Veli-Matti Karkkainen, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in California

NEW YORK. A Finnish theologian required to leave the United States in July because he lost appeals to extend his visa and be granted permanent residency in the country, has returned on a new visa.

The case of Veli-Matti Karkkainen, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in California and a Pentecostal scholar, however, remains in a legal tangle. Karkkainen, his wife and two daughters were only able to return to the US on visas allowing a temporary stay.

The Finnish theologian has returned to teaching at Fuller, the largest interdenominational seminary in the country, but he has been granted only a three-year stay in the United States.

A new twist is that Karkkainen’s wife, previously allowed to teach in the United States, is no longer allowed to hold a volunteer position nor to work - adding a financial burden to a family with two college-aged daughters.

“It’s a complex network of things we’re dealing with,” Karkkainen said in an interview with Ecumenical News International, noting it could take years to settle his case, one of a number of post-11 September 2001 immigration incidents involving academics, religious professionals and journalists.

The Finn, who belongs to several World Council of Churches working groups, had to leave the United States on 31 July because of a new immigration rule regarding the status of religious professionals, despite having taught at Fuller since 2000.

Fuller has no formal denominational ties, and Karkkainen did not therefore meet the necessary standard for staying in the United States as a teacher at a religious institution, even though he completed master’s level work at Fuller and holds two doctorates.

Karkkainen praised Fuller’s support in his case and said the US embassy staff in Helsinki, Finland, proved cooperative in granting the new visas.

But Karkkainen asked if there were “more profitable ways” for the United States to deal with immigration matters. “I’m concerned that a country at war can waste resources like this.”