Guidelines for Receiving Pastoral Ministers in the USA

a. Extensions of Stay, Recapture Policy, and Changes in Status As stated above in section B.1.a, “Difference Between Special Immigrant and Nonimmigrant R Visas,” paragraph two, the R visa nonimmigrant status is usually granted for an initial thirty-month period and may be extended using the CIS Form I-129. CIS has a policy that states that any days spent outside of the United States will not be not be counted toward the five year statutory period when requesting an extension of stay, as long as the R non immigrant remains eligible for such status and provides independent documentary evidence that he or she was not physically in the United States. Acceptable evidence includes photocopies of passport stamps, I-94 arrival/departure records, and/or plane tickets. If the individual changes from one nonimmigrant status to the R visa classifi cation and travels abroad after this change, a new visa must be obtained abroad before the religious worker is allowed to reenter the United States. b. Reporting Requirements Sponsoring organizations or employers must notify DHS within fourteen days if the R nonimmigrant is working less than twenty hours per week or has been released or terminated from employment before the authorized period of stay. CIS strongly encourages use of electronic notification via e-mail at cscr-1earlyterminationnotif@ dhs.gov . Paper notification before the fourteen-day calendar reporting window may be submitted to CIS. c. Limitation of Stay and Exception A religious worker who has spent five years in the country under the R visa may not be readmitted or obtain an extension of stay, unless he or she has resided abroad and has been physically present outside the United States for the immediate prior year. CIS has stated that brief, intermittent visits to the United States will not break the one year physical presence outside the United States. An exception to the limitation of stay applies to R visa holders who did not reside continuously in the country and

whose employment in the United States was seasonal or intermittent or was for an aggregate of six months or less per year. In addition, the limitations do not apply to religious workers who reside abroad and regularly commute to the United States to engage in part-time employment. d. Spouses and Children Spouses and children under the age of twenty-one of the principal R nonimmi grant may accompany or join the principal religious worker as an R-2 nonimmigrant as long as: (1) the R-2 status is granted for the same period of time and subject to the same limits as the principal, regardless of the time such spouse and children may have spent in the United States under R-2 status; (2) neither the spouse nor chil dren may accept employment while in the United States under R-2 status; and (3) the primary purpose of the spouse or chil dren coming to the United States must be to accompany or join the principal R-1 religious worker. The R-2 dependents accompanying the R-1 principal may study in the United States. 1. Application Procedures Only seminaries that are authorized to enroll foreign students may issue the necessary paper work for the would-be seminarian to obtain the F nonimmigrant visa classification. DHS regulations require all schools duly authorized to enroll foreign students have a designated school official (DSO), who must be famil iar with the foreign student rules and who is authorized to annotate the Form I-20 A-B, Certificate of Eligibility of Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status. Authorized seminar ies are registered on a web-based ICE sys tem known as Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). Through SEVIS, the seminary issues a Form I-20. As a general matter, the would-be seminarian must demonstrate to consular officials that he has a foreign residence that he does not intend to abandon and that he will be able to complete his full course of studies without resorting to unauthorized employment while in the United States. Once the seminarian

D. Foreign Student Visas

C-4 | Civil Law Considerations—Immigration Law