It finally came through. Amidst all the turmoil caused by 2020, as of earlier this month, we finally obtained permanent residency (Green Card) in the United States.
This process, which is usually fairly straightforward, was made more precarious and uncertain, in part due to the Covid-19 pandemic. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended all in-person services at its offices for the first three months of the pandemic, before beginning a slow reopening process in certain locations. Interviews were postponed, biometrics appointments were suspended, and everything ground to a halt.
As USCIS began to restart its operations, I needed to renew my R-1 status. R-1 is the visa for Nonimmigrant Religious Workers. You need to renew after 2.5 years, and the maximum time limit on an R-1 is five years. As such, my renewal expired in September 2023, and you need to go through a process to adjust your status. Knowing that I would not obtain permanent residency before September 2023, I needed to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) so that I could continue to work in the U.S. while the application for permanent residence was pending.
It took a while to gather everything needed to submit applications for permanent residency. Trying to remember every time we had entered the United States throughout the course of our lives was not fun. Not only that, but the dates of entry and departure, where we stayed, as well as the port of entry. For those interested, I had entered the USA 21 times before moving to the country, going back as far as 1999.
The other challenge related to vaccinations.
I do not wish to detail everything related to this. We are not evangelists of our own convictions on this matter. But just to give you an idea, between the CDC and the INA, you are required to prove you have had the following vaccines:
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Polio
- Tetanus and diphtheria toxoids
- Pertussis
- Haemophilus influenzae type B
- Hepatitis B
- Varicella
- Influenza
- Pneumococcal pneumonia
- Rotavirus
- Hepatitis A
- Meningococcal
- COVID-19
Suffice it to say, we submitted a vaccination exemption along with the necessary statement of objection letter. Please note, if you think you can do this just to avoid a particular vaccine, think again. Your only hope is if you can prove you oppose all vaccines in any form. Mercifully, we were able to meet that requirement. I had considered hiring an attorney to help me write our letters of objection because the language they give is so vague. In the end, I wrote it myself and prayed the language addressed the necessary criteria. I have included a copy of my own letter below. It may prove helpful as a guide.
In June, we received news that we needed to obtain our medical exams—a process that was much easier than I had imagined. The initial Civil Surgeon I contacted was skittish and hesitant when I mentioned that our medicals would be submitted with a vaccination waiver. They eventually got back to me, saying they would proceed, but by then I had already contacted another Civil Surgeon who was happy to help us (and was less expensive).
I am very thankful our church hired the expertise of Immigration Support Services. They helped us acquire R-1 status to enter the U.S. in 2018 and guided us through the entire green card process. They are extremely responsive. If you’re a church trying to get a Christian minister into the United States, I can highly recommend their service. One of the benefits is that they charge a fixed fee for a particular objective (obtaining an R-1 visa, obtaining green cards, etc.). This is much more helpful than going neck deep into a process with an attorney who keeps finding ways to charge you for extras.
The affect of obtaining permanent residency
Obtaining permanent residency is not a miraculous event. Countless hundreds of thousands go through a process like this in various nations across the world all the time. Nonetheless, there is a strange relief that attends such an event. Perhaps I am sensitive to it because I am conscious of how God can redirect our lives through His providence. After all, this is the fourth country I have lived in. Maybe He wants to send me somewhere else? Maybe He wants me to return to my homeland? It’s hard to stop these intrusive thoughts and doubts.
While obtaining permanent residency does not mean I know the outcome of the rest of my life, it has had a calming effect. I am no longer waiting for notice of our status, with the possibility that our application is declined or our vaccination waiver rejected.
So here we are, in this great United States of America. Will I be buried in this land? God knows. But that’s the plan.
=======
Vaccination Exemption Letter
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Citizenship and Immigration Services
Re: Request for Vaccination Requirement Waiver
To whom it may concern:
I am writing to request a medical vaccination waiver for my I-485 application due to my strong religious beliefs and moral convictions.
With the greatest respect, I write to inform you of my personal opposition to all vaccinations in any form (including Mumps, Measles, Rubella, Polio, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Varicella, Influenza, Pneumococcal pneumonia, Rotavirus, Meningococcal, COVID-19, etc.) and to explain the reason for this opposition.
I am a Presbyterian minister. At my ordination in 2015, I signed the Westminster Confession (a historic Protestant confession first formulated in 1647) as a confession of my own faith and vowed to uphold it. In addition, we teach and uphold the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms (also formulated in that period). These documents obligate me to oppose “making men the lords of our faith and conscience” (Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 105). “God alone is Lord of the conscience” (Westminster Confession 20.2), and I am morally required to obey the dictates of my conscience. To deny God as Lord of the conscience is to break the first commandment, which I will not willingly do under any circumstances. Vaccines are a matter of therapeutic proportionality, in which—though the assessment of others may be different—the individual may judge that potential benefits do not outweigh potential risks. I believe that if I were to accept any vaccine, I would break the sixth commandment. My understanding of this commandment accords with the Westminster Larger Catechism, which declares that the sixth commandment makes it a sin to do anything that “tends to the destruction of the life of any.” I sincerely believe vaccines pose a risk, and as a result, I have refused them since around the time I became an adult and was able to make my own decisions about my medical care.
My work as a Presbyterian minister has given me the opportunity to pastor in Australia for two years and in Canada for four years, but in no instance have I ever taken a vaccination. In addition, I have four children aged 12 and under. Two were born in the UK, one in Canada, and one in the USA. Each nation has its particular vaccine schedules for children, and I have opposed all suggested vaccines in any form. I have not administered a single one to any of my children. I trust this helps you understand that my religious belief and moral conviction are sincerely held and have been so for around 20 years.
I love the USA and intend, God willing, to continue raising my children here (the youngest of whom is American) and to spend the rest of my life here. I resonate with many of the perspectives of the Founding Fathers. They had much to say about conscience; for example, James Madison said, “Conscience is the most sacred of all property.” Without this, we destroy the diversity that has made this nation such a wonderful place to live.
Thank you for understanding.
Sincerely,
Armen Thomassian