Religious workers' visa: Trump admin reduces one-year mandatory out-of-country waiting period for R-1 renewal

While the Trump administration is cracking down on all visas, it chose to do otherwise for religious workers' visa as the administration announced a new rule to remove a one-year out-of-country waiting period for priests and religious workers seeking a new temporary R-1 visa after their previous visa expires.

Old R-1 visa rule

The R-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa for pastors, priests rabbbis, nuns, imams who come to the US to work for US religious organizations. These religious workers can stay up to five years on an R-1 visa. According to the old rule, on the expiry of this visa, they had to leave the US and wait for at least one year abroad before they could re-apply.

New R-1 visa rule

Now after the expiry of their visa after five years, they have to depart the US but they can seek to re-enter immediately. The mandatory waiting period for one year has been eliminated.

"While R-1 religious workers are still required to depart the U.S., the rule establishes that there is no longer a minimum period of time they must reside and be physically present outside the U.S. before they seek readmission in R-1 status, " the department of homeland security said.

"The demand for visas within the EB-4 category has exceeded the supply for many years. Changes implemented by the Department of State in 2023 significantly increased the already lengthy wait times for immigrant visas in the EB-4 category for aliens from certain countries, including for religious workers. These delays have caused many religious workers to exhaust their maximum period of stay in R-1 status. By eliminating the one-year foreign residency requirement, USCIS is reducing the time religious organizations are left without their trusted clergy and non-ministerial religious workers," the department said.