I didn't suggest OP move the interview to SA I remarked the latest interview from the Zimbabwe timeline took place in SA.
I then posited Zimbabwe might be diverting their interviews to SA as Johannesburg deals with several countries in the Southern African region.
See this post for reference:
Before that the last K1 interview from the Zimbabwe timeline was in 2019. Another couple has a timeline from 2021 but no update since May.
For IR1/CR1 last interview took place May 2021. Didn't go into their comment history though.
Good to know Zimbabwe is still scheduling interviews. Not a lot of data coming from VJ.
Why do you need/want an R-1 to work for the church? You can work for them right now with your current work permit. Is tbere something in your asylum case so it makes sense to change to a more restrictive status where you can only work one place? (No need to answer these questions -- just posing them for you to think about).
It may be a moot point, however. Do you have an unexpired non-immigrant status (an unexpired I-94 from your entry into the US)? If not, you cannot apply for a change of status. With the asylum application, you may be in a period of authorized stay while waiting for the case to be processed,, but it doesn't grant you a specific status unless the status granted at your initial entry into the US is still valid (for example, an entry as a tourist). You need to be in status to apply to change that status. And, getting an approved change of starus is what it would take for you to get R-1 status. That is unless you choose to leave the US to apply for an R-1 visa, which would then be denied because you have immigrant intent (and possibly an ineligibility for overstaying your last US entry).
My suggestion, if you want to work for the church, is to do so on your current work permit. If you are planning to use the R-1 as the stepping stone to getting a special immigrant religious-worker-based green card, please note that you do not have to be working in R-1 status for the church to file the I-360 petition for you. It requires two years of religious work experience, but you do not need for those two years to be under R-1 status, as long as the work you do meets the requirements of the religious worker category. See the Checklist for Religious Workers on the USCIS website: https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-guidance/checklist-of-required-initial-evidence-for-form-i-360-for-informational-purposes-only for more information.
