R Visa

AWhat is R visa?

The R visa type is for individuals seeking to enter the United States to work in a religious capacity on a temporary basis, as defined in The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) §101(a)(15)(R).

BQualification for R visa

1. You must be a member of a religious denomination recognized as a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the United States.
2. Your religious denomination and its affiliate, if applicable, must be either exempt from taxation or qualify for tax-exempt status.
3. You must have been:
   a) a member of your denomination for the two years immediately preceding your application for religious worker status.
   b) planning to work as a minister of your denomination or in a religious occupation or vocation for a bona fide, nonprofit religious organization (or a tax-exempt affiliate of such an organization).
   c) residing and physically present outside the United States for the immediate prior year, if you have previously spent five years in this category.
4. There is no requirement that you have a residence abroad that you have no intention of abandoning. However, you must intend to depart the United States at the end of your lawful status, absent specific indications or evidence to the contrary.