U.S. Dioceses Struggle to Keep Foreign Priests Under Trump Travel Ban
Despite efforts by the Trump administration to streamline religious worker visas, several dioceses say things have gotten more difficult over the past year
Gemma FloresNationJuly 30, 2026
In the Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, foreign-born priests aren’t a luxury — they’re a necessity.
Of the 26 priests who administer the sacraments to Catholics across a territory roughly one-and-a-half the size of Texas, 14 are from abroad, serving in the U.S. on temporary R-1 religious worker visas
But in a diocese where many parishes can only be reached by aircraft, boat, or snowmobile, many of Fairbanks’ foreign priests are facing a different kind of challenge to carrying out their ministry: difficulty getting their visas renewed.
Despite efforts by the Trump administration to streamline the R-1 visa renewal process by eliminating a previously required waiting period, the diocese says that broader immigration restrictions have put in doubt the ability of its foreign clergy to remain in Alaska. In particular, a Jan. 1 travel ban of nationals from 39 different countries deemed security risks has complicated the visa renewal process for seven of the diocese’s priests, who hail from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, or the Congo — all affected countries.
“It places our parishes in a very precarious situation,” diocesan vicar general Father Robert Fath told the Register.
Fairbanks isn’t the only local diocese feeling the pressure. Several across the country told the Register that retaining and recruiting foreign priests has gotten more difficult in 2026, as the Trump travel ban has effectively offset the benefits of the streamlined religious-worker visa process.
David Spicer, director of policy and engagement for migration at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that a big part of the problem is the effect the travel ban is having on priests from Nigeria, who “make up a pretty large percentage of the foreign-born religious workers we have.” Several dioceses where Nigerian priests serve have been unable to process R-1 visa renewal requests, forcing the foreign priests to return home.
Spicer said that “as grateful as the USCCB is” for the Trump administration removing the R-1 visa waiting period, “it is not having the same level of positive impact that it could” because of difficulties caused by other restrictions.
The challenge is being felt in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, where 18 foreign priests on R-1 visas currently serve.
“The archdiocese continues to see interest from foreign-born priests who are willing to serve, but navigating the immigration process has become increasingly complex and time-consuming, making it more challenging to recruit and retain them than it was in the past,” said Mary Chacon, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
Other dioceses told the Register that securing R-1 visas for foreign priests has gotten more difficult this past year. These include Sioux City, Iowa; Lake Charles, Louisiana; Ogdensburg, New York; and Yakima, Washington.
“It’s been harder,” said Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, “Not only for clergy, but for parishioners, too.”
Not every diocese shares that experience, however. In Springfield, Illinois, for instance, Bishop Thomas Paprocki said that the Trump administration has been more helpful than harmful, and redressed an burdensome quota on religious worker visas that had been imposed by the Biden administration.
“For a while it got much harder to get and keep foreign priests in our dioceses, but the Trump administration has been responsive to our concerns and has worked quickly to address them, so it appears that the problems are being solved,” said Bishop Paprocki.
Other dioceses, including Oklahoma City, Denver, and Lincoln, Nebraska, told the Register that the process of bringing in and keeping priests on R-1 visas has been more mixed since January, when the new visa restrictions were implemented. However, much of this depends on where a foreign priest is from.
For instance, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City‘s communications director John Henley shared that while priests from India have had little difficulty in obtaining legal status to serve in the U.S., an “excellent priest” from Nigeria “will be unable to stay due to current restrictions.”
Administrative Changes
The R-1 visa-related challenges facing many dioceses comes after national Catholic leadership praised the Trump administration earlier this year for overcoming a longstanding impediment to timely religious worker visa renewals.
Following the implementation of the 1990 Immigration Act, foreign-born religious workers seeking an R-1 visa had been required to reside outside of the US for a minimum of one year between the expiration of their visa and their renewal. This changed at the start of this year when the Department of Homeland Security issued an interim final order that eliminated the requirement, allowing those seeking a new R-1 visa to move back to the U.S. as soon as they receive their approval.
“We are tremendously grateful for the administration’s work to address certain challenges facing foreign-born religious workers, their employers, and the American communities they serve,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, in a Jan. 14 statement.
In response to an inquiry from the Register about difficulties faced by dioceses in obtaining visas for foreign priests, a U.S. Department of State spokesperson said that “the Trump administration recognizes the importance of religious workers to many faiths and religious communities in the United States.”
“The Department of State is working to process R-1 visas in an expeditious manner, while meeting all vetting and security requirements,” said the spokesperson.
In his declaration announcing the travel ban, President Trump said it was put in place to prevent the entry of foreign citizens “who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security and public safety, incite hate crimes, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes.”
Ongoing Litigation
On June 11, 2026, a district court in Rhode Island sided with a non-profit that had sued United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS), finding that the government agency could not refuse to adjudicate visa renewal decisions because of a person’s country of origin.
Though R-1 visa holders were not the primary consideration of the lawsuit, they fall under its jurisdiction. At the time of this article’s publication, the court’s decision still stands, although USCIS plans to appeal the decision
“A federal court has already provided relief that should result, at least for the time being, in nationals of those 39 countries getting their requests adjudicated again,” Spicer said.
USCIS indicated on its website that while the agency “disagrees with the Court’s order,” it will “follow its terms pending possible further judicial review.”
Another relevant lawsuit is in Des Moines, Iowa, where Nigerian priest Father Sylvester Okoh has sued the government for delaying his visa renewal, possibly resulting in his expulsion from the country, as reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Father Okoh’s R-1 visa was set to expire in January 2026, according to the Dispatch article. Despite the priest submitting his renewal application in November 2022, he received no notification until 2024, when USCIS informed him that his R-1 status had been extended until July 19, 2026, pending further action from USCIS. As of July 17, Father Okoh had not received further instructions from USCIS
Bureaucratic Backlog
Despite the Rhode Island ruling, Spicer said, the paperwork required for R-1 visas will still take time.
“Just because the agency is beginning to adjudicate those requests again does not necessarily mean that people will begin to receive decisions right away because they’ll have to go back to those who may have filed those requests toward the beginning of the year and have basically sat without any sort of action,” said the USCCB spokesperson.
Many dioceses have already felt the effects of the backlog.
“Since January, new review and processing procedures have resulted in longer wait times for petitions, with some cases being held for additional scrutiny before decisions are made,” said Chacon in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
CLINIC’s Religious Immigration Services Staff Attorney Margaret Grossane, an attorney with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), said standard R-1 visa petitions are currently taking about 8 months for USCIS to adjudicate.
“Unless the religious organization is able to pay for the petition to be premium processed, the religious worker may need to wait outside of the U.S. for some months before their case is approved and they can apply for a new R-1 visa stamp,” said Grossane.
In the Diocese of Salina, Kansas, funds are being directed to pay for expedited processing fees for paperwork, to ensure that renewal forms don’t get lost in the shuffle and delayed, according to diocesan chancellor Corey Lyon.
“For priests who have used all their R-1 time and are required to leave the country for a month, we will be forced to pay premium processing fees to get them back quicker,” Lyon said. “In the past we have preferred to apply for Permanent Residency after their R-1 time has been used, and this path seems less likely under the current administration.”
Moving Forward
Grossane with CLINIC said that “removing hurdles that impact a religious workers’ ability to remain in the U.S. and continue working would make the most difference right now.”
“If religious workers were able to continue to extend their R-1 status from within the U.S. without disruption and apply for their permanent residence process within a timely manner, there would be much less interruption in the wonderful work that they do for the Church,” she said.
Elizabeth Zavala, the director of legal services for Catholic Charities of New Mexico, said that priests are needed now more than ever.
“In an ideal world, [priests and religious workers] would have some sort of exemption,” Zavala said. “Priests, ministers, and leaders of other denominations are needed. They are an essential part of communities, especially in these times.”
In the Diocese of Austin, Texas, where 10% of all priests are from abroad, Bishop Daniel Garcia affirmed the importance of the steps the Trump administration has already taken to streamline the religious worker process. Still, he said, challenges remain.
“We are hopeful that additional modifications to the process will make it feasible for more priests from around the world to come to minister here in our local Church,” Bishop Garcia said.
- Keywords:
- visa
- immigration
- catholic priesthood
Gemma Flores Gemma Flores is a summer intern with the National Catholic Register. She is a rising senior at Hillsdale College studying English and journalism
