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29 July 2004

Finnish theologian forced out of US because of visa rule changes

Chris Herlinger
New York (ENI). A Finnish theologian at the largest interdenominational seminary in the United States is being forced to leave the country due to new rules governing visas for religious professionals.

"If a theology professor from Finland can't stay here, there is something wrong with the administrative process," Veli-Matti Karkkainen, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary since 2000 said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, from where he and his family were preparing to depart for Finland to beat a 31 July deadline to leave the United States.

Karkkainen's case is seen as a disconcerting twist in the situation facing other professionals, due to US government actions since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks that have prompted deportations or the barring of entry to people such as academics and journalists.

The Finn, a professor of systematic theology, was denied a visa allowing him to remain in the United States even though Karkkainen is a full professor and has tenure at Fuller, an evangelical college in Southern California. The seminary has more than 4300 students from 67 countries and 108 denominations on seven campuses.

The basis for the denial, Karkkainen told Ecumenical News International, is due to Fuller's status as an interdenominational institution. Because Fuller has no denominational ties, it does not fit the classification of a religious seminary under new federal government guidelines. Karkkainen holds two doctorates and completed a master's degree at Fuller.

A member of several World Council of Churches working groups, Karkkainen said he was hopeful a way could be found for him to return to the United States to enable him to resume teaching at Fuller, perhaps as early as the final semester of the year. But he will have to apply for a different type of visa, a process that could extend his stay in his native Finland. He has no teaching position lined up there, he said.

As a Pentecostal, Karkkainen noted an irony that the new visa regulations were instituted under the administration of President George W. Bush, an evangelical Christian, and Attorney General John Ashcroft, a fellow Pentecostal.

Lawyers working on behalf of Karkkainen and Fuller appealed to the attorney general's office but were told that Ashcroft "was not willing to deal with these kinds of issues," the Finnish theologian said.

"A free and democratic society should be able to discern those who are a threat and those who can make a contribution," Karkkainen said.

Officials of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Services, were not available for comment. The USCIS is part of the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

© 1994 - 2006 Ecumenical News International.

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