On 27th November 2008 the Home Office changed the rules for people entering the UK as 'ministers of religion', 'non-pastoral religious workers', 'visiting religious workers' and 'voluntary workers', which will affect any Church or Christian organisation that brings in people from overseas to spend time as interns or church workers.
Visiting speakers/pastoral workers may come into the UK as 'business visitors' provided they will not be staying for more than six months and that they satisfy the requirements set out below.
Ministers of Religion (including missionaries and members of religious orders) now have to apply under Tier 2 of the new visa system. However, the migrants will need sponsoring organisations and these organisations, (i.e. churches or Christian organisations) will have to apply for sponsorship licences.
Migrants who were classified under the old immigration rules as 'non-pastoral religious workers', 'visiting religious workers' and 'voluntary workers' will have to apply under Tier 5 of the new points-based system as temporary workers in either the 'charity worker' or 'religious worker' category. This will mean that churches and Christian organisations will have to apply for sponsorship licences under Tier 5 as well. The full details are set out in the UK Border Agency’s Guidance for Sponsor Applications.
This is a departure from previous practice and unless the sponsoring organisation has applied for a licence the person will be turned back. To complicate matters, there has been considerable delay by the Home Office in processing some of these applications. Until those applications have been processed and the licence issued, foreign workers should be advised to delay coming to the UK. There have been a number of most unfortunate cases where Christian workers have been turned back on arrival at the airport because they did not comply with the new points-based system.
Further Information is available at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/pbsguidance
Visiting Pastors/Religious Workers
Under Rule 46G(iii)(g), it is possible to enter the UK as a ‘business visitor’ to undertake some preaching or pastoral work as a religious worker provided the person’s base is abroad and s/he is not taking up an office, post or appointment. This should cover conference speakers and short-term visiting speakers.
Otherwise the usual requirements of a visitor’s visa must be met by the person, namely:
(i) S/he is genuinely seeking entry as a visitor for a limited period as stated by him, not exceeding 6 months; and
(ii) S/he intends to leave the UK at the end of the period of the visit as stated by him; and
(iii) S/he does not intend to take employment in the UK; and
(iv) S/he does not intend to produce goods or provide services within the UK, including the selling of goods or services direct to members of the public; and
(v) S/he does not intend to undertake a course of study; and
(vi) S/he will maintain and accommodate himself and any dependants adequately out of resources available to him without recourse to public funds or taking employment; or will, with any dependants, be maintained and accommodated adequately be relatives or friends; and
(vii) S/he can meet the return or onward journey; and
(viii) S/he is not a child under the age of 18; and
(ix) [Not applicable];
(x) S/he does not intend to marry/form civil partnership or give notice of them; and
(xi) S/he does not intend to receive private medical treatment during his visit; and
(xii) S/he is not in transit to a country outside the common travel area.
The following examples indicate how the new immigration system affects Christian leaders, speakers and worship leaders who regularly come in and out to speak at conferences and meetings in the United Kingdom.
On 1 March 2009, Don Francisco, an American Gospel singer, flew to the UK to visit friends and join rehearsals for the production ‘Why Good Friday?’ based on his music and written by Brian Harries. He was detained at Heathrow and then flown back to the states on the grounds that he did not have the right paperwork. Don has been ministering in the UK for over 30 years. He said:
I have travelled all over England and the UK for over 30 years. My wife and I love the UK very much. We have many, many dear friends there. It is deeply saddening to us and to the thousands who receive our newsletter that this has happened. Our office has been flooded with letters of shock and apology.
A team of US church volunteers were deported from Scotland by immigration officials who told them they needed work visas to give food to the homeless. The volunteers from Arkansas, who had each raised almost £1,500 to fund the trip, had planned to spend 10 days working in homeless hostels in Edinburgh, but they were detained after arriving at Edinburgh Airport last Sunday and sent home on the first available flight.
Although the 11 volunteers, who were all in their early twenties, would not have been paid, under new Home Office rules charity workers must be sponsored by a UK organisation in order to obtain a temporary work visa. While the Scottish church group that arranged the trip had paid £400 for the necessary sponsorship certificate, it had not been processed in time.
Craig Johnson, 28, an associate youth pastor with the Harvest Time Church in Arkansas and the leader of the team, said he was astonished by the decision. 'It was the last thing we expected when we touched down on Scottish soil. We were coming over to do God’s work and were treated in a less than Godly way’, he said.
It just floored me that I can stay for six months without a visa but if I want to volunteer to work in a soup kitchen for a couple of nights to help a church, I need to have a visa. That was what blew me away. I mean, we were hardly a threat to national security.
Johnson said his church had been involved in several missions to other European countries but had never encountered similar problems with immigration officials. He said: ‘We take a team to Europe every year but I think it will be a while before we consider Scotland again’.
Johnson added that the volunteers had raised more than £16,000 to fund the trip and that much of the money had been donated by friends and families. ‘I now have to explain to my superiors what happened and try to work out what to say to the parents of the individuals who came with us and the people who supported them’, he said.
Reverend Andrew Smith, superintendent of the Assemblies of God Churches in Scotland, who had organised the trip, said he had paid £400 to sponsor the visit under UK Border Agency rules but that the paperwork had not been processed in time. ‘I went to the airport and tried to explain that we had already applied to be a sponsor and had paid the necessary £400. I also have paperwork showing that the UK Border Agency had received the application by February 10’, he said. ‘I really hope this doesn’t have a lasting impression of Scotland on these young people who were coming here to do unpaid work for a very good cause. The whole episode has been rather embarrassing’.
Last week Michael Connarty, the local Labour MP, described the decision to deport the volunteers as ‘outrageous’, adding that he would raise the matter with the Home Office.
Christian Today
www.christiantoday.com/article/new.immigration.rules.leave.christians.confused/22785.htm
Christian Today
www.christiantoday.com/article/anglicans.struggling.with.visa.restrictions/22828.htm
Church Times