William Yates, Associate Director of Operations for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), has issued a memo regarding the extension of the Special Immigrant Religious Worker Program and the tax-exempt status requirements for religious organizations.

The Special Immigrants Worker Program, which allows for the admission of “special immigrants” who are professional or other religious workers in a religious vocation or occupation, was scheduled to end on September 30, 2003.  This date did not apply to those who enter the US to work as ministers of a religious denomination.  In October 2003, the program was extended until September 30, 2008.  On July 18, CIS issued a memo on July 18, 2003 instructing that Special Immigrant Worker Petitions that were subject to the September 30 sunset date should be processed quickly.  The Yates memo instructed that since the deadline has been extended, these petitions do not need expedited processing.

The second part of the Yates memo deals with the tax-exempt status of religious organizations.  This issue has been of particular concern to religious organizations around the country due to the USCIS' recent extremely restrictive interpretation of the rules for religious organizations. 8 CFR 204.5(m)(2) defines a bona fide religious organization as one that is “closely associated with the religious denomination and which is tax exempt from taxation as described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).”  This is repeated in 8 CFR 204.5(m)(3)(i), which adds that evidence showing that the employing religious institution qualifies as a nonprofit organization must be included in a petition for a religious worker.

IRC section 501(c)(3) has several classes of tax-exempt organizations.  Religious organizations that qualify for this status are listed in IRC section 170(b)(1)(A), such as churches.  Other organizations may be eligible if they can establish that the religious classification is due to religious factors, that they are organized for religious purposes and operate under the principles of a religious faith.  Evidence of the tax exempt status can be a signed letter from the IRS stating that the organization has tax exempt status as a religious organization in accordance with section 501(c)(3), or documentation that is required by the IRS to establish eligibility and documentation that establishes the religious nature of the organization, such as a completed IRS Form 1023, a copy of the organization’s charter or constitution that contains the dissolution clause required by the IRS and states the purpose of the organization, brochures and other literature describing the religious purpose and activities of the organization.