Religion News Service 2003
CLEVELAND, OHIO, September 23, 2003: Many Hindu priests are in America on a “religious worker” visa, and the following case report will be of interests to temple trustees overseeing this visa for their priests: Ever since Sisters Mary Cecilia and Mary Catharina Laboure received a rejection notice from the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration division denying them a renewal of their religious work visas in the U.S.A., the monastery of Poor Clares has been unsettled about the matter. Chris Bentley, a spokesman for the immigration division says, “The sister’s latest visa requests were rejected because they didn’t show they had worked for the same employer for two consecutive years before applying. The requirement existed long before September 11 and must be met before a visa can be issued to a religious worker.” The sisters were affiliated with Poor Clares before they came to the U.S.A. from Korea one-and-a-half years ago but the application for the visa renewal did not clearly establish the two-year requirement.