DHS has eliminated a key restriction on religious worker visas, drawing both praise and calls for broader relief from faith groups.
The Department of Homeland Security on January 16 issued an interim final rule eliminating the requirement that R-1 religious workers who reach their five-year maximum stay must spend at least one year outside the United States before seeking readmission. The rule, titled “Improving Continuity for Religious Organizations and Their Employees,” took effect immediately and is open for public comment through March 17.
A federal public comment period allows individuals and organizations to formally submit feedback on proposed regulations before they are finalized. Agencies are required to review and consider those submissions, which can shape revisions or future rulemaking.
The DHS docket said the change is intended “to promote stability and minimize disruptions to the vital services that R-1 religious workers provide to U.S. churches, mosques, synagogues, and other bona fide nonprofit religious organizations.” The entry noted that long waits in the EB-4 immigrant visa category — capped at about 9,940 visas annually — have made it difficult for many R-1 workers to transition to permanent residency within five years.
As of March 2025, approximately 217,500 approved EB-4 petitions were awaiting visa availability, up from fewer than 63,000 at the end of fiscal year 2022, according to DHS.
The Sikh Coalition, a nonprofit organization, welcomed the removal of the one-year foreign residence requirement as “a constructive policy improvement,” saying it has caused “unnecessary disruptions to religious institutions nationwide.” The organization said Sikh gurdwaras often rely on foreign-born granthis and ragis to maintain religious practice and education.
However, the group urged DHS to go further, arguing that religious workers with approved EB-4 petitions should not have to depart the United States at all while waiting for visa numbers to become available, citing visa retrogression that could leave some waiting decades.
Templo Bethel Assemblies of God in Los Angeles similarly supported eliminating the one-year requirement but called the measure insufficient. In its comment, the church officials asked DHS to allow ministers with approved I-360 petitions and their families to remain in the United States with employment authorization and advance parole while awaiting visa availability, warning that some are “trapped in the U.S. without status … due to the EB-4 retrogression.”
This loosening of restrictions comes amid greater battles concerning legal immigration policy under the current presidential administration. President Donald Trump gave an interview to Laura Ingraham last fall in which he appeared to praise the H-1B visa after previously imposing new restrictions, including a $100,000 fee, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The H-1B visa is primarily for jobs requiring at least a bachelor’s degree or higher.
In January 2026, H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, drew public attention after it included a provision that could allow more H-2B visa workers into the country, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The H-2B visa is for non-agricultural seasonal jobs, including seafood processing, amusement park work, and similar occupations.
DHS said the R-1 rule will “significantly reduce the time that religious organizations and their communities must wait” for workers to return, while maintaining existing five-year stay limits.
