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The wait for those with religious worker visas suddenly grew by years due to a procedural shift, and advocates and attorneys fear they could lose their place in the US.
Albert Oliveira was excited. He had come to the US from Brazil in 2010 on a student visa, graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, began pastoring a growing church, married, and started a family.
But he and his wife, a German citizen, would need green cards to remain in the US and allow Oliveira to continue his pastorate at First Baptist Church of Gordon, Texas.
In the middle of their application journey in April, the US government unexpectedly changed the rules and effectively added years to their wait. The R1 nonimmigrant religious worker visas he and his wife hold will expire before they can even apply for green cards under the new process.
“Now we’re just trapped in a limbo,” Oliveira told Baptist Press.
The Oliveiras and their American-born toddler have little chance of legally remaining in the US past February 2024, having already exhausted more than three of the five years their R1 visa will be active.
“It’s just a longer wait that exceeds what we are allowed to stay here legally. Attorneys themselves say we would have to leave the country at the end of the five years,” Oliveira said. “Basically, the whole religious worker category is useless. You’d have to go to another category to even have a chance of staying in the US.”
Oliveira and his family are among thousands. Churches, ministries and attorneys are advocating for change.
The US government issued 6,300 nonimmigrant religious visas in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic when applications slacked, and issued 5,900 in 2022, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), among those seeking change.
“What is really disappointing to us is the egregious nature of it, is that they ...
from Christianity Today Magazine
Umn ministry
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