On March 28, 2023, the State Department announced a new interpretation for the Visa Bulletin. Under this new rule, the counting mechanism for Permanent Residency applications for Special Immigrants would change, effective April 2023. All Special Immigrant visas will be pulled together, instead of the previous practice of segregating religious workers from other special immigrants. There will no longer be a separate pull for special juvenile applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. This means that Special Immigrant Religious Workers, with approved Form I-360s, will have to wait longer before they can apply for Permanent Residency.
For further clarity, below are excerpts of the Visa Bulletin for March 2023 and April 2023, representing the old and new rules.
March 2023 Visa Bulletin
April 2023 Visa Bulletin
Under the March 2023 visa bulletin, religious workers whose Form I-360 petitions were filed by March 1, 2022, were able to submit their Permanent Residency Application in March 2023. By April 2023, only religious workers whose Form I-360 petitions were filed by October 1, 2018, can submit their permanent residency application. This means a four-year delay at a minimum.
The State Department has a more detailed explanation for this dramatic change, which was to benefit other Special Immigrant petitions filed for Juveniles in Need of Protection in the United States.
Practical Effect: Religious workers will have to file Form I-360, which is the first step to permanent residency status, earlier than before. Since religious workers can only be on an R-1 visa for no more than five years, all current R-1 visa holders with intention of getting residency status in the U.S. should start the process immediately to minimize the risk of falling out of status before they can submit their Permanent Residency applications.
For all your U.S. immigration needs, schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys.