The United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) oversees the R-1 visa and has established the criteria for bringing religious or missionary workers into the United States. If the religious worker is to be paid, the religious order must provide "verifiable evidence" of how the worker is to be compensated either through salary or "in-kind" compensation, such as room and board says the USCIS. If the worker is not to be paid, then the religious order must provide documentation that shows that the worker is self supporting.
Most people coming to the United States under an R-1 Visa, are doing so on a volunteer basis. Those coming here to do volunteer work are not required to accept any form of payment from their religious order or any affiliate. The religious order or other religious organization for which the religious worker intends to work, however, must show proof that "as an employer," according to Visa Pro, a website with information about visas, they are capable of supporting the worker above the poverty line. Additionally, the religious order must also provide USCIS with documentation that it maintains a missionary program both in the U.S. and abroad, and the worker is part of that missionary program. It must also show proof of the ability of the missionary worker to be self-supporting through bank statements, evidence of donations supporting the worker and other such documentation if he is not to be paid.
For many of the positions there is a negotiated supplementary income that is agreed upon before the religious worker comes to the United States. This income is often lower than federal or state-mandated minimum wage. This contractual amount is an acceptable payment provided that the religious order submitted all appropriate documentation to the United States embassy or consulate prior to the worker's departure to come to the United States and that it provides for the worker to be housed appropriately. The I-129 "Petition for an Nonimmigrant Worker" must be filled out prior to receiving an R-1 Visa.
Documentation needs to be submitted by the religious order stating how each of the religious workers will be paid. The document needs to state the type of position that the worker will be filling and how much they will be working (must be at least 20 hours per week) and whether they will be compensated as a volunteer (no pay), hourly or salary. The documentation must also state budgets of the religious order of how they intend on paying religious workers as well as evidence of past compensation for the same position.
If the religious worker has accepted a paying position with an American religious organization, the worker must be paid at least the amount dictated by the federal or state minimum wage. This is to ensure that the American organizations are complying with both federal and state labor laws.
