R Visa – U.S. Visa For Religious Professions

The applicant must generally have been a member of the religious community for which they are coming to the U.S. for at least two years.

The applicant must also either

• be a clergy member authorized to perform religious ceremonies – lay ministers, for example, do not qualify for an R visa
• perform a job that requires at least a bachelor's degree,
• perform a function within the religious community that traditionally has religious significance – catechist, cantor, employee of denominational hospitals
• or follow a spiritual calling that requires, for example, taking perpetual vows. There are no specific requirements for the activity to be performed in the U.S.

Obtaining an R visa is a two-step process. First, the potential U.S. employer must submit a so-called I-129 petition to the USCIS, the U.S. immigration authority. If this petition is approved, the actual visa can be applied for at a U.S. consulate in the second step. The petition must include information about both the employer (petitioner) and the visa applicant (beneficiary) and be supported by appropriate documentation.

Processing the petition can take several months. By paying a so-called “Premium Processing Fee” of currently USD 2,500 (as of December 2022), the petition review process can be shortened to 15 days.

However, because the USCIS usually responds with a “Request for Evidence” after 15 days, the processing time actually tends to be four to six weeks in total. However, “Premium Processing” is only an option for R visas if an “on-site inspection” has already been carried out at the U.S. employer's premises.

For the visa itself, all you need is an appointment at the U.S. consulate. You do not have to send any documents to be reviewed in advance by mail, but simply fill out a DS-160 visa application form (electronically), pay the visa fee, and make an appointment. When the next appointments are available depends on the workload of the consulates. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the waiting time for an appointment was usually a few days to one or two weeks. Currently, you should expect waiting times of several weeks again.

With an R visa, you can stay in the U.S. for a maximum of five years, after which you must leave the U.S. for at least one year or spend a full year outside the country before you can reapply for an R visa. Different rules apply to commuters or people who stay in the U.S. with R status for six months or less per year.

Family members (spouses and children under 21) receive R-2 visas. However, R-2 visas do not include a work permit. Applicants must be able to show that they can finance their stay in the U.S. without working there.