A handful of religious organizations, including two based in the Chicago region, have joined efforts in challenging a national immigration policy that discriminates against religious workers, according to a new federal lawsuit.

According to the complaint, filed Jan. 3 in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the government is unlawfully restricting the amount of time foreign priests, nuns, ministers and other missionaries carry out religious services in the United States.

Under current U.S. policy, nonimmigrant religious workers with an R-1 visa are granted a five-year maximum stay in the U.S. If a religious worker under R-1 status leaves the country at any point, whether for a personal or business trip, the time spent outside the U.S. is still calculated into their five-year limit.