2019 J1 WAIVER TIMELINE - New Applicants

[Anell 1]

Hi you all!

I'm from Peru. I started this journey about 6 months ago, it felt forever! I just wanted to share my timeline that ended today. I got my waiver in the mail 😊 Good luck and be patient!

* I sent all the paperwork the last week of November last year.

*USCIS got my case on April 21st 

[PRIG 2]

On 4/27/2020 at 5:22 PM, PRIG said:

  On 4/15/2020 at 11:17 AM, no12name said:

Hi all,

I have sent my J1 waiver application to the St. Louis address in the beginning of March. So, my packet should have arrived there almost 6 weeks ago. However, when I login to the DOS website to check my status it says "there is not status information", so I don't even know if they received my documents.

I know that it can take up to 4 weeks before there is a status on the website, and I suspect that the public health emergeny does not help.... Nevertheless I am getting a bit worried now they might not have received my application. Does anybody have a similar timeline and any news about their status?

Hey guys, any update on your case no. ? Has it started showing up on the DOS website? My case no. is still not updated, past 8 weeks now

I'm not sure what should I be doing now and how to expedite the waiver process. My J1 visa deadline is approaching soon,  I appreciate you'll suggestions. 

[Dev1971 6]

1 minute ago, PRIG said:

Hey guys, any update on your case no. ? Has it started showing up on the DOS website? My case no. is still not updated, past 8 weeks now

I'm not sure what should I be doing now and how to expedite the waiver process. My J1 visa deadline is approaching soon,  I appreciate you'll suggestions. 

Hi

i don’t whether it helped me in my case or not. After 5 weeks i have asked my home embassy that can they send another copy of NOC to DoS or not. They said they can fax a copy and they did. On the next day I saw my status updated and Fav Recommendation issued.

I don’t know whether the fax had any connection or not.
Now I am waiting for USCIS approval more than 5 weeks. It is frustrating 😔

thanks

[PRIG 2]

11 minutes ago, Dev1971 said:

Hi

i don’t whether it helped me in my case or not. After 5 weeks i have asked my home embassy that can they send another copy of NOC to DoS or not. They said they can fax a copy and they did. On the next day I saw my status updated and Fav Recommendation issued.

I don’t know whether the fax had any connection or not.
Now I am waiting for USCIS approval more than 5 weeks. It is frustrating 😔

thanks

Thanks . My case is bit different as my application is not been acknowledged by Dos, Washington yet, it’s past 8 weeks since I sent the application packet to St. Louis. They are not responding to my emails nor call.  Is there any way to contact them? 
good luck for your application!

[anu55 1]

On 5/8/2020 at 9:38 PM, sad_postdoc said:

Not of much help. But, my fingers crossed for you and @anu55. Hope we all get ours soon. 

Thanks! 

[waiver is coming 11]

16 hours ago, PRIG said:

Hey guys, any update on your case no. ? Has it started showing up on the DOS website? My case no. is still not updated, past 8 weeks now

I'm not sure what should I be doing now and how to expedite the waiver process. My J1 visa deadline is approaching soon,  I appreciate you'll suggestions. 

I suggest that you email the DOS as soon as possible. I had a similar issue and when I emailed them they said they had not received the NOS from my embassy. I had my embassy faxed the NOS again and I was able to see a confirmation of receipt on the DOS system in a few days. It usually takes them 5-6 weeks to respond to your email, so it is better to send an email sooner than later.

[PRIG 2]

1 minute ago, waiver is coming said:

I suggest that you email the DOS as soon as possible. I had a similar issue and when I emailed them they said they had not received the NOS from my embassy. I had my embassy faxed the NOS again and I was able to see a confirmation of receipt on the DOS system in a few days. It usually takes them 5-6 weeks to respond to your email, so it is better to send an email sooner than later.

I got you. but my concern is that DOS hasn't yet acknowledged the receipt of my application. my case number is not showing up on the waiver website and it's past 8 weeks since I sent my documents to DOS. I checked with the bank and they told me that my check has been cashed though. I've tried contact DOS via email several times but they are not responding.. all I'm getting is the autoreply from them. I just don't understand how to get hold of them.

[waiver is coming 11]

5 minutes ago, PRIG said:

I got you. but my concern is that DOS hasn't yet acknowledged the receipt of my application. my case number is not showing up on the waiver website and it's past 8 weeks since I sent my documents to DOS. I checked with the bank and they told me that my check has been cashed though. I've tried contact DOS via email several times but they are not responding.. all I'm getting is the autoreply from them. I just don't understand how to get hold of them.

As far as I remember, my case was acknowledged 4 or 5 weeks after I sent my documents. Nowadays, all processing times seem to be doubled due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, there is nothing but email and wait. I have been waiting on my favorable recommendation for 12 weeks now and there is still no update. Also, have you tried sending them a fax rather than an email?

[PRIG 2]

1 minute ago, waiver is coming said:

As far as I remember, my case was acknowledged 4 or 5 weeks after I sent my documents. Nowadays, all processing times seem to be doubled due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, there is nothing but email and wait. I have been waiting on my favorable recommendation for 12 weeks now and there is still no update. Also, have you tried sending them a fax rather than an email?

Do you think is it okay to fax them at this stage.. could you please provide their fax no. that you have tried before? Thanks

[Jessicaaa 5]

16 hours ago, PRIG said:

Hey guys, any update on your case no. ? Has it started showing up on the DOS website? My case no. is still not updated, past 8 weeks now

I'm not sure what should I be doing now and how to expedite the waiver process. My J1 visa deadline is approaching soon,  I appreciate you'll suggestions. 

Hi, my case was updated after 8 weeks. I sent the application in the first week of March and it was updated on May 1st. My home country embassy sent the NOS on April 10th but it's not showing on the website yet. I sent an email to DOS and I got no response. I don't know what to do either.

I hope you get an update soon.  

[waiver is coming 11]

5 minutes ago, PRIG said:

Do you think is it okay to fax them at this stage.. could you please provide their fax no. that you have tried before? Thanks

I would first wait for their email, but if they do not respond within 5-6 weeks, then I believe faxing them shouldn't do any harm. Their current fax number should be 202-485-7696.

[no12name 0]

On 4/29/2020 at 12:48 PM, PRIG said:

Yeah it makes a bit relieving that it's not just one person experiencing the same situation. I sent money order and did a mistake of not keeping it's number, so no way I could track the transaction:(

let's update over here as anyone of us have their application starts showing up on DOS site. 

anyways 

Hi! My documents finally  show up in the system as received (except for my NOS unfortunately), about 10 weeks after I sent them. So something somehow is happening, but I don't think the normal "rules" (with respect to timing) apply nowadays.

[no12name 0]

17 hours ago, PRIG said:

Hey guys, any update on your case no. ? Has it started showing up on the DOS website? My case no. is still not updated, past 8 weeks now

I'm not sure what should I be doing now and how to expedite the waiver process. My J1 visa deadline is approaching soon,  I appreciate you'll suggestions. 

On 4/29/2020 at 12:48 PM, PRIG said:

 

Hi! My documents finally  show up in the system as received (except for my NOS unfortunately), about 10 weeks after I sent them. So something somehow is happening, but I don't think the normal "rules" (with respect to timing) apply nowadays.

[PRIG 2]

53 minutes ago, Jessicaaa said:

Hi, my case was updated after 8 weeks. I sent the application in the first week of March and it was updated on May 1st. My home country embassy sent the NOS on April 10th but it's not showing on the website yet. I sent an email to DOS and I got no response. I don't know what to do either.

I hope you get an update soon.  

Thank you Jessicaa, that was helpful!

[PRIG 2]

7 minutes ago, no12name said:

Hi! My documents finally  show up in the system as received (except for my NOS unfortunately), about 10 weeks after I sent them. So something somehow is happening, but I don't think the normal "rules" (with respect to timing) apply nowadays.

Thank you, that's helpul. atleast gave me some hope!