U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

MATTER OF S-O-T-D-S-, INC.

Non-Precedent Decision of the Administrative Appeals Office

DATE: JAN. 2~, 2019

APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER DECISION

PETITION: FORM 1-360, PETITION FOR AMERASIAN, WIDOW(ER), OR SPECIAL IMMIGRANT

' The Petitioner, a Roman Catholic religious order, seeks to employ the Beneficiary, a priest, as a special immigrant religious worker to perform services as ~ chaplain and director of pastoral care. See Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) section 203(b)(4), 8 U.S.C. § l 153(b)(4). The special immigrant reiigious worker classification allows qualifying non-profit religious organizations to employ foreign nationals as ministers.

The Director of the California Service Center denied the petition, finding the Petitioner did not establish that the Beneficiary had the requisite two years of continuous, full-time religious work experience. On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that the Beneficiary performed qualifying religious work for the two-year period immediately preceding the filing of the petition and submits additional evidence in support of its assertion.

Upon de nova review, we will sustain the appeal.

I. LAW

Non-profit religious organizations may petition for foreign nationals to immigrate -to the United States to perform full-time, compensated religious work as ministers. The petitioning organizations must establish that the foreign national beneficiary meets certain eligibility criteria, including membership in a religious denomination and continuous religious work experience for at least the 2-year period before the petition filing date. Foreign nationals may self-petition for this classification. See generally section 203(b )( 4) of the Act (providing classification to qualified special immigrant religious workers as described in section 10l(a)(27)(C) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § U 0l(a)(27)(C)).

The implementing regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.S(m) provides, in pertinent part, that in order to be eligible for classification as a special immigrant religious ~orker, a foreign national must:

(2) Be coming to the United States to work in a full time (average of at least 35 hour~ per week) compensated position in one of lhe following occupations as they are defined in paragraph (m)(5) of this section:

Matter ofS-O-T-D-S-, Inc.

(i) Solely in the vocation of a minister of that religious denomination;

(4) Have been working in one of the positions described in paragraph (m)(2) of this sectiori ... after the age of 14 years continuously for at least the two-year period immediately preceding the filing of the petition.

In addition, the regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 204.S(m)(l 1) addresses the evideri.tiary requirements to establish prior religious work experience. It provides:

Evidence relating to the alien's prior employment. Qualifying prior experience during the two years immediately preceding the petition or preceding any acceptable break in the continuity of the religious work, must have occurred after the age of 14 ... If the alien was employed in the United States during the· two years immediately preceding the filing of the application and:

(i) Received salaried compensation, the petitioner must submit IRS [Internal Revenue Service] documentation that the alien received a salary, such as an IRS Form W-2 [Wage and Tax Statement] or certified copies of income tax returns;

(ii) Received non-salaried compensation, the petitioner must submit IRS documentation of the non-salaried compensation if available.

(iii)Received no salary but provided for his or her own support, and provided support for any dependents, the' petitioner must show how support was maintaineq by submitting with the petition additional documents such as audited financial statements, financial institution records, brokerage account statements, trust documents signed by an attorney, or other verifiable evidence acceptable to USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services].

II. ANALYSIS

The Petitioner must establish that the Beneficiary has been working as a religious worker in a full-time, compensated position for at least the two-year period immediately preceding the filing of the petition. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(m)(2), (4). lff this case, the petition was filed on June 23, 2017. Therefore, the Petitioner must demonstrate that the Beneficiary has the requisite two years of qualifying prior work experience from June 23, 2015, through June 23, 2017. After a review.,ofthe entire record, including the evidence submitted on appeal and in response to our request for evidence (RFE), we find the Petitioner has .demonstrated the Beneficiary has two years of continuous full-time (average of at least 35 hours per week) wor~ experience immediately preceding the filing of the petition. 8 C.F.R. § 204.5(m)(2), (4).

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Matter of S-O-T-D-S-, Inc.

According to the record~ the Beneficiary was ordained as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church and appointed to parish in June 2015, then began working as a chaplain at in September 2015. The Petitioner now seeks to continue employing the Beneficiary and indicates he will remain assigned as the chaplain and director of pastoral care with

The Director denied the petition, finding the record did not establish the Beneficiary had the requisite two years of continuous, full-time religious work experience. On appeal, the Petitioner submits a timeline of the Beneficiary's work experience, his resume addendum, and additional support letters describing his duties and assignment dates at and We issued an RFE for further clarification to resolve inconsistencies regarding the nature and timeline of the Beneficiary's experience during the two-year qualifying period. We also requested additional documentation to adequately demonstrate the Petitioner continuously provided the claimed non-salaried compensation throughout the requisite two-year period.

In response to our RFE, the Petitioner submitted additional evidence, including updated support letters, weekly newsletters from June 2015 to November 2016, the Beneficiary's November 2018 affidavit, and documentation showing the petitioning entity provided the claimed non-salaried compensation· throughout the requisite time period. · The Petitioner also clarified inconsistencies

. concerning the Beneficiary's employment timeline and duties. For example, November 2018 letter confirmed the Beneficiary served full-time as a priest, on behalf of

the Petitioner, from June 2015 to June 2017. He explained that although some of the submitted documents may have included inaccurate characterizations of the Beneficiary's assignments; such as "assisting priest" at or "part-time chaplain" at he performed "the full range of activities that a priest often is called upon to perform." In. addition, the August 2018 letter from

confirmed the Petitioner assigned the Beneficiary to serve as a chaplain at as of September 2015, and he has served in that capacity "continuously to present." She further clarified that the Beneficiary performed priestly duties at another parish until January 2016, in addition to his service at

The record as a whole, including the information provided on appeal and in response to our RFE, demonstrates the Beneficiary has the requisite two years of qualifying prior work experience. Moreov·er, USCIS conducted a site visit at the petitioning entity on December 10, 2018, further confirming the Beneficiary's continuous, full-time, compensated work experience during the requisite two-year period.

III . CONCLUSION

The Petitioner has established that the Beneficiary has two years of qualifying work experience immediately preceding the filing of the petition. ·

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Matter of S-_O-T-D-S-, Inc.

ORDER: The appeal is sustained.

Cite as Matter o.fS-O-T-D-S-, Inc., ID# 1493957 (AAO Jan. 25, 2019)

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