Visa Issuance: Issues Concerning the Religious Worker Visa Program
Published: 1999-03-26T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the extent and nature of any fraud the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Department of State have identified in the religious worker visa program; and (2) any steps INS and State have taken or plan to take to change the visa screening process.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: GAO noted that: (1) although INS and State have identified some program fraud through the visa screening process and investigations, they do not have data or analysis to firmly establish the extent of fraud in the religious worker visa program; (2) the nature of the fraud uncovered typically involved: (a) applicants making false statements about their qualifications as religious workers or their exact plans in the United States; or (b) conspiracy between an applicant and a sponsoring organization to misrepresent material facts about the applicant's qualifications or the nature of the position to be filled; (3) INS and State sometimes detect fraud schemes when a sponsoring organization petitions INS for hundreds of religious workers at a time; (4) in order to increase the availability of information necessary to allow reviewers to determine the eligibility of visa applicants and sponsors, INS, with State's support, is considering changes to the visa screening process; (5) these changes include: (a) having an applicant submit additional evidence of his or her qualifications; (b) having the sponsoring organization submit additional evidence regarding its ability to financially support the applicant; and (c) incorporating new software applications that alert reviewers to organizations filing petitions for numerous workers; (6) INS is also proposing a regulatory change to expressly require that the prior work experience specified for immigrant religious worker visa applicants be full-time and that the individuals work for the religious organization in the United States on a full-time basis; (7) the religious organizations GAO met with believe the program meets their needs; and (8) of the seven organizations commenting on the proposed regulatory change, three opposed it because some part-time religious workers that are eligible may no longer qualify.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: In response to concerns from the U.S. religious community about shortages  of domestic religious workers to fill vacancies for religious positions, the  Congress established special immigrant and nonimmigrant visa categories  in 1990, for religious workers, religious professionals, and ministers.   Religious worker visas constituted about 11,000, of the 7 million immigrant  and nonimmigrant visas issued in fiscal year 1997.  The Department of State  and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) share responsibility  for issuing visas and admitting aliens into the United States.  As a result of  some recent fraud investigations, both agencies have expressed concern  that some individuals and organizations that sponsor religious workers  may be exploiting this category to enable unqualified aliens to enter or stay  in the United States illegally.
At your request, we determined (1) the extent and nature of any fraud INS  and State have identified in the religious worker visa program and (2) any  steps INS and State have taken or plan to take to change the visa screening  process.  To meet our objectives, we interviewed INS and State  headquarters officials, and we visited INS facilities in California, New York,  Texas, and Vermont responsible for processing visas and investigating  fraud.  We also met with representatives of 12 religious organizations  involved in the program.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990 established special immigrant  and nonimmigrant categories for religious workers, religious professionals,  and ministers.  The act authorizes special immigrants to be admitted to the  United States as religious workers if, for 2 years prior to admission, they  have been members of a religious denomination having a bona fide,  nonprofit, religious organization in the United States; they intend to enter  the United States to work for the organization at the organization's request  in a religious vocation or occupation; and they have been carrying on the  religious work continuously for at least 2 years immediately preceding their  application for admission.  The act established a limit of 5,000 on the  number of special immigrant religious workers and religious professionals  that can be admitted in any one year.   Although the special immigrant  provisions for religious workers and religious professionals were to expire  on October 1, 1994, they have been amended twice and extended to  October 1, 2000.
Applying for an immigrant religious worker visa is a two-step process.   First, a petition must be filed with INS.  A petition is the form the  sponsoring individual or organization must file on behalf of an alien to  demonstrate that the alien meets the requirements of a specific  immigration category.  The petition must include supporting  documentation showing that the religious worker will be working for a  religious organization and how the religious worker will be paid or  remunerated.  The documentation should also clearly indicate that the  religious worker will not be solely dependent on supplemental employment  or solicitation of funds for support.  INS reviewers examine the petitions  and supporting documentation to determine if the alien meets the program  requirements.  If INS approves the petition, the alien files an application for  an adjustment of status with INS if he or she is already in the United States  or an application for a visa with a State overseas post if he or she is abroad.   If the alien does not meet the requirements, INS denies the petition.  About  85 percent of those admitted for permanent residence as religious workers  in fiscal years 1996 and 1997 were already in the United States.
Nonimmigrant religious workers can be admitted under the same  conditions as special immigrant religious workers, except that there is no  requirement for prior religious work experience, and the maximum period  of stay for nonimmigrant religious workers is 5 years.  The authorization  for admission of nonimmigrant religious workers did not contain sunset  restrictions nor any limit on the number that can be admitted.  To obtain a  nonimmigrant visa, the alien files an application, but no petition is required.   Documentation required in support of the visa application must establish  the arrangements made, if any, for remuneration, including the amount and  source of any salary, a description of any other type of remuneration, and a  statement indicating whether the remuneration will be in exchange for  services rendered.  The majority of nonimmigrant religious workers applies  and receives their visas abroad through State's overseas posts. (See app. I  for more information on immigrant and nonimmigrant religious worker  visa issuance.)
section_title: The Extent and Nature of Fraud
paragraphs: Both INS and State have expressed concern about fraud in the religious  worker visa program, but they do not have data or analysis to firmly  establish the extent of the problem.  Their knowledge of program fraud is  based on information developed primarily from fraud investigations and  through the visa screening process.  INS has conducted several fraud  investigations since 1994 involving hundreds of applicants.  In addition,  fraud has been identified through INS' and State's visa screening processes.   The agencies' reviewers generally deny petitions and visas to unqualified  applicants, but according to the agencies' officials, it is difficult to prove  willful intent to commit fraud.  The types of fraud the agencies have  encountered often involved petitioners making false statements about the  length of time that the applicant was a member of the religious organization  and the nature of the qualifying work experience.   Some of the  investigations involved religious organizations petitioning for more  workers than they can reasonably support.  Evidence uncovered by INS  suggests that some of these organizations exist solely as a means to carry  out immigration fraud.
subsections: section_title: Extent of Fraud Not Known
paragraphs: INS and State have uncovered incidents of fraud in the religious worker  visa program, but they do not routinely investigate questionable visa  petitions and applications or report fraud information by type of visa.   State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the office responsible for  investigating the use of counterfeit U.S. passports and visas, has not  conducted any investigations of religious worker visa fraud.  State's  antifraud units at overseas posts sometimes review suspicious applications  to screen out ineligible applicants, but they do not routinely report the  results to State's headquarters.  Individual cases of suspected fraud are  generally not investigated, unless the suspected fraud is part of a larger  scheme to systematically circumvent immigration laws.  Moreover, INS  does not routinely follow up on recipients of employment-based visas,  including religious visas, to determine whether they comply with the law.
The agencies generally deny questionable visa petitions and applications  they receive.  Most are not denied for fraud, but for other reasons, such as  failing to comply with statutory requirements and regulations, including  failure to provide requested documents.  They give fraud as the reason for  the denial when they have sufficient evidence that the applicant or  petitioner willfully misrepresented a material fact.  An INS workload report  on immigrant petitions received, approved, and denied, showed that of the  approximately 8,400 petitions for religious workers processed in fiscal year  1998, 3 percent were denied for suspected fraud.  The reported 3-percent  fraud denial rate for religious worker petitions was the third highest fraud  denial rate among the 44 different immigrant petition categories listed.  The  fraud denial rate for most of the other categories was less than 1 percent.   State Department statistics on visa denials do not identify denials by type  of visa.  However, a 1998 State survey of 83 overseas posts identified  instances of fraud uncovered during visa processing.
section_title: Investigations Illustrate Schemes Used to Circumvent Immigration Laws
paragraphs: At our request, the Fraud Branch at INS' Office of Investigations in  Washington, D.C., surveyed fraud units in INS' district and suboffices to  identify the number of active and closed fraud investigations involving  religious worker visas since 1994.  The units identified 54 such  investigations involving about 1,700 petitions during the 5-year period.   The 54 INS investigations, of which about 40 are closed, ranged from cases  involving individual fraud schemes to organized fraud rings.  For  example, the fraud unit in the Chicago District Office investigated 30 cases  involving individuals who failed to meet the 2-year experience requirement.   At least five investigations performed by INS since 1994 have involved  individuals or organizations filing petitions for hundreds of religious  workers.   For example, in 1995, INS investigated a pastor who filed 450  immigrant religious worker petitions covering over 900 individuals,  falsifying the number of years the aliens had been a member of the church.   The pastor died of natural causes before an indictment could be returned,  and the petitions were denied or allowed to expire.  INS recently completed  an investigation it started in 1994 involving suspects who provided false  supporting documents to INS to show that the aliens met the 2-year work  experience requirement.  This investigation, which involved over 400  petitions, ultimately led to the arrests of six individuals, guilty pleas to  charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, and additional investigations  of several similar schemes.  In another recent case, reviewers at INS'  Vermont Service Center became suspicious when one organization, which  had filed about 100 petitions for immigrant visas the previous 2 years  combined, filed over 200 petitions the third year.  The reviewers doubted  that the organization could support so many full-time workers and referred  the case to an INS district office fraud unit where it is currently under  investigation.
Some investigations were initiated because of suspicious activity identified  by State Department consular officials.  For example, consular officers at  the U.S. embassy in Suva, Fiji, became suspicious of a church that filed  petitions on behalf of 30 individuals from Fiji who were in the United States  on expired visitors' visas.  The information was forwarded to INS for  investigation.  The investigation revealed that only 1 of the 30 petitions met  the requirements for a religious worker visa.  The post suspected that this  scheme was related to a larger one involving petitions on behalf of Tonga  residents to stay in the United States illegally.  Also, the U.S. embassy in  Bogota uncovered a fraud scheme in which the local church was providing  applicants with false documents to demonstrate that the applicants had  been members of the church for the required 2-year period.  The embassy's  antifraud unit discovered that in some cases the applicants had recently  joined the church, and in other cases, they had no membership affiliation at  all.
section_title: Changes to the Visa Screening Process
paragraphs: INS and State reviewers stated that they are not confident that the  agencies' screening process is identifying all unqualified applicants and  sponsoring organizations.  They attributed the problem to the lack of  sufficient information to determine the eligibility of visa applicants and  their sponsors.  INS, with State's support, is considering a number of steps  to address this problem.
subsections: section_title: Lack of Sufficient Information
paragraphs: INS requires the petitioner to provide evidence that (1) the organization  qualifies as a nonprofit organization, (2) the alien meets the qualifications  for an immigrant religious worker visa, and (3) the alien will be paid or  otherwise remunerated by the religious organization.
INS and State reviewers have asserted that sometimes the required  supporting evidence, although minimally acceptable, consists of little more  than a letter from the sponsoring organization and does not adequately  establish an applicant's eligibility as a religious worker or the sponsoring  organization's ability to pay the worker.  The reviewer can deny the  application or petition pending the receipt of additional information, but  such actions take more time.  The INS reviewers stated that more specific  information about the applicant's training and qualifications and the exact  nature of the position to be filled, including the number of petitions  previously filed, should be provided up front, similar to other employment-based visa categories.  In addition, unlike most other  employment-based visas, the applicant can file a petition on his or her own  behalf and, although supporting documentation from the sponsoring  organization is still required, all of it can be submitted by the applicant.  For  most other employment-based visa categories, the petition and supporting  documentation must be submitted by the potential employer.  The  reviewers believe INS should require information from independently  verifiable sources. The reviewers also stated that the documents should be  current.  They said that sometimes the sponsoring organizations submit  copies of their original tax-exemption form, which may no longer be valid.
A related issue raised by State's overseas posts concerns the definition of a  "religious worker."  They believe that the definition of religious worker is  too broad, making the religious worker visa program an attractive vehicle  for fraud and abuse.  According to the survey, posts sometimes struggled  with what they considered to be the "marginal" nature of some of the  religious positions used by the applicants.  A common sentiment was that  almost anyone involved with a church, aside from those occupations that  were not intended to be covered by the 1990 religious worker visa  legislation, for example, maintenance and cleaning staff, could qualify as a  religious worker.
section_title: INS Is Considering Steps to Address the Problems
paragraphs: INS is developing a number of initiatives to improve its visa screening  process and to detect and deter fraud.  Most of these initiatives are focused  on requiring petitions to include more comprehensive information to allow  reviewers to make better informed decisions.  Some of the service centers  are using the capabilities of commercial software to enhance their ability to  identify patterns and trends that may indicate fraud.  State officials said  they would support INS' efforts to increase evidentiary standards.  Further,  State is consulting with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department  of Labor to develop more comprehensive information on religious  occupations and organizations to help the overseas posts better understand  the definition of "religious worker" and "traditional" religious functions.
subsections: section_title: Full-time Work Requirement
paragraphs: INS is in the process of implementing a proposed regulatory change to  expressly require that the prior work experience specified for immigrant  religious worker visa applicants be full-time work.  The proposed rule  also states that the documentation supporting an applicant's petition must  indicate that the religious worker will be working for the religious  organization in the United States on a full-time basis.  INS officials stated  that INS is changing the regulation to address the problem of individuals  doing part-time voluntary work for a religious organization while working  full-time in a secular occupation.  They said an applicant's ability to  demonstrate 2 years of prior full-time, paid religious work experience is a  good indication that the individual is a committed religious worker.  They  also believe such experience is a good indicator that the individual will be  doing full-time religious work for which the organization will pay a salary.   The proposed changes were initially published for comment in June 1995.   According to INS, it plans to finalize the regulatory change in October 1999.
section_title: Additional Documentary Requirements
paragraphs: INS is also considering revising its requirements for the documents that  must be initially submitted by the petitioner for an immigrant visa.  Such  documents could include pay stubs to show that the worker was  compensated for full-time work and bank statements to demonstrate that  the organizations have sufficient financial resources to support their  worker or workers.  INS has the authority to ask for additional evidence to  verify information in the petitions, and some INS reviewers will defer  making a final decision until the organization furnishes this type of  supplemental information.  The suggested change involving additional  documentation would increase the amount of information that all  organizations must initially submit and that all adjudicators would use to  review petitions.  By initially requiring more specific documents and by  clarifying the full-time religious work requirements, INS may also reduce  the number of filings by unqualified applicants.
INS has no timetable for implementing the changes to the requirements for  supporting documents.  However, INS officials stated that they might revise  the documentary requirements after the agency redrafts or finalizes its  proposed rule change on the full-time work experience requirement.   According to a State official, State would participate in any changes to the  requirements for immigrant visas and publish visa regulations jointly with  INS.  He said that, if appropriate, State would revise its documentary  requirements for nonimmigrant visas to correspond with INS' suggested  revisions for immigrant visas.
section_title: Improved Access to INS Data Can Help Verify Eligibility
paragraphs: Until recently, reviewers could not quickly and efficiently determine how  many filings had been made by a petitioning organization.  As previously  discussed, organizations petitioning for numbers of workers that appear to  be inconsistent with the organization's membership size and financial  resources to support the workers sometimes indicates fraud.  However,  until a pattern had been identified, the reviewers could not know if the  petitions were potentially fraudulent.  For example, one organization  currently under investigation had 37 petitions approved in fiscal year 1996  and 76 petitions approved in fiscal year 1997 before the pattern was  detected.  While all service centers now have the capability to identify  multiple filers, the California and Vermont Service Centers have developed  their own systems using commercial off-the-shelf software  (Microsoft SQL  for California and Oracle and Access for Vermont), which they believe  provides more efficient inquiry and reporting capability than the system  provided by INS headquarters.  In addition, the two service centers are in  the process of consolidating their databases so that they can share data.
section_title: Views of Religious Organizations
paragraphs: We visited 12 religious organizations in California, New York, Maryland,  and the District of Columbia to discuss their experience with the religious  worker visa program.  The religious organizations generally believed that  the program met their needs.  For example, several of the organizations use  the program to meet the needs of growing ethnic congregations.  One  church with 7,000 members uses the program to provide workers to  minister to its separate Filipino, Korean, Hispanic, and French- and  English-speaking African congregations.  A religious organization with a  worldwide membership uses the program to recruit native speakers  familiar with the religion to serve as religious translators and broadcasters.   Another religious organization with 3 million members in more than 120  countries uses nonimmigrant religious workers to participate in church-sponsored community service programs.
We asked representatives of the organizations for their opinions of INS'  proposed changes to the program.  Of the seven commenting on the full-time work experience requirement, four stated that the proposal would  not negatively affect their organization, because the majority of the  applicants they sponsor for immigrant religious worker visas have already  been serving in full-time capacities.  However, three expressed  reservations.   For example, the representative of one religious  organization stated that the requirement might adversely affect applicants  who work for congregations in which ministerial duties are shared.  The  representative of another organization stated that the full-time work  experience requirement could be problematic for those engaged in  religious vocations if proof of paid full-time work was required, because  some individuals are often not paid a salary.  He said the requirement could  also cause problems for some individuals who perform their religious  duties part-time while studying for the priesthood or ministry.
Three of the four religious organizations commenting on the proposed  change in documentary evidence requirements stated that the change  would not pose a problem.  However, the one opposed to the proposed  change pointed out that INS already has the discretion to ask for additional  documents when required and does not believe that religious employers  and applicants should routinely be required to assume additional  documentary burdens.  Some representatives also stated that INS should  avoid the appearance of deciding for a religious organization what  constitutes religious work.
In addition to asking for their opinions on the potential modifications  proposed by INS, we also asked the religious organizations for their  suggestions for improving the program.  Three of the organizations  suggested making the special immigrant religious worker visa category  permanent.  The representative of one of the religious organizations said  this would eliminate the glut of petitions that are filed before the "sunset"  date.  One organization that was familiar with student visas suggested that  a sponsoring organization could submit to INS an annual status report on  each of its nonimmigrant religious workers, much like academic  institutions that must annually certify the status of foreign students.   Another organization suggested that INS provide some materials  concerning the religious worker visa program in some foreign languages to  help ensure that organizations fully understand the regulations and  requirements of the program.
section_title: Conclusion
paragraphs: Both INS and State are attempting to balance the need to screen out  unqualified applicants with the religious worker visa program's original  purpose of facilitating the entry of qualified religious workers.  The  program modifications that INS is undertaking or plans to undertake to  verify the accuracy of petitions for immigrant religious worker visas are  reasonable steps to improve program integrity.  If implemented, the  modifications should help to better screen visa applicants and religious  organizations.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: In oral comments on a draft of this report, INS and State concurred with  the report's findings and conclusions.  INS noted that its planned regulatory  change and other steps underway to improve its screening process should  help reduce the incidence of fraud.  INS and State also provided technical  comments, which we have incorporated as appropriate.
section_title: Scope and Methodology
paragraphs: To determine whether INS and State have data on any fraud in the religious  worker visa program and to determine the nature of any abuse, we met  with INS and State headquarters officials and visited three of the four INS  service centers responsible for processing and approving religious worker  visas.  We also analyzed information from about 700 religious worker visa  petitions denied by the California Service Center between January 1, 1996,  and August 18, 1997, and data from about 83 responses to a State  Department survey of 100 of its overseas posts in February 1998.  We met  with officials at INS' New York District Office responsible for interviewing  visa applicants, and other officials to discuss INS' efforts to identify  patterns and trends in the use of the program that could indicate fraud.  We  also met with officials of State's Fraud Prevention Program and Office of  Diplomatic Security to discuss State's efforts to identify and investigate  religious worker visa fraud.  In addition, we met with fraud investigators  from INS' Los Angeles District Office to discuss specific fraud  investigations and INS' processes for accepting, investigating, and  resolving fraud cases.
We interviewed INS and State officials to discuss their agencies' processes  and procedures for determining if visa applicants and sponsoring  organizations met program requirements.  We reviewed the relevant law  and related legislative history, the INS regulations, State's Foreign Affairs  Manual, advisory cables to the overseas posts, and other guidance to  determine what criteria the agencies use to judge petitions and  applications.  We observed the process for reviewing and approving visa  petitions at three INS service centers in California, Texas, and Vermont and  discussed with service center staff how petitions are evaluated and the  limitations of the process.  We also queried by telephone consular posts in  India, Korea, Mexico, and the Philippines about their processes and  procedures for reviewing and approving visa applications.  We chose those  posts because they process relatively large numbers of applications for  nonimmigrant religious worker visas.
To identify any steps INS and State had taken or planned to take to address  identified problems, we met with INS and State officials.  We discussed the  potential effect of any proposed changes with representatives of the U.S.  Catholic Conference, the General Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist  Church, the Christian Science Church, Agudath Israel of America, and the  Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.  We selected these  organizations because they have testified in support of the special visa for  religious workers or are otherwise considered knowledgeable about the  program.  We also discussed the proposed changes with churches and  other religious institutions that use the program.  We selected these  organizations by extracting information from the California and Vermont  Service Centers' databases of religious worker visa petitions approved in  fiscal year 1997 to identify the churches using the program.  We selected an  illustrative sample of large, medium, and small users based on the number  of each organization's approved petitions.  We interviewed representatives  of seven churches from this group.
We conducted our review from February 1998 to November 1998 in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional  committees.  We are also sending copies to the Honorable Madeleine  Albright, Secretary of State, and the Honorable Doris Meissner,  Commissioner, INS.  We will also make copies available to others upon  request.
Please contact me at (202) 512-4128 if you or any of your staff have any  questions concerning this report.  The major contributors to this report are  listed in appendix II.
section_title: Religious Worker Visas—Numbers Issued and Recipients' Countries of Origin
paragraphs: This appendix shows the number of religious worker visas issued from  fiscal years 1992 to 1998 and the major countries of origin of visa recipients  in fiscal year 1998.  Figure I.1 shows that the number of immigrant religious  worker visas issued since fiscal year 1992 has fluctuated, reaching the  annual limit of 5,000 in fiscal years 1994 and 1997, when the program was  scheduled to expire.  Meanwhile, issuances of nonimmigrant visas have  steadily increased since fiscal year 1992.  Figure I.2 shows that South Korea  and India were the top countries of origin of immigrant and nonimmigrant  religious worker visas, respectively.
section_title: Major Contributors to This Report
subsections: section_title: National Security and International Affairs Division, Washington, D.C.
section_title: Office of the General Counsel, Washington, D.C.
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