USCIS Advises Certain Religious Workers to File Their Adjustment Applications Before August 31, 2009

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) has
advised special immigrant religious workers under the Ruiz-Diaz class
action lawsuit to file their adjustment applications before the end of
August 2009.

As background, USCIS current regulations prohibit the simultaneous
filing of both a special immigrant religious worker immigrant visa
petition and the foreign national religious worker’s adjustment of
status application. Instead, the special immigrant religious worker
visa petition must be filed first, and once approved, the foreign
national religious worker may file to adjust status in the United
States.

In the Ruiz-Diaz class action litigation, the District Court for the
Western District of Washington entered an order on June 11, 2009,
finding that the prohibition on concurrent filings was invalid and
unenforceable as applied to religious workers. The Court ordered the
USCIS to accept properly filed simultaneous filings of both the special
immigrant religious worker petition and the foreign national’s
application to adjust status. It further ordered USCIS to provide
notice to each person or entity who has a pending religious worker
immigrant visa petition. The Order permits foreign national religious
workers who are either ministers or non-ministers to file for
adjustment of status based on a pending or approved special immigrant
religious worker petition, or to simultaneously file both a petition
and an adjustment application concurrently.

Unfortunately, visa numbers for religious workers become unavailable
in September 2009. Those religious workers who do not file before the
August 2009 cut-off date must wait until visa numbers become available
again on or after October 1, 2009.

To learn more about Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C., call 1.972.233.6200 or visit http://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com.