Overview
- R-1 visa holders who reach the five-year cap must still depart the U.S. but can now request immediate reentry instead of waiting abroad for a year.
- DHS said the change helps congregations keep pastors, priests, nuns, imams and rabbis serving without prolonged gaps in ministry.
- Immigration attorneys and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops praised the rule as practical relief for religious organizations.
- The adjustment does not fix EB-4 green-card delays tied to a 2023 State Department change that moved additional cases, including certain minors, into the general queue under strict annual limits, leaving thousands waiting.
- A 2024 lawsuit by the Diocese of Paterson was voluntarily dismissed in 2025 to allow agency action, and a bipartisan 2025 bill proposes allowing extensions while permanent-residence petitions are pending.