It has been quite a year! There have been several important updates in U.S. immigration policy. Let’s discuss the latest regarding the permanent residency process for religious workers.

In March 2023, the Department of State (DOS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an update to the upcoming April Visa Bulletin limiting the number of immigrant visas available to applicants applying for permanent residence (green cards). This negatively impacted religious workers and the U.S.-based organizations they serve because there would be significantly fewer immigrant visas (green cards) available for religious workers now and for the foreseeable future.

Since this update, our department, alongside our Advocacy team, has been working tirelessly to raise awareness and address the issue. Throughout the year, we organized and presented several webinars and shared tips on how your organization can raise your voice and advocate on the issue. In addition to our webinars, RIS will be providing H-1B visa service options for religious workers, provided they meet certain eligibility criteria and are qualified. The H-1B program is designed for employers seeking to hire nonimmigrant foreign nationals in specialized roles.

What’s more, CLINIC, in conjunction with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), submitted a letter with recommendations to the administration to address concerns related to the changes to the visa bulletin. The letter provides administrative recommendations to the agencies that can be implemented to help mitigate the negative consequences this update has caused. To review the letter please click here.

Our work does not end here! As we move into a new year, our Advocacy team will continue to prioritize addressing religious worker issues, as they plan on creating an organizational sign-on letter to send out to the organizations that have been affected by this recent update. We will provide updates as they become available. In addition, our team will continue its efforts to collect stories from religious orders and organizations that have been affected by this update. These stories will assist us with raising awareness of the issue with our government agencies and advocating on your behalf.

Last year, we promised to keep religious workers' issues at the forefront of our work and find ways to address immigration issues that impact religious workers, and we will continue to do this as we enter into a new year. We believe that religious workers are essential to the communities that they serve.