Employment-Based Immigration: Fourth Preference EB-4
(The special immigrant religious worker category)
You may be eligible for an employment-based, fourth preference visa if you are a “special immigrant.” This unusual category includes a mix of green card types, some of them having no connection to employment or work. The special immigrant religious worker category is one of several employment-based fourth-preference (EB-4) visa classifications. Ministers and non-ministers in religious vocations and occupations may immigrate to or adjust status in the United States for the purpose of performing religious work in a full-time compensated position.
Minister or Member of the Clergy: A minister is, according to U.S. immigration law, a person authorized by a recognized religious denomination to conduct religious activities. This includes not only some of the traditional roles that might come to mind, such as ministers, priests, and rabbis; but also salaried Buddhist monks, practitioners and nurses of the Christian Science Church, commissioned officers of the Salvation Army, and ordained deacons. The law does place some limits on who can call themselves a minister, however. The person must have formal recognition from a qualified religion with which affiliated. Such recognition might include a license, certificate of ordination, or other qualification to conduct religious worship.
Other Religious Worker: Also potentially qualified under this subcategory are “other religious workers,” that is, workers in a “religious vocation” or “religious occupation.” These workers must be authorized to perform normal religious duties, while not actually serving as part of the clergy. Examples include liturgical workers, religious instructors, religious counselors, cantors, catechists, workers in religious hospitals or religious health care facilities, missionaries, religious translators, or religious broadcasters. It does not include workers performing nonreligious functions such as maintenance workers, receptionists or clerical staff, fundraising and development staff, or even singers. It also does not include volunteers.
There is a statutory numerical limit (or “cap”) of 5,000 workers who may be issued a special immigrant non-minister religious worker visa during each fiscal year. There is no cap for special immigrant religious workers entering the United States solely for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of a minister.