NAIROBI, Kenya — A Kenyan Catholic priest legally ministering in the United States has been indefinitely barred from returning to his post after the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi denied a routine renewal of his visa stamp. The priest, Father John K. Ojuok of the Diocese of Ogdensburg in New York, is now stranded in Kenya, prompting his diocese to issue an urgent warning to all its foreign-born clergy to suspend international travel.

The incident, which has left a rural American parish scrambling to cover pastoral duties, shines a spotlight on the precarious position of many Kenyan professionals abroad and the increasingly complex, unpredictable nature of U.S. immigration procedures for religious workers.

According to officials from the Diocese of Ogdensburg, Father Ojuok traveled to Nairobi in late summer to visit his mother and undergo a standard renewal interview for the stamp on his valid R-1 religious worker visa. Despite being in full legal status and in active ministry in the U.S., he was denied the visa stamp without a specific explanation following his interview. Father Christopher Carrara, the Vicar for Clergy in the diocese, stated that the only reason given was a failure of the interview, with no further details provided by embassy officials.

“This is a guy who has been here in the country working full time … and he's not new to this,” Father Carrara told the North Country Catholic newspaper, expressing frustration at the opaque decision. The diocese is now working with the office of U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to investigate the matter and facilitate Father Ojuok's return.

A Growing Crisis for Foreign Clergy

Father Ojuok’s situation is not an isolated event but symptomatic of a broader, systemic issue impacting religious organizations across the United States. American dioceses, particularly in rural areas like Ogdensburg, have become heavily reliant on international priests from countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and the Philippines to address a severe and long-standing clergy shortage. From 1970 to 2020, the number of priests in the U.S. plummeted by 60%, leaving over 3,500 parishes without a resident pastor, according to Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.

African seminaries, by contrast, are reportedly “fairly full,” making the continent a vital source of priests for the American Catholic Church. These religious workers arrive on R-1 visas, which are specifically for individuals in religious occupations. However, faith-based organizations report that these applications are now facing heightened scrutiny, longer processing times, and inconsistent outcomes.

This bureaucratic tightening has been exacerbated by a significant policy change in March 2023. The U.S. government altered the processing procedure for the EB-4 visa, the special immigrant category used by religious workers to apply for permanent residency (a “green card”). This change created a massive backlog, with wait times for permanent residency suddenly projected to stretch from over a year to potentially more than five or even ten years. Consequently, many foreign-born priests on temporary R-1 visas now face the prospect of their legal status expiring before their green card application is processed, forcing them to leave the country for at least a year.

The Local Impact in Kenya and Abroad

For Kenya, the situation creates profound uncertainty for a key segment of its diaspora. Clergy members working abroad are often significant contributors to their communities back home. Their inability to travel or the sudden disruption of their legal status can have far-reaching consequences. The advisory from the Diocese of Ogdensburg for foreign priests to avoid visiting their home countries underscores the risk involved. “Our advice to them is don’t go home, don’t go visit,” Father Carrara stated in a televised interview.

In New York, the impact of Father Ojuok’s absence was immediate. As a parochial vicar at St. Peter's, St. Mary's, and St. Hedwig's churches in Lewis County, his sudden inability to return has disrupted parish life and added to the workload of the remaining, often aging, clergy. This scenario is repeating across the U.S., with Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' migration committee, describing the potential loss of priests as a severe disruption to religious freedom and pastoral care.

While the U.S. Department of State maintains that consular officers adjudicate visa applications based on standards in U.S. law, it also notes that an application can be denied if the officer lacks all required information to determine eligibility, a finding known as a refusal under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Applicants are typically informed if they can provide additional information. However, in Father Ojuok's case, the diocese reports that no clear path to remedy the situation was provided. As of Friday, November 14, 2025, Father Ojuok remains in Nairobi, awaiting a resolution that will allow him to return to the community he serves. His case stands as a stark example of how individual lives are caught in the crosscurrents of shifting immigration policies and the growing demand for skilled foreign workers in the West.