Religious Workforce Protection Act

Summary#

This bill would let certain religious workers keep their temporary R nonimmigrant status beyond the current 5-year limit while their applications for lawful permanent residence (a green card) are pending. It adds a rule that lets the Department of Homeland Security grant extensions of R status to people who are the main or dependent beneficiaries of immigrant petitions filed for the religious-worker preference category and who would be eligible for that immigrant status if numerical visa limits did not apply. The bill also changes rules to allow limited job flexibility for some religious workers with long-delayed green card applications. Finally, it exempts certain religious workers who left the United States because of the 5-year R visa limit from the usual 1-year foreign residence requirement for returning.

What it means for you#

• If you are a religious worker in the United States on an R visa and you or your family have a pending immigrant petition in the religious-worker category, this bill would let you apply to extend your R status until your green card application is decided.
• The bill can allow limited changes in employment for some religious workers whose green card cases are delayed.
• If you left the United States because you hit the 5-year R visa limit, you could be exempt from the 1-year foreign-residence rule when trying to return, if you meet the bill's conditions.
• If you are not a religious worker in this visa category, this bill would not apply to you.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

Supporters say the bill protects religious workers and their families who are waiting for immigrant visas by allowing them to remain in their nonimmigrant status until a decision is made. It also provides some job flexibility for those affected by long backlogs and removes a return-home requirement for people who left because of the 5-year limit.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.