Showing posts with label Visas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Visas. Show all posts

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Denial of Temporary Religious Worker Visa Upheld

In Calvary Albuquerque Inc. v. Blinken, (D NM, March 13, 2024), a New Mexico federal district court dismissed challenges to the denial of an R-1 (Temporary Religious Worker) visa for Stefen Green, a South African citizen who was to be hired as Calvary Church's Worship Director. At issue was the fact that Green received honoraria and allowances from Calvary Church while in the United States on a B-1 visitor's visa before the R-1 visa was approved. Green and Calvary Church both contended that the denial violated their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Denying Green's claim, the court said in part:
Because the doctrine of consular nonreviewability is a long-standing “no trespass rule” for judicial review, and Congress has not expressly provided for judicial review of consular visa decisions, this Court may not infringe upon the consular officer’s decision to deny Mr. Green’s visa except where the constitutional rights of an American citizen are implicated....

Moving on to the RFRA claim by the Church, the court said in part: 

Calvary Church is a United States church making a free exercise claim under RFRA, so this Court must next determine whether the consular officer’s visa denial was made for a facially legitimate and bona fide reasons....

Here, the consular officer cited a valid statutory reason for denial.... [T]he consular officer made a factual determination that Mr. Green willfully misrepresented the purpose of his April 9, 2022, visit to a border official as commensurate with a B-1/B-2 visa and then violated that status by intending to engage in unauthorized employment for hire as an independent contractor at Calvary Church within 90-days of his entry into the United States.

Thursday, January 02, 2020

O Centro Sues Over Failure To Process Visa Applications

AP reports on a lawsuit filed in a New Mexico federal district court by O Centro Espirita Beneficente União do Vegetal alleging religious discrimination by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services which has failed to process the visa applications for one of its congregational leaders and his family:
The lawsuit comes after José Carlos Garcia, a Brazilian man who has led the church’s Florida congregation since 2013, applied for visas that would allow him and his family to continue living in the United States while their immigration cases are pending
But the federal agencies responsible for processing their applications have left the family in legal limbo. Some applications have been pending for two years, according to the suit.
This has prevented Garcia from traveling to religious meetings outside the United States, infringing on his religious freedom, the lawsuit said.
In  O Centro Espirita Beneficente União do Vegetal in the U.S. v. Wolf, (D NM, Dec. 31, 2019), a New Mexico federal district judge refused to issue a preliminary injunction, but ordered the government to file a response by Jan. 10. (See prior related posting,)

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Religious Worker Visa Rule Requiring Compensation Violates Sect's RFRA Rights

In O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal v. Duke, (D NM, Dec. 15, 2017), a New Mexico federal district court concluded that immigration rules which deny religious worker visas to uncompensated clergy likely place a substantial burden in violation of RFRA on the UDV sect because its theology requires non-compensation of its ministers.  The court issued a preliminary injunction requiring US Citizenship and Immigration Services to reconsider petitions for an R-1 Religious Worker Visa and an I-360 Religious Worker petition without applying those provisions of the rules that require applicants be compensated employees or part of an established missionary program.

Thursday, February 02, 2017

Trump Travel Ban Will Not Apply To Israelis Born in Covered Nations

A refinement was announced yesterday to President Trump's Executive Order on entry into the U.S. of nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries.  The modification, which essentially carves out an exception for Jews from those nations now living in Israel, may strengthen arguments of opponents who contend that the Executive Order operates de facto as a "Muslim ban."  The U.S. Embassy in Israel yesterday announced:
Travelers with an existing valid visa in their Israeli passport may travel to the United States, even if they are also a national of or born in one of the seven restricted countries (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). Embassy Tel Aviv will continue to process visa applications and issue visas to eligible visa applicants who apply with an Israeli passport, even if born in, or a dual national of, one of the seven restricted countries. Final authorization to enter the United States is always determined at the port of entry.
According to The Forward, some 140,000 Israelis, most older than 65, were born in the 7 countries covered by the travel ban. Around 45,000 were born in Iran and 53,000 were born in Iraq. No doubt almost all of these are Jews who left Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East to move to Israel. (Background.)

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

8th Circuit Upholds Denial of Citizenship To Muslim In U.S. On Religious Worker's Visa

In Al-Saadoon v. Lynch, (8th Cir., March 14, 2016), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the denial of the naturalization application filed by an Islamic scholar and his wife who entered the U.S. from Iraq on a religious worker's visa.  Initially the USCIS denied the application on the ground that applicants were not of good moral character.  The district court affirmed on the ground that information on applicants' naturalization application showed that the husband changed religious employers a few months before getting the required INS pre-approval for the change.  The 8th Circuit held that the district court's findings are supported by substantial evidence.  In an interesting footnote, the 8th Circuit said:
The district court stated an alternative basis for its denial of Hamod's petition for naturalization. It concluded that "even if some of Hamod's religious worker services to the ICCC starting in 2000 were voluntary and not paid . . . , those services constitute unauthorized employment." Hamod argues that this conclusion violates his right to freely exercise his religion. In particular, he argues that ... the district court's decision regarding voluntary services punishes him for exercising his religion through volunteer work in his local community of faith. We decline to address Hamod's free-exercise claim, however, because the record clearly supports the district court's primary basis for the petition's denial—Hamod was actually employed by the ICCC before he received the authorization required by his visa.