Kenyans can apply for a religious visa, also known as, an R-1 visa for religious workers which can eventually lead to a Green Card to live in the United States.
The foreigners are to be employed as religious workers. Ministers, priests, educators, translators, missionaries, and other religious workers may qualify for this type of visa.
According to Attorney Kathleen Martinez, an immigration attorney, churches are actively looking for people they can work with and arrange for them to obtain these visas.
Martinez is the Managing Attorney of Martinez Immigration, based in Allen, Texas, in the United States of America.
“You can get a Green Card by working part-time for a church. It’s called a religious visa. It requires that a church basically brings you over here (America) from your home country to work part-time for them. And guess what? It can eventually lead to a green card.
“This is so uncommon that churches are literally begging me to find employees for them so that they can give them visas to come over here. The visas last five years and literally no one is applying. So I suggest dusting off your Bible and applying now,” noted the attorney.
According to the US Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, to qualify for an immigrant visa as a Minister of Religion, you must enter the United States to work solely with your denomination. To be a religious worker, one must be in a religious vocation in a professional or unprofessional capacity.
Applications and qualifications of the petitioning organization and the prospective religious worker are reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Religious visas are open to people from all religions and countries. Initially, the R-1 visa is granted for thirty months, which is two and a half years, but can be extended to sixty months, which is five years.
One can apply for a Green Card after two years of R-1 visa status. This allows one to be a permanent resident of the US.
Additionally, wealthy Kenyans can invest Ksh105 million to live and work in the US by getting an EB5 visa, also known as, the Golden Visa.
