Religious workers may file an I-360 petition to work permanently in the United States. The process starts with an I-360 self-petition filed by the Religious Worker who is usually on a valid R-1 visa status. After approval of the I-360, if the priority date is current, a Religious Worker then proceeds to file an I-485-Adjustment of Status petition.

The United States immigration law provides a limited number of green cards each year for several immigration categories hence the notion of a “priority date” exists.  Religious Workers are under the Employment-Based 4^th Preference Category (EB-4), along with other categories of immigrants such as Special Immigrant Juveniles (SIJ) who are abused/abandoned children. Per Immigration policy, only 10,000 EB-4 visas may be issued annually. Because the demand is greater than the quantity of available visas (10,000 per year), a backlog is created. When an immigrant petition (such as the I-360) is filed, a priority date is established, and this places the beneficiary “in line” for a green card under their visa category. 

The United States immigration law also created a per-country limitation of 7% in addition to the overall quota for the entire category. This simply means that beneficiaries born in a particular country cannot receive more than 7% of the visas for that category, and this in turn creates a special backlog based on country of birth. Up until March of 2023, the Department of State has strictly followed the per-country limitation, which meant that countries like Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador had to wait a couple of years for EB-4 green cards while other countries had significantly less wait time or none.

However, in April of 2023, the Department of State changed its interpretation of the per-country limitation law and eliminated the per-country quotas for EB-4, and as an alternative grouped all the countries together. This means that those backlogged countries will now have less wait time compared to other countries. Unfortunately for Religious Workers, the new rule has created a significant backlog averaging four to five years for all EB-4 green cards including Religious Workers who previously had less than one year waiting time. The visas are processed on a first come first served basis, based on the priority date. Currently, there is an estimated backlog of 40,000 for the SIJ visas and a much less number for Religious Workers.

Beginning April 2023, new I-360s filed for Religious Workers will probably not be eligible to apply for an Adjustment of Status or Immigrant Visa applications for the next four to five years, or longer depending on how long the backlog increases. While pending Adjustment of Status and immigrant visa applications filed for Religious Workers will be delayed, with processing times depending on priority date. With the current backlog of four to five years which is probably going to significantly increase, a Religious Worker has virtually no means to switch immediately from the R-1 visa to a green card unless Congress intervenes.

Do not hesitate to reach out to our office at www.asirilaw.com if you have questions about any of the above or are interested in discussing visa options for your religious organization.