\'US denies visas to Hindu priests\'

[Guest guest]

Namaskar,

Hindu temples and religious groups in the US are \'\'reeling from visa denials\'\' resulting in shortage of temple priests and stalled temple construction projects, a Hindu group has said in an affidavit seeking changes to US immigration rules.In a submission to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a legal team for the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) said Hindu priests, temple artisans and traditional temple architects are increasingly being denied the R-1 religious worker visa because of US regulations weighed in favour of Judeo-Christian terminology.The brief maintains that defining eligibility for R-1 status using terms such as \'\'liturgical workers, catechists, cantors, missionaries, and ritual slaughter supervisors... may potentially serve to discriminate against those organisations that differ from the practice, structure and function of the Judeo-Christian guidelines upon which the regulations are based.\'\'\'\'From what defines a Hindu religious occupation, to whether a temple shilpi (Hindu temple stone sculptor) belongs to a particular denomination, the current terminology proposed by the USCIS is absolutely foreign to the Hindu tradition,\'\' said Suhag Shukla, the foundations legal counsel.\'\'As religious worker visas become more difficult to obtain for Hindus, Hindu Americans must insist that their voice is heard in this process no less than the fundamental right to a free exercise of religion is at stake.\'\'

Read more at :

http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/article/anti-hindus-misc/general/us-denies-visas-to-hindu-priests.html