R1 visa symbol meaning.

What R1 means in 22 CFR 41.12

Section 41.12 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations is titled “Classification symbols”. It opens: “A nonimmigrant visa issued to an applicant within one of the classes described in this section shall bear an appropriate visa symbol to show its classification. The symbol shall be inserted in the space provided on the visa.” Table 1 to that section then lists each symbol with its class and the section of law. The row for R1 is:

The statute behind the symbol

The “section of law” column points to the Immigration and Nationality Act. Most rows cite INA 101(a)(15), codified at 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15), the definition of “immigrant”, which lists the classes of nonimmigrant aliens by letter and begins: “The term “immigrant” means every alien except an alien who is within one of the following classes of nonimmigrant aliens”.

The R1 row cites INA 101(a)(15)(R). Subparagraph (R) has clauses (i) and (ii) inside it, but the table cites the subparagraph as a whole. It reads:

“an alien, and the spouse and children of the alien if accompanying or following to join the alien, who— (i) for the 2 years immediately preceding the time of application for admission, has been a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States; and (ii) seeks to enter the United States for a period not to exceed 5 years to perform the work described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of paragraph (27)(C)(ii);”

Source: INA 101(a)(15)(R)

Reading the R1 row against its neighbours

Table 1 lists two R rows, R1 for the member of a religious denomination performing religious work and R2 for the spouse or child of R1, and both cite INA 101(a)(15)(R). The statute covers the principal and the family in the same paragraph (“and the spouse and children of the alien if accompanying or following to join the alien”).

Two measures appear in the text: two years of membership immediately before the application for admission, and a period “not to exceed 5 years”. The kinds of religious work are not listed in (R) itself; the text refers to “subclause (I), (II), or (III) of paragraph (27)(C)(ii)”. This page has not read that other paragraph, so it does not say what work it describes.

Because the label “religious work” is defined elsewhere in the statute, the symbol alone should not be taken as a statement about any particular job or religion. Questions about whether a particular role counts belong with the agencies or with an immigration attorney.

What this page does not tell you

A visa symbol is a label. Table 1 says what each class is called and where the classification comes from in law. It says nothing about who qualifies, what evidence is needed, how long anyone may stay, whether work is allowed or what an application costs. Those answers sit in other regulations and in agency guidance and they change, so use the lookup above to read the label and then take the question to the State Department’s visa pages (travel.state.gov, which blocked automated reading on November 2, 2026, so we have not cited its contents) or a licensed immigration attorney.

For other codes seen on immigration paperwork, see the EAD category code lookup, which covers a different code set, and the I-94 number format checker.

• V1 visa symbol meaning: V1, another symbol described by statute cross-references.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 22 CFR 41.12 Classification symbols, Table 1 (current text; last amended 2023-09-12 per the eCFR version history) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR renderer API, the same section as machine-readable text (read November 2, 2026)
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: 8 U.S.C. 1101, definitions, subsection (a)(15) (read November 2, 2026)