complete package or salaried/non-salaried compensation, and a detailed description of the daily duties.
- That the individual will be employed at least 35 hrs/week.
- To the specific location of proposed employment.
- That the individual has worked as a religious worker for the immediate past two (2) years.
- That the individual has been a member of the denomination for at least the immediate past two (2) years.
- That the individual will not engage in secular employment, any compensation will be paid by the attesting employer.
- The employer has the ability and intention to compensate the individual so that individual and family will not become public charges.
- That the funds to pay the individual do not include any monies obtained from the individual (excluding reasonable tithes).
|
