R-1 Temporary Religious Worker
R-1 lets a minister, or someone in a religious vocation or occupation, come to the United States to work at least part time for a non-profit religious organisation. You must have belonged to the denomination for at least two years before the petition is filed. It runs on 30-month blocks to a five-year ceiling, and since January 2026 the mandatory year abroad after that ceiling has been abolished.
- Duration
- Up to 30 months initially. The total period of stay in R-1 cannot exceed five years, and only time physically spent in the United States in valid R-1 status counts toward it.
- Extensions
- Extensions of up to a further 30 months, to the five-year ceiling. The time limits do not apply to religious workers who did not reside continuously in the United States and whose US employment was seasonal, intermittent or six months or less per year, nor to those who live abroad and commute to work part time. After five years you must depart, but since the January 2026 interim final rule there is no longer any minimum period you must spend outside the country before returning in R-1.
- Work
- Yes, incident to status, for the petitioning religious organisation in the role described. A change of employer requires a new Form I-129 with a fresh attestation and supporting evidence. The petitioner must notify USCIS within 14 days of any change in the worker's employment, and must report terminations to the designated address.
- Dual intent
- limited - R-1 workers must intend to depart when their stay expires, but USCIS may not deny an R petition, admission, change of status or extension solely because a labour certification application or immigrant petition has been filed.
- Dependents
- Spouse and unmarried children under 21 get R-2 status. R-2 dependants are not authorised to work.
- Path to a green card
- EB-4 special immigrant religious worker is the natural route, and it requires two years of qualifying religious work before the Form I-360 is filed, which R-1 time supplies. The non-minister special immigrant religious worker category has repeatedly been subject to sunset provisions, so confirm it is authorised before relying on it. Ministers are not subject to that sunset.
- Processing time
- Regular Form I-129 adjudication runs several months, and USCIS conducts site inspections in R-1 cases more often than in most categories. Premium processing for R is $1,780 rather than the $2,965 charged for other I-129 classifications. Consular waits have grown since the October 2025 rollback and the March 2026 addition of R-1 and R-2 to expanded vetting.
- Annual cap and waiting lines
- none for R-1 itself. The related EB-4 non-minister special immigrant religious worker green card category has historically been subject to a statutory sunset and annual limits
Who qualifies
- Ministers of a religious denomination
- People in a religious vocation, such as members of a religious order
- People in a religious occupation whose duties relate to a traditional religious function
- Workers employed by a non-profit religious organisation in the United States, an organisation authorised to use a group tax exemption, or a non-profit affiliated with a religious denomination
- Uncompensated missionaries in an established programme, where self-support is properly evidenced
Requirements
- Membership of the religious denomination for at least the two years immediately before the petition is filed
- Work of at least 20 hours a week on average
- The petitioner files Form I-129 with the R supplement
- Proof of tax-exempt status: an IRS determination letter, or group exemption evidence, or affiliation evidence plus a religious denomination certification signed by another organisation in the denomination
- Verifiable evidence of salaried or non-salaried compensation, or of self-support in an established missionary programme
- Where an eligibility requirement substantially burdens the organisation's exercise of religion, a written Religious Freedom Restoration Act exemption request may accompany the filing
- Since March 30, 2026, social media profiles set to public for online presence review
How to apply
- 1
Confirm two years of denominational membership immediately before filing
- 2
The religious organisation gathers its IRS determination letter or group exemption evidence and, where affiliated, the denomination certification on Form I-129 Supplement R
- 3
Document the compensation with past payroll for similar roles, budgets, leases, room and board arrangements, W-2s or certified tax returns, or document self-support for missionary work
- 4
The organisation files Form I-129 with the R supplement and attestation
- 5
Nonprofit petitioners should claim the $0 Asylum Program Fee
- 6
Add Form I-907 at $1,780 for a 15 business day response if timing matters
- 7
Set social media profiles to public, required of R-1 applicants since March 30, 2026
- 8
Complete Form DS-160, pay the $205 MRV fee and interview in your country of nationality or residence
- 9
Where the worker has reached the five-year ceiling, select consular, pre-flight or port of entry notification at Form I-129 Part 2 Question 4 box a
Fees and forms
| Form I-129, R petition | $510 paper or online, plus additional fees if applicable |
| Asylum Program Fee on Form I-129 | $600 regular petitioner, $300 small employer, $0 nonprofit. Most R-1 petitioners are nonprofits and pay $0 |
| Form I-907 premium processing, R classification | $1,780 |
| MRV nonimmigrant visa application fee, petition-based tier | $205 |
| Form I-539 for R-2 dependants inside the United States | $470 paper, $420 online |
| Public Law 119-21 visa integrity fee | $250 statutory minimum; absent from the State Department fee schedule as of September 2026, so collection is unverified |
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- Jan. 16, 2026: DHS issued an interim final rule, Improving Continuity for Religious Organizations and Their Employees, removing the requirement that an R-1 who has exhausted the five-year maximum reside and be physically present outside the United States for a year before seeking readmission. The worker must still depart at the end of five years, but there is no longer a minimum time abroad.
- March 30, 2026: State expanded online presence review, announced March 25, 2026, to A-3, C-3 domestic workers, G-5, H-3, H-4 dependants of H-3, K-1, K-2, K-3, Q, R-1, R-2, S, T and U applicants. This sits on top of the June 18, 2025 requirement for F, M and J applicants and the Dec. 15, 2025 extension to H-1B and H-4. Everyone in scope is told to set all social media profiles to public or open. R-1 and R-2 are both named in the March 2026 expansion.
- Oct. 1, 2025: the interview waiver rollback announced Sept. 18, 2025 took effect and superseded the July 25, 2025 guidance. Almost every nonimmigrant applicant now needs an in-person interview. The standing carve-outs are A-1, A-2, C-3 other than personal staff, G-1 through G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-6, TECRO E-1, diplomatic and official visas, and 12-month renewals of B-1/B-2, Mexican border crossing cards and H-2A. Waiver-eligible applicants must also apply in their country of nationality or residence, must never have been refused a visa unless overcome or waived, and must have no apparent ineligibility. The old under-14 and over-79 age exemptions were abolished. No further update has issued as of September 2026.
- July 15, 2026: State told nonimmigrant applicants to interview in their country of nationality or residence, or at the designated processing post if their country has no routine operations. Applying elsewhere is allowed but harder to qualify, the MRV fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, and waits are much longer. A, G, C-2, C-3, NATO and diplomatic applicants are exempt.
- Jan. 1, 2026: Presidential Proclamation 10998, signed Dec. 16, 2025, took effect at 12:01 a.m. EST and replaced Proclamation 10949 (signed June 4, 2025, effective June 9, 2025). It fully suspends visa issuance to nationals of 19 countries - Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - plus holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents, across every nonimmigrant and immigrant category. It only reaches people who were outside the United States and held no valid visa at 12:01 a.m. EST on Jan. 1, 2026; no earlier-issued visa was revoked under it. R is outside the partial suspension list, so nationals of the 19 partially suspended countries can still apply for R visas.
- July 4, 2025: Public Law 119-21 added non-waivable immigration surcharges on top of normal filing fees. The ones that touch nonimmigrants are the Form I-94 fee, held at $24 for FY 2026, the parole fee, adjusted to $1,020 for FY 2026, parolee EAD surcharges of $560 initial and $280 renewal, and a statutory visa integrity fee of at least $250 on nonimmigrant visa issuance. The $250 visa integrity fee is enacted but unverified as collected: it appears nowhere on the State Department fee schedule as of September 2026 and no implementing rule has published.
- Current USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055 edition 05/29/26: an R Form I-129 is $510 paper or online, plus the Asylum Program Fee, and premium processing for R is $1,780.
- June 26, 2026: USCIS last updated Policy Manual Volume 2, Part O, the R-1 religious worker part, which holds the compensation rules at Chapter 3 and the period of stay rules at Chapter 7.
Where it goes wrong
- The two-year denominational membership must be immediately before filing, and gaps break it.
- Compensation evidence is where most R-1 petitions fail. Promises are not enough; USCIS wants verifiable documentation.
- Self-support only works inside an established, denomination-wide missionary programme, not as an ad hoc arrangement.
- Only time physically present in the United States in valid R-1 counts toward the five years, so travel records matter.
- A CBP officer sometimes issues an I-94 beyond the 30-month regulatory maximum; USCIS cannot correct it and the error can still cost you at the five-year mark.
- Failing to notify USCIS within 14 days of a change in the worker's employment, or to report a termination.
- Requesting an extension for someone already at five years, which produces a split decision: extension denied, petition approved for consular processing.
- Assuming the EB-4 non-minister religious worker category is open. It has repeatedly sunset and been reauthorised.
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