U.S. Religious Occupation EB-4 (b) Immigration Lawyers
Located in Los Angeles, California, the immigration law firm of Swanson & Swanson has experience in handling employment based immigration matters, including immigrants seeking employment in the United States for religious occupation.
For additional information about our team or the benefits of retaining our services, please visit those pages or contact us.
To speak to a knowledgeable immigration attorney about employment based immigration matters, including immigrants seeking religious occupation, or to discuss your particular situation, call 310-694-5914.
Employment Based Immigration: Religious Occupation EB-4 (b)
E-4 (b) is reserved for individuals seeking to secure U. S. permanent resident status based upon employment in a religious capacity for a U. S. based non-profit religious organization. This benefit however is only available through September 30th, 2008.
Religious capacity refers to employment in one of the following three circumstances:
- As a professional: reserved for those who have attained a four year college degree or equivalent which is a recognized prerequisite to the performance of a service or occupation, e.g. accountants, engineers, doctors, etc.;
- In a traditional religious occupation: reserved for those who would perform activities which facilitate and advance the aims and purposes of the denomination, e.g. missionaries, counselors, instructors, translators, etc.; and
- As a vocational calling: reserved for those "called" to serve as nuns, monks, sister, etc.
Petitions for immigrant classifications of this character do not require a showing of a lack of U.S. workers; all that is required is documentation to establish:
- The non-profit character of the petitioning organization,
- The ministerial character of the individual seeking to immigrate,
- That the individual has been pursuing his or her calling for at least the past two years immediately preceding the filing of the immigrant petition, and
- Will continue to pursue that calling stateside with the petitioning organization.
Immigrant preference classification in this particular instance entitles one to immigrate in the order of the date the petition is filed (the priority date) and as soon as an immigrant visa becomes available. Immigrant visa availability is a function of the number of visas available in any given year, the number of petitions already on file for the particular preference classification, and the country of birth of the applicant or his or her spouse.
For additional information about employment based immigration, including EB-4 green cards for immigrants seeking religious occupation, or to discuss your immigration and naturalization matter with an experienced U.S. immigration attorney, please contact us. We have helped generations of families, and we want to help you.
