Guidelines for Receiving Pastoral Ministers in the USA

Q5. Obtaining an R Visa Abroad. Must a priest, or any religious worker for that matter, have a petition approved by the CIS in the United States before he can seek an R visa at a US consulate abroad? A5. Yes, the priest needs a pre-approved petition from CIS before a consulate will consider issuing an R visa to enter the United States. Q6. Foreign Passport Renewal. How can a reli gious worker in the United States have his for eign passport renewed if it is about to expire? A6. The religious worker should communicate with the nearest consulate of his home country in the United States. The consulate will be able to provide instructions on obtaining passport renewal. Q7. Sponsor’s Financial Ability. What kind of financial evidence is required to prove that the sponsor has the ability to employ a religious worker? A7. Assuming that a diocese or eparchy is sponsor ing the religious worker, an annual audit statement should be sufficient evidence to prove the financial ability requested by CIS. Q8. Seminarians in Parishes. May a seminarian work at a parish during the summer and con sider this on-campus employment? A8. Probably not, unless the parish is “educationally affiliated” with the seminary. On-campus employ ment is defined as either performing employment “on the school’s premises” or “at an off-campus location which is educationally affiliated with the school.” Educational affiliation must be associated with the school’s established curriculum, as an integral part of the student’s educational program. Given the type of work that might be expected of a seminarian in a par ish, a good argument could be made that it may be an integral part of the program. However, if there is no “educational affiliation” between the parish and the seminary, the government would probably not con sider it legitimate on-campus summer employment.

his services or solicit funds either within or outside the context of the Mass. Either instance could render the priest in violation of his immigration status. Q2. The “Sister Parish” Priest or Missionary Priest. What about missionary priests or repre sentatives of “sister” or “twin” parishes who visit United States parishes? A2. The same rules apply to (a) a priest represent ing a foreign “twin” or “sister” parish and (b) a for eign missionary. Neither priest may be compensated or engage in fund raising while in the United States on a tourist B-2 visa. Should the US parish wish to collect money for its foreign “twin” or “sister” parish or sponsor a collection for a foreign missionary priest, funds should be collected and transmitted by the US parish directly to the foreign “twin” or “sister” parish or foreign mission or religious institute, subject to due diligence to ensure that the funds are to be used by the foreign parish, mission, or religious institute for their intended purpose. Q3. Granting of Faculties. May a priest on a tourist visa be granted letters of faculty to min ister in a diocese or eparchy? A3. A priest may seek and be granted letters of fac ulty while on a tourist visa. However, he may not begin work within the diocese or eparchy without first obtaining a change of status to the R visa cate gory. Unauthorized employment will jeopardize CIS approval of the change of status application. Q4. Change from a Tourist Visa. Must a priest change to an R visa, or can he seek status as a lawful permanent resident? A4. Changing from a tourist B-2 visa to an R visa is more convenient and is accomplished more quickly than seeking lawful permanent residency, which can take a significant amount of time. A caution is in order. If the change occurs too quickly, CIS might question the original intent of the person. In other words, CIS might surmise that the person wanted to become a lawful permanent resident before entering the United States. This, then, raises questions about immigrant intent and the presumption of fraud.

C-10 | Civil Law Considerations—Immigration Law