Religious Vocation or Profession (R)

If you are a minister or another kind of religious worker, you may qualify for an R-1 visa. You may be classified as a minister by USCIS if you are authorized by a religious denomination and fully trained according to the denomination’s standards to conduct religious worship and to perform other duties usually performed by authorized members of the clergy of that denomination.  You may also qualify for the visa under the religious occupation subcategory, meaning that you have a made formal lifetime commitment, through vows, investitures, ceremonies, or similar indicia, to a religious way of life, or under the religious vocation subcategory, wherein your duties must primarily relate to a traditional religious function and be recognized as a religious occupation within the denomination. 

Your religious denomination must have a class of individuals whose lives are dedicated to religious practices and functions, as distinguished from the secular members of the religion. In order to qualify for this visa category, you must be a member of a religious denomination that has an affiliate tax exempt nonprofit religious U.S. organization for at least 3 years immediately preceding the time of the application.