On March 20, 2009, President Obama signed Public Law 111-9 extending the non-minister religious worker program through September 29, 2009.
Non-minister Religious workers must file their special immigrant peititions before September 29, 2009.
Eligibility for special immigrant status requires religious workers (1) to have been a member, for two years, of a religious denomination that qualifies as a bona fide, nonprofit, religious organization in the United States; and (2) to have been carrying on religious work continuously, either abroad or in the United States, for at least two years immediately preceding the filing of the application.
The religious worker must be coming to the United States solely for the purpose of (a) acting as a minister; (b) working in a professional capacity in a religious vocation or occupation for a religious organization and at the organization’s request; or (c) working in a religious vocation or occupation for a religious organization or an affiliated organization.