(1) Previously, religious workers were able to request an R-1 visa at a consular post without USCIS reviewing the job offer or the religious organization where the applicant planned to work. The new rule, however, requires USCIS to verify that the job offer and the petitioning organization are legitimate before a religious visa can be issued. Therefore, applicants will now need to provide an approved Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-129) at their consular post before a visa will be issued to them.

 

(2) The new rule also reduces the period of admission to 30 months instead of three years. The religious workers will be allowed to extend their visas one time for up to 30 additional months.

If you would like to find out more about how to obtain a religious worker visa, please schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys.

In honor of National Adoption Awareness Month, USCIS has published a reminder on their website, reminding prospective adoptive parents that all adoptions from foreign countries now need to comply with the rules of the Hague Convention, which went into effect on April 1, 2008. If adopting a child from a country that is a party to the Hague Convention, prospective parents will need to file Form I-800A (Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country) and then Form I-800 (Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative). Although more than 1300 adoption applications have been received since the Hague Treaty went into effect, USCIS has noted that a majority of the applications were incomplete, requiring prospective parents to submit additional documents and thus significantly delaying the adoption process. Therefore, if you are planning to adopt a child internationally, we urge you to carefully review all of the requirements before submitting the necessary paperwork. The USCIS website has some helpful resources: click here for the Frequently Asked Questions on international adoptions.