An individual applying for a special religious worker visa to enter the United States may apply for the status despite having entered the country and stayed illegally, a federal District Court in Illinois has ruled. The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had denied the application because of the prior violation, but the Court said the statute permitted application without regard to the prior violation. Rev. Alfred Ocampo came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1994 on a visitor visa but never returned. He became a vowed member of the Congregation of the Passion in 2004 and was ordained as a priest in 2011. The Passionists applied for his special worker visa in 2012. Ocampo had...