R-1 status offers an excellent opportunity for ministers and non-ministers in religious vocations and occupations to come to the United States for the purpose of performing religious work for a temporary period of time.
Rita Dhakal, RIS Paralegal, sat down with Sr. Necy Guan, a Canossian sister, for an interview about her experience working with CLINIC.
In this article, the RIS team explains why keeping USCIS informed about an address change is crucial and how you can easily stay compliant with this important requirement.
Navigating multiple resources as a religious worker can be challenging, especially when managing deadlines, paperwork, and many updates. To make things easier, the RIS team compiled some essential resources that will help your religious organization and foreign national stay informed.
This article focuses on the current state of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and its affects on religious workers.
On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its final ruling on Department of Homeland Security et al. V. Regents of the University of California et al., stating that the Trump administration failed to provide an adequate explanation for their termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, immigration program and it, therefore, should remain.
On June 22, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Proclamation titled, “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak.” This announcement follows the April 22, 2020, Proclamation suspending entry of immigrants for permanent residence and extends that Proclamation through Dec. 31, 2020.
On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to proclaim the end of the Civil War and that those enslaved were now free. Word of the Emancipation Proclamation was not widely known in Texas up to that point, and it had not been enforced, even though it took effect two years earlier. The day became known as “Juneteenth” and for many it is a day of remembrance, freedom and celebration of Black culture.
This article explains the updates made by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding entry stamps for foreign nationals arriving in the United States.
This article provides the current processing times for the I-129 and I-360 petitions as well as the I-485, I-765, and I-131 applications. This article also explains how to check the pending processing times for the petitions listed above and case status.
This article provides an update to the pre-adjudication site inspection requirement applicable to special immigrant and nonimmigrant religious worker petitions.
Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, on March 11, 2020, President Trump issued a new travel proclamation suspending entry of all immigrants and non-immigrants who were physically present in the following 26 European countries. The countries include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. If you are physically present in any of these countries during a 14-day period preceding your entry or attempted entry into the U.S., you will not be permitted to enter the U.S.
As you are most likely are aware, the coronavirus (COVID-19) is becoming a more immediate health concern in the U.S. As such, the government has already begun limiting visitors to the U.S. (non-U.S. citizens) who may have recently traveled to the following countries: China, S. Korea, Iran and Italy.
