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I believe I would be eligible to enter the US under an R1 visa, Religious Workers visa. Question is, does this sound plausible for the role I would be taking? The church is a well known organisation in the US, and I'm not sure if the R-class visa covers any and all employees of religious organisations. Presumably my wife and son would enter under an R2 visa.

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In addition I'm slightly confused by the whole embassy interview for the visa. My family consists of myself, my wife and son who is 5. Do we all have to go to the embassy for the interview, or are my wife and I only obliged to go but take the documents for our son?

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Finally we're probably going to travel separately - the plan is for me to go across first of all and set up home, so to speak. Approximately 2 - 3 months afterwards my wife and son would follow once everything is ready. Is this likely to cause problems for entry for them at all?

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Overview

The Religious Worker (R) visa is for persons seeking to enter the United States (U.S.) to work in a religious capacity on a temporary basis, under provisions of U.S. law, specifically the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Qualifying as a Religious Worker

Religious workers include persons authorized, by a recognized employing entity, to conduct religious worship and perform other duties usually performed by authorized members of the clergy of that religion, and workers engaging in a religious vocation or occupation.

•The applicant must be a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the U.S.;

•The religious denomination and its affiliate, if applicable, are either exempt from taxation or qualifies for tax-exempt status; and

•The applicant has been a member of the denomination for two years immediately preceding applying for religious worker status. The applicant is planning to work as a minister of that denomination, or in a religious occupation or vocation for a bona fide, non-profit religious organization (or a tax-exempt affiliate of such an organization).There is no requirement that individuals applying for "R" visas have a residence abroad that they have no intention of abandoning. However, they must intend to depart the U.S. at the end of their lawful status, absent specific indications or evidence to the contrary. The applicant has resided and been physically present outside the U.S. for the immediate prior year, if he or she has previously spent five years in this category.

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It doesn't sound like you would qualify under R-1 from what I could find. Quite apart from the nature of the work, you may not qualify for some of the other requirements, such as being a member of the denomination for 2 years.

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