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C-4 | Civil Law Considerations—Immigration Law
a. Extensions of Stay, Recapture Policy, and
Changes in Status
As stated above in section B.1.a,
“Difference Between Special Immigrant
and Nonimmigrant R Visas,” paragraph
two, the R visa nonimmigrant status is
usually granted for an initial thirty-month
period and may be extended using the CIS
Form I-129. CIS has a policy that states that
any days spent outside of the United States
will not be not be counted toward the five-
year statutory period when requesting an
extension of stay, as long as the R non-
immigrant remains eligible for such status
and provides independent documentary
evidence that he or she was not physically
in the United States. Acceptable evidence
includes photocopies of passport stamps,
I-94 arrival/departure records, and/or plane
tickets. If the individual changes from one
nonimmigrant status to the R visa classifi-
cation and travels abroad after this change,
a new visa must be obtained abroad before
the religious worker is allowed to reenter
the United States.
b. Reporting Requirements
Sponsoring organizations or employers
must notify DHS within fourteen days if
the R nonimmigrant is working less than
twenty hours per week or has been released
or terminated from employment before
the authorized period of stay. CIS strongly
encourages use of electronic notification
via e-mail at
cscr-1earlyterminationnotif@
dhs.gov
. Paper notification before the
fourteen-day calendar reporting window
may be submitted to CIS.
c. Limitation of Stay and Exception
A religious worker who has spent five years
in the country under the R visa may not be
readmitted or obtain an extension of stay,
unless he or she has resided abroad and has
been physically present outside the United
States for the immediate prior year. CIS
has stated that brief, intermittent visits to
the United States will not break the one-
year physical presence outside the United
States. An exception to the limitation of
stay applies to R visa holders who did not
reside continuously in the country and
whose employment in the United States
was seasonal or intermittent or was for an
aggregate of six months or less per year. In
addition, the limitations do not apply to
religious workers who reside abroad and
regularly commute to the United States to
engage in part-time employment.
d. Spouses and Children
Spouses and children under the age of
twenty-one of the principal R nonimmi-
grant may accompany or join the principal
religious worker as an R-2 nonimmigrant
as long as: (1) the R-2 status is granted for
the same period of time and subject to the
same limits as the principal, regardless of
the time such spouse and children may
have spent in the United States under
R-2 status; (2) neither the spouse nor chil-
dren may accept employment while in the
United States under R-2 status; and (3)
the primary purpose of the spouse or chil-
dren coming to the United States must
be to accompany or join the principal
R-1 religious worker. The R-2 dependents
accompanying the R-1 principal may
study in the United States.
D. Foreign Student Visas
1. Application Procedures
Only seminaries that are authorized to enroll
foreign students may issue the necessary paper-
work for the would-be seminarian to obtain
the F nonimmigrant visa classification. DHS
regulations require all schools duly authorized
to enroll foreign students have a designated
school official (DSO), who must be famil-
iar with the foreign student rules and who is
authorized to annotate the Form I-20 A-B,
Certificate of Eligibility of Nonimmigrant
(F-1) Student Status. Authorized seminar-
ies are registered on a web-based ICE sys-
tem known as Student Exchange Visitor
Information System (SEVIS). Through
SEVIS, the seminary issues a Form I-20. As
a general matter, the would-be seminarian
must demonstrate to consular officials that
he has a foreign residence that he does not
intend to abandon and that he will be able
to complete his full course of studies without
resorting to unauthorized employment while
in the United States. Once the seminarian