Bought In, Priced Out

LADY JANICE
Apr 10
21 min read

Bought In, Priced Out

The EB-5 Scandal, the R-1 Crisis, and the Kingdom Pathways Through

Documented Facts • All Scriptures Written Out • Biblical Justice • Practical Pathways • Prophetic Lens

U.S. Permanent Resident Card with a woman's photo, issued 2023, expires 2033. Green with golden eagle and text details. White surface.

About d*** time.

That is my response to the conversation that prompted this teaching. Someone finally said out loud what millions of ordinary immigrants have known for decades: the EB-5 program has become a rich person’s backdoor to American citizenship. And the people waiting in line the right way — the religious workers, the academic scholars, the people with genuine callings and genuine gifts to offer this nation — are sitting in bureaucratic holding patterns that defy description.

I have a Bible student. Brilliant young person. Called by God. Gifted in mathematics. Pursuing a PhD that could contribute to this nation’s scientific knowledge for a generation. And the immigration system — because people with money have purchased their way to the front of the line and broken the system for everyone else — has this student’s future hanging by a thread.

I am not approaching this with anger. I am approaching this with the fire of a prophet who has read Amos 5 and Isaiah 10 and Micah 2 and knows what God says about systems designed to serve the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable. And I am approaching it with the practical mind of someone who believes that God always has a path through — a legal, dignified, Kingdom-honoring path that does not require you to compromise your integrity to survive a system that compromised its own.

This is that teaching. Come with me.

PART ONE

The EB-5 Program — What It Was, What It Became, and Who Made It That Way

What EB-5 Was Supposed to Be

In 1990, Congress created the Employment-Based Fifth Preference visa program — known as EB-5 — with a genuinely good idea: allow foreign nationals who invest substantial capital in American businesses and create American jobs to earn a path to permanent residency. The vision was economic development. Create jobs in places that need them. Attract capital from abroad. Build businesses that employ Americans.

Everybody wins.

The minimum investment thresholds: $1,050,000 in most areas (as of the 2022 Reform Act), or $800,000 if the investment is in a Targeted Employment Area — defined as rural areas or areas with high unemployment. The requirement: the investment must create or preserve at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers. The result: a path to a green card for the investor and their immediate family.

On paper: legitimate, sensible economic immigration policy. Attract capital. Create jobs. Reward investment. The 1990 Congress had good intentions.

Lady Janice: Then the lawyers got hold of it. And the real estate developers. And the regional center operators. And the people who realized that ‘targeted employment area’ was a phrase so loosely defined that you could gerrymander census tracts to include a luxury Manhattan skyscraper in an ‘economically distressed area.’ And then it stopped being about creating jobs in places that need them and started being about buying a green card for $800,000 while technically checking boxes that were designed to mean something very different.

What EB-5 Became: Citizenship for Sale

DOCUMENTED: THE GERRYMANDERING SCANDAL

USCIS has documented that wealthy developers systematically gerrymandered ‘Targeted Employment Area’ designations to qualify their luxury real estate projects for the lower $800,000 investment threshold, even when the projects were in some of the wealthiest zip codes in America. Luxury condos in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and Miami Beach were classified as being in ‘economically distressed’ areas by drawing creative lines around census tracts.

DOCUMENTED: THE SPEED DISPARITY

A regular immigrant with a legitimate job offer, no criminal record, and a sponsoring American employer can wait years — sometimes decades — for a green card depending on their country of origin. An EB-5 investor with $800,000 can receive conditional permanent residency in as little as 6–18 months. The same system. Two completely different timelines based entirely on wealth.

DOCUMENTED: THE FRAUD RECORD

USCIS itself has stated that ‘fraud — in the form of embezzlement, securities violations, investment schemes, and criminal conduct — has plagued the Regional Center program since its inception.’ Senator Charles Grassley wrote to President Trump that the program had ‘become riddled with fraud and serious vulnerabilities that present real national security concerns.’ The SEC has issued multiple investor alerts. The GAO has issued reports. Multiple prosecutions have been brought.

DOCUMENTED: THE CALIFORNIA INVESTMENT IMMIGRATION FUND CASE

From 2009 to 2016, Tat Chan, Victoria Chan, and Fang Zeng collected more than $50 million from Chinese nationals who were granted conditional residency in exchange for investing in development projects. The projects never occurred. The trio spent approximately $15 million on luxury cars and multi-million-dollar homes. The investors got nothing. The promised construction never happened.

DOCUMENTED: THE NATIONAL SECURITY PROBLEM

A foreign national who enters through EB-5 receives all the access and rights of a permanent resident while USCIS — which is equipped to process immigration paperwork, not conduct financial intelligence investigations — is supposed to be verifying that the investment capital is legitimate. The GAO concluded that USCIS does not have the tools or the data to adequately assess these risks.

The Core Injustice: The EB-5 program created a two-tier immigration system. Tier One: You have $800,000. You invest it. You receive conditional permanent residency in months. Tier Two: You do not have $800,000. You have a God-given gift, a legitimate job, a calling, and a degree. You wait. And you wait. And you wait.

The CFIUS Connection: Why National Security Is at Risk

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is the interagency committee that reviews foreign investments in American businesses for national security implications. But CFIUS and EB-5 have not been adequately coordinated. An investor who enters through EB-5 — gaining the access, rights, and mobility of a permanent resident — could represent interests that CFIUS would flag in a corporate acquisition context but that slip through the immigration review process because USCIS is not equipped to conduct the same level of financial intelligence review.

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 made some improvements. But as long as wealthy foreign nationals can purchase conditional permanent residency faster than a qualified nurse or engineer or minister can receive a standard employment-based visa, the system has a fundamental equity and security problem.

PROVERBS 22:22–23 (KJV)

"Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them."

Teaching: ‘Oppress the afflicted in the gate.’ In ancient Israel, the gate was where legal and commercial transactions took place. The gate was the immigration office, the courthouse, and the marketplace. God says: do not use the gate — the official system, the legal apparatus — to oppress those who have less power. Because He is watching the gate.

And He pleads the cause of those who were processed through it unjustly.

PART TWO

The R-1 Visa Crisis — Religious Workers Stranded by a Bureaucratic Accident

What the R-1 Visa Is

The R-1 nonimmigrant visa allows foreign nationals to come to the United States to work in a religious capacity for a qualifying nonprofit religious organization. Ministers, missionaries, religious educators, and other religious workers who meet the criteria can receive R-1 status for up to 30 months, extendable to a total maximum of 5 years.

The R-1 was designed as a bridge: the religious worker comes, serves, and then transitions to permanent residency through the EB-4 Special Immigrant Religious Worker category. The system assumed that EB-4 visa numbers would remain relatively current. That assumption collapsed in 2023.

What Happened in 2023 That Broke Everything

DOCUMENTED: THE 2023 DEPARTMENT OF STATE CHANGE

In April 2023, the Department of State changed how it allocates EB-4 visa numbers. The DOS merged certain country columns into the ‘All Countries’ pool — which had the effect of dramatically shortening wait times for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras while catastrophically lengthening them for everyone else. Religious workers from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and everywhere outside those three countries watched their priority dates retrogress by years overnight.

DOCUMENTED: THE CURRENT BACKLOG AS OF 2026

As of March 2025, there were approximately 217,500 approved I-360 petitions in the EB-4 category with no visa immediately available. In a typical fiscal year, only 9,940 EB-4 visas are allocated. At current rates, the backlog represents more than 20 years of wait time. And the line grows longer each year as new petitions are filed.

DOCUMENTED: MARCH 2025 — EB-4 COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN

On March 3, 2025, the State Department announced that ALL available EB-4 immigrant visas for the fiscal year had been issued — and the category was unavailable. From April 2025 through September 2025, EB-4 visas were simply not available at all. Religious workers with approved petitions had no path forward.

DOCUMENTED: THE JANUARY 2026 FIX — PARTIAL

On January 16, 2026, USCIS published an Interim Final Rule removing the one-year foreign residency requirement for R-1 workers who exhaust their five-year maximum. This is a mercy. But it does not fix the underlying backlog. It does not create more EB-4 visa numbers. It does not get religious workers to a green card any faster.

The Problem: A religious worker comes to the United States on R-1 status. They serve faithfully. Their I-360 petition is approved. And then they wait. Their five-year R-1 maximum approaches. The priority date is still years away. They are permanently stuck in temporary status — serving God’s people in America without the security and stability that their work deserves.

MICAH 6:8 (KJV)

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."

Teaching: Do justly. The immigration system is not doing justice when a person of faith who has spent five years serving a congregation faithfully cannot obtain the security of permanent residency, while a person with $800,000 can purchase that security in months.

Lady Janice: The system tells the religious worker: you need to prove your faith organization is legitimate, prove your role is genuinely religious, survive an unannounced site inspection, file multiple complex forms with multiple government agencies, and wait potentially decades for a visa number that may never come in time. It tells the EB-5 investor: wire the money, fill out the form, here is your green card. Lady Janice is not saying the rich should be penalized. She is saying the faithful should not be abandoned.

PART THREE

For the Student Called to a Mathematics PhD — The Godly Pathways

Lady Janice has a Bible student. Called. Gifted. Mathematically brilliant. Called to pursue a PhD that could serve both the Kingdom and the nation. And the immigration system — in its current condition — is a wall.

Let me tell you what I know about walls. God is in the business of opening doors in walls. He did it for Peter in prison (Acts 12). He did it for Paul and Silas (Acts 16). He did it for the Israelites at the Red Sea. And He specializes in making paths through impossibilities for people who are walking in His purposes. But faith without action is dead (James 2:17).

So let us identify every legitimate, dignified, Kingdom-honoring pathway through this wall.

ACTS 16:25–26 (KJV)

"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed."

Teaching: Pray and sing until the earthquake comes. But also walk through the door when it opens. Here are the doors.

Pathway 1: The F-1 Student Visa — The Most Direct Academic Route

The F-1 nonimmigrant visa is designed specifically for students attending accredited academic institutions in the United States. For a student pursuing a mathematics PhD, this is the most straightforward pathway and the one that best honors their academic calling.

• The student must be accepted by a SEVP-certified institution. Virtually every US university with a PhD mathematics program is SEVP-certified.

• The institution issues a Form I-20, which the student uses to apply for an F-1 visa at a US consulate or embassy in their home country.

• F-1 status allows full-time enrollment, on-campus work, and participation in research under academic supervision.

• Most PhD mathematics programs offer full funding packages including tuition remission, a graduate stipend (typically $20,000–$35,000 per year), and health insurance. The student does not need personal wealth. They need academic merit.

Kingdom Pathway: For a brilliant mathematics student, the F-1 visa to a funded PhD program is not a compromise. It is the designed pathway. God gifted them with mathematical brilliance precisely so that a university would recognize that brilliance and provide the funding that makes the F-1 path possible. The gift IS the provision. Apply. Apply broadly. Apply to programs that fund their doctoral students fully.

Pathway 2: OPT and STEM OPT Extension — Work During and After the PhD

Optional Practical Training (OPT) allows F-1 students to work in their field of study for up to 12 months after graduation. Students in STEM fields — which includes mathematics — can apply for a 24-month STEM OPT extension, for a total of 36 months of authorized work in the United States after completing the PhD.

During OPT and STEM OPT, the student can work for any employer who registers with E-Verify. This is the window during which many international PhD graduates transition to H-1B status through employer sponsorship.

Pathway 3: H-1B Visa — The Professional Specialty Worker Pathway

The H-1B nonimmigrant visa allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.

A mathematics PhD is specialty occupation qualification in its highest form. Universities, research institutions, government agencies, financial institutions, technology companies, and consulting firms all regularly sponsor H-1B visas for mathematics PhD holders.

There is an annual cap of 65,000 H-1B visas (plus 20,000 additional for those with US master’s degrees or higher). However: universities, non-profit research organizations, and government research organizations are CAP-EXEMPT. If the mathematics PhD student intends to work in academia or at a non-profit research institution after graduation, the H-1B cap does not apply to them.

Kingdom Pathway: A mathematics PhD who graduates from a US university and accepts a faculty or research position at a university is looking at a cap-exempt H-1B. No lottery.

No random chance. A direct pathway to legal work status while pursuing the green card process. Academia is one of the most immigration-friendly environments in America precisely because universities have always known that talent does not respect national borders.

Pathway 4: O-1 Visa — Extraordinary Ability

The O-1A nonimmigrant visa is for individuals who demonstrate extraordinary ability in their field — defined as ‘a level of expertise indicating that the individual is one of the small percentage who has risen to the very top of the field.’ For a mathematics PhD student who has published research, won academic awards, presented at conferences, or contributed significantly to their field, the O-1 is worth serious consideration.

• O-1 visas are granted for up to 3 years initially and can be extended in 1-year increments.

• The O-1 does not have a cap. It is not subject to lottery. It is employer-sponsored but can be petitioned by the employer or an agent.

• O-1 holders can pursue permanent residency through EB-1 (Extraordinary Ability green card) which has no labor certification requirement and minimal backlog for most countries.

• Evidence of extraordinary ability includes: published work in major scholarly journals, participation as a judge of others’ work, original scientific contributions of major significance, authorship of scholarly articles, employment in a critical or essential capacity, and high salary relative to peers.

Pathway 5: EB-1 Green Card — The Path for Extraordinary Ability

For the mathematics student who reaches the level of published, recognized, peer-reviewed contribution to their field — which a PhD program is designed to produce — the EB-1A (Extraordinary Ability) or EB-1B (Outstanding Researcher/Professor) green card categories offer permanent residency with minimal wait times.

• EB-1A: Self-petitioned (no employer required). Must demonstrate sustained national or international acclaim. No labor market test required.

• EB-1B: Employer-sponsored for outstanding researchers and professors. Requires recognition in the academic field. Does not require labor certification (PERM).

• EB-1 has minimal to no backlog for most countries (major exception: India and China). For students from most African, Caribbean, and other nations, EB-1 is potentially a fast track to permanent residency.

Kingdom Pathway: The mathematics PhD is not just a degree. It is a document of extraordinary ability. The student who earns it has, by definition, contributed original knowledge to human understanding. That is the definition of what EB-1 was designed to recognize. Do not let the student finish the PhD without an attorney evaluating their EB-1A eligibility. The entire PhD journey — every paper, every award, every conference presentation, every peer review — is evidence for the green card petition.

Pathway 6: National Interest Waiver — EB-2 NIW

The National Interest Waiver (NIW) within the EB-2 category allows individuals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability to petition for a green card without employer sponsorship if they can demonstrate that their work is in the national interest of the United States. For a mathematician working in areas such as cryptography, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity mathematics, statistical modeling for public health, climate modeling, or financial systems — the NIW is a powerful pathway.

• No employer required. Self-petitioned.

• No labor certification (PERM) required.

• Must show: substantial merit and national importance of the work; the person is well-positioned to advance the work; and it would be beneficial to the US to waive the normal requirements.

• The 2016 USCIS policy update (Matter of Dhanasar) made NIW more accessible to researchers and academics.

Kingdom Pathway: NIW is God’s provision for the scholar who cannot afford or does not want to depend on employer sponsorship. It says: your knowledge itself is valuable to this nation. The research you are doing matters to the United States. That is worth a green card. Go through the wall. Apply.

PART FOUR

The Biblical Lens — What God Says About Broken Systems and the Stranger

God’s Heart for the Immigrant

LEVITICUS 19:33–34 (KJV)

"And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."

Teaching: ‘Ye shall not VEX him.’ The Hebrew word for vex is yanah — to oppress, to treat harshly, to make life difficult. God says: Do not make the stranger’s life more difficult than it already is. A system that fast-tracks the wealthy and strands the faithful is, by the standard of Leviticus 19, vexing the stranger. It is Yanah.

DEUTERONOMY 10:17–19 (KJV)

"For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt."

Teaching: ‘Regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.’ God does not accept bribes. He does not have a premium track for those who can pay. The EB-5 investor visa is the immigration system accepting a reward — $800,000 — in exchange for premium access. God says of Himself: I do not do that. And He calls His people to reflect that standard in the systems they build and operate.

AMOS 5:11–12 (KJV)

"Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they that afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right."

Teaching: ‘They turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.’ The gate again. The official system. The immigration office, the courthouse, the legal process. When those with money use the system to turn aside those without money from their rightful access, God calls it a manifold transgression. He calls it a mighty sin. And He says the houses built with that injustice will not shelter those who built them.

ISAIAH 10:1–2 (KJV)

"Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!"

Teaching: ‘Unrighteous decrees.’ A law can be technically legal and still be an unrighteous decree. The EB-5 gerrymander — calling a luxury Manhattan skyscraper ‘economically distressed’ to qualify for the lower investment threshold — is an unrighteous decree. It is legal. It is also, by the standard of Isaiah 10, a woe.

MATTHEW 23:23 (KJV)

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye have done, and not to leave the other undone."

Teaching: Jesus identified the weightier matters: judgment, mercy, and faith. A system that is technically compliant with the letter of the law while violating its spirit — while rich investors buy green cards and religious workers get stranded — has omitted the weightier matters. It has tithed the mint and anise of paperwork compliance while neglecting the mercy that the system was supposed to embody.

JAMES 2:1–4 (KJV)

"My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?"

Teaching: ‘Respect of persons’ — the Greek is prosopolepsia — the showing of partiality based on outward status. James says: if you give the wealthy man the good seat and tell the poor man to stand aside, you have become a judge of evil thoughts. The EB-5 system gives the wealthy man the good seat — the fast track, the premium processing, the six-month green card. And it tells the religious worker and the mathematics PhD student: stand there.

What God Calls the Church to Do

ISAIAH 58:6–7 (KJV)

"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?"

Teaching: ‘Loose the bands of wickedness. Undo the heavy burdens. Let the oppressed go free. Break every yoke.’ God’s fasting looks like advocacy. It looks like knowing the immigration system well enough to help someone navigate it. It looks like a church connecting an R-1 worker to a competent immigration attorney. It looks like a congregation raising funds to cover the filing fees for a PhD student’s visa application.

PROVERBS 31:8–9 (KJV)

"Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy."

Teaching: Open thy mouth. Speak. Advocate. Know enough to help. Lady Janice opened her mouth. This document is her opened mouth. Now every RADA student who reads it has a mouth that can open for someone who does not know what they do not know.

PART FIVE

Reprobate Systems and Kingdom Loopholes — Operating in Godly Ways Through

Ungodly Systems

Lady Janice named something theologically precise: reprobate. The Greek word adokimos in Romans 1:28 — a reprobate mind, a mind that does not function according to its designed purpose. A system can be reprobate: it can exist but no longer function according to its designed purpose. The EB-5 program was designed to create jobs in economically distressed areas. When it is used to build luxury Manhattan condos for wealthy foreign investors, it is operating in a reprobate condition.

The question Lady Janice is asking: are there godly loopholes? Legitimate, legal, ethical pathways that God has built into even reprobate systems for people operating in integrity? The answer is always yes. God is a God of open doors. He has always hidden pathways in apparently impossible walls.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 (KJV)

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

Teaching: ‘A way to escape.’ God always makes one. Not necessarily the comfortable way. Not always the fast way. But always a way that does not require you to compromise your integrity to survive what the system is doing to you.

ESTHER 4:14 (KJV)

"For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

Teaching: Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

The mathematics PhD student is not an accident. Their gift is not random. God placed them there, in this season, with this gift, for purposes that go beyond a visa category. And God — who brought Joseph from a pit to the palace, who sent Esther into a foreign king’s court, who placed Daniel in the courts of Babylon — knows how to navigate His people through systems that were not designed with them in mind.

Prophetic 2026: In 2026, RADA is raising up people who will carry the Kingdom into mathematics departments, into research institutions, into the halls of academia. Every PhD that a RADA student earns is territory claimed for the Kingdom. Every paper published under a name that belongs to the Body of Christ is a flag planted for the Kingdom of God in the world’s intellectual geography. The immigration system will not stop what God has ordained.

PRACTICAL HELP

What Lady Janice Calls the Church and the Student to Do Right Now

For the Mathematics PhD Student Specifically

• Connect with your university’s international student office IMMEDIATELY. Every accredited university has one. They are experts in F-1, OPT, and STEM OPT specifically for your institution.

• Consult an immigration attorney who specializes in academic and employment-based visas. Many offer free initial consultations. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has a directory at aila.org. Look for attorneys with EB-1 and NIW experience.

• Start building your O-1A/EB-1A evidence NOW, not after graduation. Every conference presentation, every paper, every peer review invitation, every award — document it. Photograph it. Save the certificate. Keep the letter. Your immigration petition is being built while you are building your academic record.

• Look into the J-1 Exchange Visitor visa if your research qualifies. Many PhD programs can sponsor J-1 status for researchers and scholars.

• Apply for government-funded fellowships: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, DOE STEM programs, NIH training grants. These demonstrate national interest for an eventual NIW petition.

For Lady Janice and RADA

• Build relationships with immigration attorneys who serve immigrant communities at reduced cost. Organizations like the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), and AILA’s pro bono programs connect immigrants with legal help.

• Advocate for the Religious Workforce Protection Act of 2025, introduced by Senators Susan Collins, Tim Kaine, and James Risch. This bipartisan bill addresses exactly the R-1/EB-4 crisis. Contact your senators’ offices. Letters from faith communities matter.

• Create a ‘Visa Support Fund’ within RADA for immigration filing fees. USCIS filing fees for a green card application can exceed $2,000–$3,000. A congregation that pools resources to cover filing fees is operating Isaiah 58:6 in real time.

• Know your congressional representatives. Members of Congress can make inquiries on behalf of constituents stuck in the system. A congressional inquiry does not guarantee approval but it does ensure the application gets reviewed.

• Pray specifically. Name the student. Name the situation. Pray for favor with immigration officers, for attorneys who will fight for the right result, for congressional action on the EB-4 backlog, and for wisdom in the administration of the R-1 program. Daniel prayed specifically, and Michael came.

CLOSING WORD

Lady Janice’s Closing Word

I want to close with the truth that holds all of this together.

The immigration system is broken in the ways we have described. The EB-5 program has been a Lamborghini for the wealthy and a minivan in a traffic jam for everyone else. The R-1/EB-4 situation is a specific, documented injustice that has stranded faithful religious workers through a bureaucratic accident that nobody has fully fixed yet. And the brilliant young student who wants a PhD in mathematics is navigating a wall that was not built with them in mind.

All of this is true. And all of it is also temporary.

God is not wringing His hands about USCIS processing times. He is not surprised by the EB-4 backlog. He was not caught off guard when the Department of State changed the visa allocation methodology in April 2023. He knew before the foundation of the world which of His people would be called to this nation, in this season, with these gifts. And He has already prepared the path through.

The path might be the F-1 to a fully funded PhD program. It might be the O-1 for extraordinary ability. It might be the EB-1A for the mathematician who publishes research that changes the field. It might be a congressional inquiry that moves a stuck application. It might be a pastor who knows an immigration attorney who takes the case pro bono. It might be a RADA community that raises the filing fees. It might be a door that does not yet exist but will open when someone prays it open.

God always has a path. Not always comfortable. Not always fast. But always THROUGH. And never requiring you to compromise your integrity to use it.

About d*** time somebody said all of this out loud. And since nobody else was saying it — here we are.

RADA does not just pray. RADA prays AND acts. We know the system. We know the Scripture. We know the pathways. And we walk our people through them, in the name of the God who opened the Red Sea, the prison doors, and the locked room where the disciples were hiding on resurrection morning.

He is still opening doors. Find yours. Walk through it. We are here to help.

ISAIAH 43:2 (KJV)

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."

PSALM 68:6 (KJV)

"God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains."

What did you think about our message of Bought In, Priced Out? Let me know below!

God sets the solitary in families.

He brings out those who are bound.

Find the door. Walk through it.

RADA is here to help you find it.

Lady Janice

Prophet, Teacher, Advocate

R.A.D.A. Ministry • 2026 • About Damn Time.

Sources and References

EB-5 Program: Immigration and Nationality Act Section 203(b)(5) | EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-103) | USCIS fraud statement on Regional Center program | Sen. Grassley letter to President Trump on EB-5 fraud 2018 | SEC Investor Alert on EB-5 fraud 2013 | GAO Report GAO-23-106452 on EB-5 fraud and national security | California Investment Immigration Fund fraud case (Tat Chan, Victoria Chan, Fang Zeng, $50M fraud 2009–2016) | SEC v. Ahmed et al. (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 21, 2023)

R-1 Visa: 8 CFR 214.2(r) | EB-4 Special Immigrant Religious Worker category | Department of State Visa Bulletin change April 2023 (EB-4 retrogression) | March 3, 2025: DOS announces EB-4 visas unavailable | USCIS Interim Final Rule January 16, 2026 | Federal Register 2026-00830 | 217,500 approved I-360 petitions with no visa available as of March 2025 | Religious Workforce Protection Act 2025 (Collins-Kaine-Risch)