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Religious Worker Visa Program
Updated April 2005
Background and History
The Religious Worker Visa Program (RVWP) was enacted by Congress as part of the Immigration Act of 1990 in order for American religious denominations to fill positions with qualified religious workers from abroad. Prior to the passage of this legislation, U.S. based religious organizations requiring the services of foreign religious workers had to undergo the labor certification process or attempt to hire religious workers through the business, student, or missionary visa categories. This made it extremely difficult for religious organizations to sponsor the religious workers they needed.
Religious worker visas may be granted to both ministers and non-minister religious workers. Rabbis are categorized as “ministers;” “non-minister” religious workers include those who are called to a vocation or are in a traditional religious occupation, such as cantors, kosher butchers, Hebrew and Judaic studies teachers, and others. J ewish congregations, particularly in remote areas with small Jewish communities, rely on religious workers who come from abroad through the religious worker program to sustain the institutions and practices that are essential to Jewish religious and communal life.
Problems with Program Implementation Requiring that a Petitioning Organization be a “Church”
Congress clearly intended to permit two types of organizations to petition for religious workers under the RWVP. One is a “religious organization,” such as a church, mosque, or synagogue. The other is a bona fide 501(c)(3) organization that is “affiliated with the religious denomination.” Advocates discovered a trend at the service centers where cases submitted by non-“church” organizations were routinely being denied. On December 17, 2003, William Yates, Associate Director for Operations, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), issued a memorandum stating that a religious organization need not be classified as a “church” to petition for a foreign religious worker. Rather organizations must show that their non-profit classification is due to religious factors and that they are organized for religious purposes and operate under the principles of a particular faith, rather than solely for education, charitable, scientific, and other qualifying purposes.
To ensure that the memorandum is properly implemented, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should formally adopt – through new regulations – the interpretation described in the December 17, 2003 memorandum to clarify that religious schools may qualify as petitioning organizations if they can show that “ they are organized for religious purposes and operate under the principles of a particular faith rather than solely for education,” as provided in the memorandum.
Avoiding overly restrictive regulations
Currently DHS is preparing regulations on the RWVP. Implementing restrictive regulations that would negatively impact the thousands of religious workers coming to work for bona fide religious organizations in bona fide religious occupations and vocations would limit the ability of the Jewish community and other established faiths to petition for needed workers.
Improved enforcement, including improved access to USCIS data, and the development of software and other tools to help identify patterns of abuse and alert adjudicators to organizations that match certain potential fraud profiles, would be the appropriate response to any perceived fraud in the religious worker visa program. This approach would address fraud without placing unnecessary burdens on bona fide religious organizations and workers.
Legitimate religious employers and applicants should not be routinely required to assume additional documentary burdens, and adjudicators should not be required to evaluate additional evidence in cases where a decision could be made without it.
Organizations such as HIAS and comparable organizations representing other faiths could be a resource to USCIS to provide knowledge and expertise with regard to religious practices and occupations. In addition, a particular USCIS unit could be tasked with adjudicating religious worker applications (much like the way Violence Against Women Act cases are handled), particularly since the RWVP is relatively small and could benefit from specialized, trained adjudicators making decisions on religious worker cases.
Advocacy
In November 2003, HIAS wrote to Secretary Tom Ridge of DHS urging him to correct the interpretation of the regulations and to permit religious organizations that are not “churches” to petition for religious workers. HIAS and representatives from an array of religious faiths met with Jim Towey, Director of the White House’s Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI), DHS, and USCIS staff in December 2003 to share information and ideas about the religious worker visa program. At that meeting, DHS indicated that new regulations implementing the religious worker visa program were under review.
After USCIS issued the December 17, 2003 memorandum to clarify that non-church religious organizations can petition for religious workers, HIAS and Agudath Israel wrote a letter to urge Secretary Ridge to formally adopt the interpretation described in the December 17, 2003 memorandum and clarify that religious schools may qualify as petitioning organizations as provided in the memorandum, and offered other recommendations with regard to pending regulations. In December 2004, HIAS met with USCIS Chief Counsel Robert Divine to discuss the religious worker regulations. The regulations have not yet been issued.
Conclusion
The Jewish community relies heavily on the RWVP to maintain religious traditions. HIAS urges DHS not to make changes that would seriously undermine the original purpose of the program. Regulations that would preclude Jewish organizations from bringing foreign religious workers to our communities – particularly those that are small and remote – would effectively amount to the interference with the free exercise of religion. |
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