Immigration of Alien Ministers
By Richard R. Hammar, J.D., LL.M., CPA
© Copyright 1991, 1998 by Church Law & Tax Report. All rights reserved. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Church Law & Tax Report, PO Box 1098, Matthews, NC 28106. Reference Code: m28
Federal immigration law gives preferential treatment to certain classes of aliens. Under certain conditions, ministers are entitled to “special immigrant” status and therefore may be admitted to the United States without the numerical limitations that ordinarily apply to immigrants. To be entitled to this special immigrant status, a minister must establish that (1) for at least two years immediately preceding the time of application for admission to the United States, he or she was engaged continuously in carrying on the vocation of a minister; (2) he or she seeks to enter the United States solely for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of a minister; and (3) his or her services are needed by a religious denomination having a bona fide organization in the United States.1 The minister's spouse and dependent children also receive special immigrant status.
These requirements are strictly construed. In one case, a Turkish clergyman of the outlawed Bektashi faith sought special immigrant status as a “minister.” His application was denied by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on the ground that the applicant had not functioned as a minister for two years immediately preceding the time of his application for admission to the United States, despite the applicant's claim that he had been unable to function as a minister because the Turkish government had outlawed his sect.2
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has held that the term minister as used in the Immigration and Naturalization Act means a person duly authorized by a recognized religious denomination having a bona fide organization in the United States to conduct religious worship and to perform other duties usually performed by a regularly ordained clergyman of that denomination. Therefore, the Service has held that an ordained “minister of music” was not a “minister” since her education was primarily in music and not theology; she never officiated at weddings or funerals, and never performed preaching or visitation functions, although she allegedly had the authority to do so, and she did not have two continuous years of ministry experience immediately preceding the filing of her application for admission to the United States.3
For related information on this topic see the following articles:General Scope of a Minister's Authority
Officer of the Church Corporation
Clergy Authority in Property Matters
Performance of Marriage Ceremonies