Texas Pastor Faces Self-Deportation After Religious Visa Expiry

(GORDON, TEXAS) A Texas pastor who has led a small-town congregation for years says he will self-deport after his religious visa expires, closing a chapter of ministry that began more than a decade ago. Albert Oliveira, originally from Brazil, has served at First Baptist Church in Gordon, about 70 miles west of Fort Worth, and confirmed that after two years of legal efforts and escalating costs, he and his family have booked a flight to Brazil for November 2025. He says he’s leaving voluntarily because the law leaves him no other path to stay.

Background and immigration history

Oliveira’s case turns on the R-1 religious visa, a temporary permit for ministers and other faith workers. He first arrived in the United States in 2011 on a student visa to study intercultural missions and psychology, eventually earning a master’s degree in missiology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Seven years ago he moved to Gordon to serve as youth minister, later becoming the church’s pastor. During that time he married Caroline Schuster Oliveira, a German national. The couple’s young son, born in Texas, is a U.S. citizen.

The family’s mixed citizenship complicated their legal options: his wife does not have U.S. status, while their son is American by birth. Even so, the parents’ immigration status ultimately determines whether the family can remain in Texas together.

Why he’s leaving

Oliveira’s R-1 status reached its limit, and his efforts to secure permanent residency stalled in a broader visa backlog for religious workers. He says the legal road ran out despite following every rule.

“If the law, as it currently stands, does not offer justice to those that have done what it requires, it’s for the conscience of those in power to do what is right,” Oliveira said, explaining why he chose to depart rather than overstay.

After repeated filings and fees over two years, the family set a departure date and began packing up their life in Texas. By choosing to self-deport—leaving voluntarily rather than after an order of removal—Oliveira keeps the family eligible for certain future visa options that an overstay could jeopardize.

The wider legal and policy context

The situation highlights a broader gap that many religious workers face: temporary R-1 status often does not provide a clear path to a green card. The permanent route usually depends on employment-based categories (such as EB-4) that can have years-long wait times.

• Religious visas like the R-1 allow service in the United States for a limited period.
• Transition to permanent residency generally relies on employment-based petitions with long backlogs.
• Advocates say the gap between temporary status and green-card approval forces families into impossible choices.

In April 2025, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Susan Collins, and Jim Risch introduced the Religious Workforce Protection Act, a bipartisan bill intended to let religious workers with pending EB-4 applications remain in the U.S. while they wait. As of November 2025, the bill remains in committee.

• Supporters: argue the bill would keep churches stable and prevent disruptions.
• Skeptics: worry about expanding temporary stays without addressing employment-based category backlogs.

For official details on the R-1 category, see the U.S. government’s overview on the USCIS page: R-1 Temporary Nonimmigrant Religious Workers.

For information on the proposed Religious Workforce Protection Act, see the Senate Judiciary Committee press release and bill text on the Senate’s website: Religious Workforce Protection Act.

Impact on the congregation and community

For First Baptist Church, losing a pastor is more than a staffing change. Small, rural congregations face specific challenges:

• Limited networks to recruit new ministers
• Modest housing and salaries compared with city churches
• Heavy reliance on a pastor for bilingual outreach, youth programs, and Sunday preaching

Church members fear disruptions to Sunday services, youth mentoring, and community support once the family leaves. Long-time member Rebecca Sue Collins voiced concern about the parsonage going quiet and the pulpit remaining empty.

Local descriptions of Oliveira’s ministry emphasize community care beyond worship: hospital visits, funeral support, and mentorship in a town with few trusted institutions.

Church’s immediate plans and pastoral handover

The church is weighing short-term responses and planning a handover focused on care:

• Seek an interim minister
• Ask retired pastors to rotate Sunday services
• Rely on lay leaders temporarily

Those options are difficult for a small town and require emotional adjustment from the congregation. Meanwhile, members are planning farewells, sorting files, and preparing notes on ongoing pastoral care.

Oliveira has been meeting with deacons and counseling teenagers who have only known him as their minister, reassuring them that faith communities can endure change.

Personal framing and final words

Oliveira frames his exit as both a personal disappointment and a matter of conscience. He says he will follow the law and leave, even though it means uprooting his family from the place they consider home.

• He hopes the move will spark discussion rather than a standoff.
• He has not attacked officials but asks they consider how the law treats people who have followed every rule yet find no door to remain.

His closing message to the community: he will obey the law and board the plane, but he hopes lawmakers will reconsider the human impact of paperwork and policy.

Broader implications

This case is part of a pattern noted by faith and immigration observers:

• Religious leaders trained in the U.S. can become anchors for congregations, especially in rural areas.
• Backlogs and temporary rules have forced churches to part with pastors who are central to community life.
• The issue spans denominations and regions, with rural congregations at special risk.

Faith-based organizations point to the pending Senate bill as evidence of bipartisan interest, but uncertainty remains. Even critics of expanding temporary stays acknowledge that current wait times force hard choices for families like the Oliveiras.

Practical takeaway

• The R-1 program remains a temporary channel, not a guarantee of permanence.
• Families facing expiration of R-1 status may consider voluntary departure to preserve future immigration options.
• Policy changes, such as the Religious Workforce Protection Act, could alter outcomes for religious workers with pending EB-4 cases—but as of November 2025, legislative change has not occurred.

As Oliveira packs books and toys, explains to his U.S.-born child why the family must leave his birthplace, and trusts that their church will find its way, the story remains a local account with national resonance: the human consequences of immigration rules on small-town religious life.