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Religious workers experiencing visa delays
Restructuring of visa process, attempts to combat fraud have slowed work permits, government
says.
By Eunice Moscoso
Austin-American Statesman
Sunday, March 04, 2007
WASHINGTON — Religious groups and immigration lawyers are expressing alarm at the long delays that priests,
nuns, missionaries and other religious workers now encounter when applying for visas.
The two categories of visas that make up about 90 percent of the religious work permits in the United States
"seem to have come to a grinding halt," said Crystal Williams, deputy director of programs at the American
Immigration Lawyers Association.
Williams said that the delays are "across the board" and affect thousands of people waiting to work for a
variety of religious groups, including Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, evangelical churches, Mormons and Muslims.
Dan Kane, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the delays are due to tightened
security measures and a reorganization that funnels all religious worker visa applications through one regional
service center in California. Most of the visas require a site inspection of the sponsoring institution, he said.
"The issue is more the integrity of the application process," Kane said. By reducing fraud and assessing the
legitimacy of the applicant, the process will become more efficient, he said.
The Bush administration has been accused of being too lax with religious visas and giving them to Muslim clerics
from other countries without enough vetting.
Immigration officials said that the religious visa programs have had a problem with fraud. An August 1995 report
showed that the fraud rate for what is known as the special permanent religious visa was about 33 percent.
Steve Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates tighter
immigration measures, said that the visa program needed reform because of national security concerns about
Islamic extremists trying to enter the United States.
He said that a program rife with fraud will lose public support and disappear, which would be worse for
applicants than the current delays.
Religious groups and immigration advocates say the security measures are hurting legitimate applicants and
causing worker shortages at churches, hospitals and schools. Many churches have had a tradition of bringing
in foreign workers and have strong ties with their counterparts overseas. The Catholic Church, in particular, has
relied on foreign priests and nuns to fill shortages in U.S. vocational workers.
Sister Margaret Perron, a Catholic nun and director of religious immigration services at the Catholic Legal
Immigration Network, said her office received 65 requests for more evidence on pending cases on the same day
last year, signaling a blanket security check, without regard for the details of each case.
In a recent notice, the Citizenship and Immigration Services said that some of the requests for more evidence
sent out across the country did not take into account information included in the applications and that they could
be ignored.
Perron also said that an application last year for an 86-year-old Catholic nun from Nicaragua to change status
from tourist to permanent residence was picked for a "detailed review." [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]
"I just can't imagine why the case of an 86-year-old little nun in Wisconsin is undergoing review," she said. The
application has been pending for nine months, Perron said.
Williams said that site inspections on nearly all applications will result in years of delays for visa applicants.
Joel Pfeffer, an immigration lawyer in Pittsburgh, said the delay will affect many immigrants who are
approaching the five-year limit of their temporary religious worker visa, known as an R-1, and have applied for
permanent residency. If their visas expire, they are in the United States illegally, he said. The R-1 visa was
started in 1990.
Pfeffer said one of his clients, a Catholic priest from Uganda, had to return to Africa because of the delay and is
waiting there while his application is processed. "The people who have legitimate cases are stuck in this
quagmire," Pfeffer said.
Dorothy Sandoval, director of pastoral services at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., says
the hospital needs a third chaplain to perform a variety of duties, including offering comfort to the sick and last
rites to the dying.
The job has been offered to a priest from Tanzania who is already working in the United States but needs a
change in his visa to work at St. Vincent. Previously, such a change would take about eight weeks, but now, it
could take six months or longer, Sandoval said.
While many international priests serve in the Catholic Diocese of Austin, the diocese does not depend on them to
staff parishes, said spokeswoman Helen Osman. She said she wasn't aware of visa delays causing problems
in Austin.
The local Muslim community more often depends on clergy from overseas.
Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud, a member of the Islamic Center of Greater Austin, said his mosque encountered a visa
snag last fall when leaders tried to bring in an extra imam for the busy month of Ramadan. At the last minute, the
Moroccan cleric could not obtain his visa, and the Islamic Center had to find an imam with a green card.
"I know some mosques gave up even trying because they know how difficult it is," El-Haj-Mahmoud said.
Imams are still in short supply in the United States, he said, and immigrant congregations often depend on foreign
clerics who can speak their language.
CORRECTION
Cox News Service
A Feb. 28 Cox newspapers story about delays in visas for religious workers incorrectly stated the nature of a
visa application for an 86 year-old Catholic nun that was picked for a review. The application was a request to
change status from tourist to religious worker.
Restructuring of visa process, attempts to combat fraud have slowed work permits, government
says.
By Eunice Moscoso
Austin-American Statesman
Sunday, March 04, 2007
WASHINGTON — Religious groups and immigration lawyers are expressing alarm at the long delays that priests,
nuns, missionaries and other religious workers now encounter when applying for visas.
The two categories of visas that make up about 90 percent of the religious work permits in the United States
"seem to have come to a grinding halt," said Crystal Williams, deputy director of programs at the American
Immigration Lawyers Association.
Williams said that the delays are "across the board" and affect thousands of people waiting to work for a
variety of religious groups, including Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, evangelical churches, Mormons and Muslims.
Dan Kane, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the delays are due to tightened
security measures and a reorganization that funnels all religious worker visa applications through one regional
service center in California. Most of the visas require a site inspection of the sponsoring institution, he said.
"The issue is more the integrity of the application process," Kane said. By reducing fraud and assessing the
legitimacy of the applicant, the process will become more efficient, he said.
The Bush administration has been accused of being too lax with religious visas and giving them to Muslim clerics
from other countries without enough vetting.
Immigration officials said that the religious visa programs have had a problem with fraud. An August 1995 report
showed that the fraud rate for what is known as the special permanent religious visa was about 33 percent.
Steve Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates tighter
immigration measures, said that the visa program needed reform because of national security concerns about
Islamic extremists trying to enter the United States.
He said that a program rife with fraud will lose public support and disappear, which would be worse for
applicants than the current delays.
Religious groups and immigration advocates say the security measures are hurting legitimate applicants and
causing worker shortages at churches, hospitals and schools. Many churches have had a tradition of bringing
in foreign workers and have strong ties with their counterparts overseas. The Catholic Church, in particular, has
relied on foreign priests and nuns to fill shortages in U.S. vocational workers.
Sister Margaret Perron, a Catholic nun and director of religious immigration services at the Catholic Legal
Immigration Network, said her office received 65 requests for more evidence on pending cases on the same day
last year, signaling a blanket security check, without regard for the details of each case.
In a recent notice, the Citizenship and Immigration Services said that some of the requests for more evidence
sent out across the country did not take into account information included in the applications and that they could
be ignored.
Perron also said that an application last year for an 86-year-old Catholic nun from Nicaragua to change status
from tourist to permanent residence was picked for a "detailed review." [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]
"I just can't imagine why the case of an 86-year-old little nun in Wisconsin is undergoing review," she said. The
application has been pending for nine months, Perron said.
Williams said that site inspections on nearly all applications will result in years of delays for visa applicants.
Joel Pfeffer, an immigration lawyer in Pittsburgh, said the delay will affect many immigrants who are
approaching the five-year limit of their temporary religious worker visa, known as an R-1, and have applied for
permanent residency. If their visas expire, they are in the United States illegally, he said. The R-1 visa was
started in 1990.
Pfeffer said one of his clients, a Catholic priest from Uganda, had to return to Africa because of the delay and is
waiting there while his application is processed. "The people who have legitimate cases are stuck in this
quagmire," Pfeffer said.
Dorothy Sandoval, director of pastoral services at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., says
the hospital needs a third chaplain to perform a variety of duties, including offering comfort to the sick and last
rites to the dying.
The job has been offered to a priest from Tanzania who is already working in the United States but needs a
change in his visa to work at St. Vincent. Previously, such a change would take about eight weeks, but now, it
could take six months or longer, Sandoval said.
While many international priests serve in the Catholic Diocese of Austin, the diocese does not depend on them to
staff parishes, said spokeswoman Helen Osman. She said she wasn't aware of visa delays causing problems
in Austin.
The local Muslim community more often depends on clergy from overseas.
Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud, a member of the Islamic Center of Greater Austin, said his mosque encountered a visa
snag last fall when leaders tried to bring in an extra imam for the busy month of Ramadan. At the last minute, the
Moroccan cleric could not obtain his visa, and the Islamic Center had to find an imam with a green card.
"I know some mosques gave up even trying because they know how difficult it is," El-Haj-Mahmoud said.
Imams are still in short supply in the United States, he said, and immigrant congregations often depend on foreign
clerics who can speak their language.
CORRECTION
Cox News Service
A Feb. 28 Cox newspapers story about delays in visas for religious workers incorrectly stated the nature of a
visa application for an 86 year-old Catholic nun that was picked for a review. The application was a request to
change status from tourist to religious worker.
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