j1 visa J1 Visa Timeline 2017

[Klr 2]

Hello,

 

I applied for a hardship waiver on March 2017 on the bases of extreme hardship to my USC husband and child. They received the documents on Jun 1, USCIS sent the I-613 and I-612 on November 8. Did any of you recently get  hardship waiver approved? what was the timeline?

 

I also applied for no objection statement, since I was finally able to get the NOS. We applied late october, the letter was sent from the embassy november 2 and still not showing in the website ( in fact it doesn't even show the no objection application wàs received). Does it take this long??

 

Also we applied for AOS and work authorization. It says they take 3 months to process the work authorization. Can I start looking for a job? eventhough the waiver hasn't been approved. 

[Coco8 1,042]

NOS are usually uploaded a few days after. You should tell them to fax it to DOS. Then, it appears 2 days after online. If it is not only by now, they did not receive it.

 

You cannot apply for AOS without the waiver. It will be denied. Why would you do that? 

 

No! You cannot start looking for a job. You won't get the EAD until you have the J1 waiver. You are likely to get a REF for the waiver. You are rushing into things here. Plus, nobody is going to interview if you do not have your EAD ready to go. No employer will wait for you for half a year. 

 

Hardship waivers take a year or more. No objection takes less. The problem is that I don't think you can apply for both at the same time. They might start processing whichever they get to first. I think that once your NOS appears online you should withdraw the hardship waiver. Hardship waiver are decided based on hardship so you might get denied unless you have a strong case.

 

Do you have good chance of no objection waiver? 

 

Edited December 5, 2017 by Coco8

[Klr 2]

Thanks @Coco8. I appreciate your reply.

 

I did get the no objection letter and it was sent to the DOS a month ago. But hasn't still appear in their website. Our lawyer said we could apply for both at the same time. Since we got the letter, we decided to go ahead and apply for AOS since this process usually takes longer (3months) than no objection waivers. 

We asked for a secondary opinion with another lawyer who said i might not even need the waiver since after my academic program was complete I worked in Canada (which is not my home country) for two years and then I married my fiance. I just don't know how can i verify this information. 

[Coco8 1,042]

13 hours ago, Klr said:

Thanks @Coco8. I appreciate your reply.

 

I did get the no objection letter and it was sent to the DOS a month ago. But hasn't still appear in their website. Our lawyer said we could apply for both at the same time. Since we got the letter, we decided to go ahead and apply for AOS since this process usually takes longer (3months) than no objection waivers. 

We asked for a secondary opinion with another lawyer who said i might not even need the waiver since after my academic program was complete I worked in Canada (which is not my home country) for two years and then I married my fiance. I just don't know how can i verify this information. 

 

Yeah, there was someone on VJ a week or so ago who had lived abroad for 2 years and USCIS didn't pay attention to the waiver.

 

As I mentioned, send the NOS again or better ask the embassy to send it again. If it is not online after a month, it means they misplaced it.

[Klr 2]

 @Coco8 

Thanks so much for your help. I contacted the embassy in Washington and they said they sent the letter on Nov 8th. They said to give it a few more days since usually takes about a month. We also e-mailed the DOS office but they haven't replied back. Hopefully, they have it. 

 

[Klr 2]

Just got favorable recomendation from DOS🤗 on Dec 19. How long usually takes from this point? @Coco8 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for your help. I contacted the embassy in Washington and they said they sent the letter on Nov 8th. They said to give it a few more days since usually takes about a month. We also e-mailed the DOS office but they haven't replied back. Hopefully, they have it. 

 

[Coco8 1,042]

5 hours ago, Klr said:

Just got favorable recomendation from DOS🤗 on Dec 19. How long usually takes from this point? @Coco8 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for your help. I contacted the embassy in Washington and they said they sent the letter on Nov 8th. They said to give it a few more days since usually takes about a month. We also e-mailed the DOS office but they haven't replied back. Hopefully, they have it. 

 

 

It varies a lot. I would give it a month because with the holidays, DOS will be working less days and so will USCIS. Check your mail every day. Make sure not to throw anything away. You will get a letter from DOS and also a NOA 1 from USCIS, then you will get the waiver from USCIS. 

Edited December 23, 2017 by Coco8

[Klr 2]

Thank you so much @Coco8. I just got the waiver from USCIS. I can't believe this long and hard process is finally over.

On 2/14/2016 at 9:29 AM, medicalguy said:

I went through exceptional hardship waiver, but for what it is worth my timeline is in my signature.

@Coco8 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for your help. I contacted the embassy in Washington and they said they sent the letter on Nov 8th. They said to give it a few more days since usually takes about a month. We also e-mailed the DOS office but they haven't replied back. Hopefully, they have it. 

 

[mandy_786 1]

@Klr Congrats for getting the waiver. What service center was handling your case? Mine is vermont, they received I-612 on Dec 28th, but the case is still pending. Mine is no objection waiver. DOS favourable recommendation was received.

[Klr 2]

Thank you @mandy_786. The service center is in California. Mine was hardship waiver too.  It takes about a month for the USCIS to process the waiver after the DOS sends the recommendation. Yours should be almost ready too. Hang in there! 

[mandy_786 1]

Received approval notice from USCIS today.

My J1 waiver timeline based on no objection,

• November 17, 2017 - Sent DS-3035 and other documents to DOS
• December 21, 2017 - DOS sends Favorable Recommendation to USCIS
• December 28, 2017 - I-612 case was received at USCIS lockbox
• January 4, 2018 - Received Receipt Notice from USCIS in the mail
• January 29, 2018 - Received approval notice from USCIS. Case status online is not yet updated.

 

[Niia 22]

Hi,

 

I applied for i-612 based on exceptional hardship in June 2017. Received RFE late November, sent the response 2 months ago. RFE response was received, since then nothing. Can someone tell me if you received a notification when USCIS forwarded the case to DOS? I had not sent an application to DOS yet, was waiting until and if USCIS forwards the application to them. 

[Klr 2]

1 hour ago, Niia said:

Hi,

 

I applied for i-612 based on exceptional hardship in June 2017. Received RFE late November, sent the response 2 months ago. RFE response was received, since then nothing. Can someone tell me if you received a notification when USCIS forwarded the case to DOS? I had not sent an application to DOS yet, was waiting until and if USCIS forwards the application to them. 

Hi @Niia , you applied around the same time that I did. To answer your question, they never sent me a notification when USCiS sent the I-613 to DOS. I checked in both the USCIS and DOS website and that's how I knew that USCIS sent the forms and that DOS received them. Please see below the timing:

March 23- sent the application to USCIS

Jun 1- DOS received documents

Nov 8- DOS received I-612 and I-613 

Dec 19- Favorable recommendation sent

Jan 8- Approval Notification from USCIS 

 

Hope this helps!

[Niia 22]

2 minutes ago, Klr said:

Hi @Niia , you applied around the same time that I did. To answer your question, they never sent me a notification when USCiS sent the I-613 to DOS. I checked in both the USCIS and DOS website and that's how I knew that USCIS sent the forms and that DOS received them. Please see below the timing:

March 23- sent the application to USCIS

Jun 1- DOS received documents

Nov 8- DOS received I-612 and I-613 

Dec 19- Favorable recommendation sent

Jan 8- Approval Notification from USCIS 

 

Hope this helps!

That helps a lot, thank you! Our timelines are very similar, except I got RFE for the things I originally sent in the packet, which was very frustrating. I also called USCIS to ask about forwarding to DOS and the officer said “there’s no forwarding, we will either approve or deny”... lol 

 

I guess I’m just going to send the application and the fee to DOS so I can track through them and see what’s going on. Thanks again!! 

[Klr 2]

18 minutes ago, Niia said:

That helps a lot, thank you! Our timelines are very similar, except I got RFE for the things I originally sent in the packet, which was very frustrating. I also called USCIS to ask about forwarding to DOS and the officer said “there’s no forwarding, we will either approve or deny”... lol 

 

I guess I’m just going to send the application and the fee to DOS so I can track through them and see what’s going on. Thanks again!! 

Hang in there! Good luck!!