EB-4 Employment fourth preference: special immigrants, including religious workers and Special Immigrant Juveniles
EB-4 is the residual employment category for people Congress has designated as special immigrants. It is a collection of unrelated groups rather than a coherent class: religious workers, Special Immigrant Juveniles, certain broadcasters, retired international organisation staff, some U.S. government employees abroad, members of the armed forces, Panama Canal employees, certain long-serving physicians, and informants on criminal or terrorist organisations. Because Special Immigrant Juveniles draw from the same 7.1% allocation, the category is now permanently oversubscribed.
- Duration
- permanent
- Extensions
- Not applicable. Residence is unconditional and renewed on Form I-90 every ten years. Note that the non-minister religious worker classification is time-limited by statute, not by the individual's card.
- Work
- Yes, without restriction once residence is granted. An EAD under (c)(9) is available while the I-485 is pending. Religious workers usually hold R-1 status in the meantime; SIJs generally have no underlying status while they wait for a number.
- Dependents
- Some EB-4 subcategories permit a spouse and unmarried children under 21 to be admitted as derivatives, and some do not. Religious workers do have derivatives, and accompanying spouses and children of non-minister religious workers are bound by the same statutory sunset date. Special Immigrant Juveniles have no derivatives at all - an SIJ cannot bring a spouse, a child, or the parents.
- Path to a green card
- Form I-360 establishes the classification, then Form I-485 or consular processing on the DS-260 when the priority date is current. Because EB-4 is oversubscribed, the gap between I-360 approval and visa availability is now years, and for non-minister religious workers that gap can outlast the statutory authorisation for the classification itself.
- Processing time
- The I-360 adjudication is the smaller part. The binding constraint is the queue: a September 2026 final action date of 15DEC22 for every chargeability area means roughly three and three quarter years between filing and a visa number, and the category has run out of numbers mid-year in recent years. Current I-360 and I-485 figures are at egov.uscis.gov/processing-times and are unverified here.
- Annual cap and waiting lines
- 7.1% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, which for FY2026 is 186,317. Within EB-4, no more than 5,000 a year may go to non-minister religious workers and no more than 100 to certain broadcasters. Per-country limit 28,862 (29,136 with carryover); dependent area limit 8,247 (8,325 with carryover). September 2026 final action dates, EB-4 and certain religious workers alike: 15DEC22 for all chargeability areas, China-mainland born, India, Mexico and the Philippines. Dates for filing, both lines: 01JAN23 for every chargeability area. For scale, EB-4 exhausted its entire FY2025 allocation by 28 February 2025 and the October 2025 bulletin listed certain religious workers as unavailable for every country after the FY2025 authorisation lapsed.
Who qualifies
- Religious workers - ministers, and non-ministers in a religious vocation or occupation, employed full time by a U.S. non-profit religious organisation
- Special Immigrant Juveniles - children a state juvenile court has found cannot reunify with one or both parents because of abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis under state law. See the SIJ record
- Certain broadcasters petitioned by the U.S. Agency for Global Media or a grantee, meaning Radio Free Asia or Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
- Certain retired officers or employees of a G-4 international organisation, NATO-6 civilian employees, and their family members
- Certain employees of the U.S. government abroad and their family members
- Members of the U.S. armed forces
- Panama Canal company or Canal Zone government employees
- Certain physicians licensed and practising medicine in a U.S. state as of 9 January 1978
- People who supplied information about a criminal organisation or enterprise or a terrorist organisation, enterprise or operation - former S nonimmigrants
Requirements
- Religious workers: at least two years of membership in the religious denomination immediately before filing, and at least two years of qualifying religious work after age 14, either abroad or in the United States. A break of up to two years for further religious training or a sabbatical does not break continuity if denominational membership continued
- Religious workers: full-time employment of at least 35 hours a week in a compensated position with a non-profit religious organisation, an organisation authorised to use a group tax exemption, or a non-profit affiliated with a religious denomination
- Religious organisations must show tax-exempt status, and verifiable evidence of salaried or non-salaried compensation - past compensation for similar posts, budgets, leases, room and board, W-2s or certified tax returns
- Religious worker petitioners may seek a Religious Freedom Restoration Act exemption from a requirement that substantially burdens the organisation's exercise of religion, in writing with the initial filing
- Most EB-4 subcategories require Form I-360, filed either by an employer or by the beneficiary. Some subcategories permit self-petition and some require no I-360 at all
- Admissibility under INA 212(a) or an available waiver, except where a subcategory is exempt
How to apply
- 1
Identify the subcategory. The evidence, the petitioner and the fee all differ, and the USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part F sets out each one.
- 2
Religious workers: the employing organisation, or the worker, files Form I-360 with proof of tax-exempt status, a religious denomination certification where the organisation is affiliated rather than independently exempt, verifiable compensation evidence, proof of two years of denominational membership, and proof of two years of qualifying prior religious work. Expect an on-site inspection.
- 3
Special Immigrant Juveniles: obtain the state juvenile court order first, then file Form I-360. There is no filing fee but the $250 H.R. 1 fee applies.
- 4
Wait for the priority date. In September 2026 that is 15DEC22 for every country, so a petition filed today waits years.
- 5
When the date is current, file Form I-485, or consular process on the DS-260 at $205 for the other immigrant visa category.
- 6
Non-minister religious workers must have immigrated or adjusted by the statutory sunset date, which is 30 September 2026. Ask about expedited processing, which USCIS considers case by case at its sole discretion for a non-profit whose request furthers the cultural or social interests of the United States.
Fees and forms
| Form I-360, general, including special immigrant religious workers and widow(er)s | $515 |
| Form I-360, VAWA self-petitioner | $0 |
| Form I-360, Special Immigrant Juvenile | $0 filing fee, plus a $250 non-waivable H.R. 1 SIJ fee |
| Form I-360, Amerasian, Afghan and Iraqi translators and U.S. government employees, and INA 101(a)(27)(K) military special immigrants | $0 |
| Form I-485, applicant 14 or older, paper | $1,440 |
| Form I-485, Special Immigrant Juvenile and other fee-exempt classes | $0 |
| Form I-765 with an I-485 filed on or after 1 April 2024 | $260 |
| DS-260 immigrant visa application processing, other immigrant visa applications including approved I-360 self-petitioners and special immigrant visa applicants | $205 per person |
| USCIS Immigrant Fee | $235 per person; $0 for Iraqi and Afghan special immigrant visa holders |
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- 3 February 2026 - the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2026, Public Law 119-75 section 5015, extended the non-minister special immigrant religious worker programme through 30 September 2026 by substituting that date into INA 101(a)(27)(C)(ii). Non-ministers and their accompanying spouses and children must immigrate or adjust by that date. Ministers are unaffected.
- 2 September 2026 - the FY2027 continuing resolution, Public Law 119-103, funded the government through 11 December 2026 but contained no immigration extensions. As of 5 September 2026 the non-minister religious worker programme is 25 days from sunset with no extension enacted.
- 16 January 2026 - a DHS interim final rule, Improving Continuity for Religious Organizations and Their Employees (91 FR 2049), removed the one-year foreign residence requirement for R-1 nonimmigrants who reach the five-year maximum, expressly to mitigate the EB-4 backlog.
- 28 February 2025 - EB-4 exhausted its entire FY2025 allocation, and the October 2025 bulletin listed certain religious workers as unavailable for every country.
- 6 June 2025 - USCIS rescinded the 2022 policy of categorically considering deferred action for Special Immigrant Juveniles. That rescission was stayed on 19 November 2025 in A.C.R. v. Noem (E.D.N.Y.), then re-announced on 10 April 2026 effective 10 May 2026. USCIS reserves the right to terminate existing deferred action grants and revoke the associated work permit before it expires.
- 24 July 2025 - USCIS published a report alleging significant integrity and national security vulnerabilities in the SIJ programme, reviewing over 300,000 petitions filed from FY2013 through February 2025.
- 1 January 2026 - annual inflation adjustment to the H.R. 1 fees. The $250 SIJ fee was expressly not inflated.
- 20 July 2026 - public charge final rule rescinding the 2022 regulations, effective 18 September 2026. Religious workers are subject to the public charge ground; Special Immigrant Juveniles, and Afghan and Iraqi interpreters, are exempt.
- FY2026 - worldwide employment-based limit 186,317, so EB-4 receives roughly 13,229 numbers at 7.1%, of which not more than 5,000 may go to non-minister religious workers.
Where it goes wrong
- Non-minister religious workers running out of statutory time. The sunset is 30 September 2026 and the September 2026 final action date is 15DEC22, so anyone whose priority date is later than that cannot be reached in time unless Congress acts.
- Assuming the September 2026 bulletin's silence on the sunset means the programme is safe. Unlike the October 2025 bulletin, which flagged the FY2025 lapse, the September 2026 bulletin carries no religious worker expiration note. The reason is unverified.
- Religious organisations that cannot produce a valid IRS determination letter covering the petitioner at the time of filing, or that rely on a group exemption without documenting coverage.
- Compensation evidence that is a promise rather than a record. USCIS wants past evidence of compensation for similar positions, budgets, leases or IRS documents.
- SIJ applicants relying on deferred action while waiting for a number. Categorical consideration was rescinded again effective 10 May 2026 and existing grants may be terminated.
- Expecting derivatives in SIJ cases. There are none - not a spouse, not a child, and by design never the parents.
- Filing late in a fiscal year. EB-4 exhausted its whole FY2025 allocation by the end of February.
Also in special immigrant
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