The R-1 is a temporary Visa/status that allows a r-ligious worker to come and work in the United States for up to five years.  There are a number of requirements to satisfy in order to obtain this visa.  These requirements relate to the petition, the petitioner, the job, and the beneficiary.

First off, the R-1 requires a petition.  You cannot simply go to a consulate and apply for an R-1 visa.  Also, the alien cannot file the petition, the petition can only be filed by the prospective employer.  Nothing specifically says that the employer needs to pay the filing fee, but I think it is best if the employer pays the fee.  Once the USCIS approves the petition, then the alien can go to a consulate and apply for an R visa.

The employer needs to be a r-ligious employer.  The employer doesn’t need to be a ch-rch, but it needs to be r-ligios and have r-ligious purposes.  The employer needs to have a 501c3 (Tax Exempt) letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in order to file a petition.  In the United States, a ch-rch can be tax exempt without getting a 501c3 letter, but the USCIS doesn’t care — they will not accept a petition if the employer doesn’t have that 501c3 letter.

The job itself has to be r-ligious.  For example, you probably will not be able to get an R-1 to be an accountant, even if you will be serving at a ch-rch.  On the other hand, you need to look at the essential characteristics of the job — I have obtained R status for gardeners and auto-mechanics, because they weren’t really gardeners and auto-mechanics — they were people who were using their gardening and work as auto-mechanics to disciple younger believers.  And discipleship is a r-ligious activity.

As the alien, you need to show that you have satisfied all of the requirements of the position — if the position requires a college degree, you need to show that you have a college degree.  Also, you need to show that you have been a member of the same denomination as the employer for the 24 months immediately preceding the filing of the petition.  Fortunately, the definition of denomination is open-ended, so that if you can show that you were a member of a ch-rch that was similar to the denomination of the employer, then that will often work.

Finally, this is the employment position.  There usually needs to be compensation paid or provided by the employer.  This could be actual salary, but it could also be room and board.  Sometimes the alien can be self-supported, but in order to do this the employer needs to show that they have a history of having self-supported workers in their m-nistry.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.