2019 J1 WAIVER TIMELINE - New Applicants

[eliottreid 9]

2 minutes ago, Mrkz said:

https://myaccount.uscis.gov 

and https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do

i meant these two

https://myaccount.uscis.gov  says we received your case.
and the other one says approved. I didn't know they were two different sites lol

[Mrkz 0]

3 minutes ago, eliottreid said:

https://myaccount.uscis.gov  says we received your case.
and the other one says approved. I didn't know they were two different sites lol

the way uscis works does not makes any sense, there are cases from august that are still pending and there cases received  in september 4th and accepted on 5th lol

[Lena Star 1]

I just received my mail, its an approval notice from USCIS!!!

 

• DOS application to USCIS received 03 September,
• USCIS approval notice 09 Sept.
• Physical mail notice (APPROVAL) received 13 Sept.

 

I will post later the day my entire timeline from the beginning!

 

Btw my account and when checked with receipt number online, it still says pending, has not updated yet!

 

Best of luck to anyone waiting!

[eliottreid 9]

24 minutes ago, Lena Star said:

I just received my mail, its an approval notice from USCIS!!!

 

• DOS application to USCIS received 03 September,
• USCIS approval notice 09 Sept.
• Physical mail notice (APPROVAL) received 13 Sept.

 

I will post later the day my entire timeline from the beginning!

 

Btw my account and when checked with receipt number online, it still says pending, has not updated yet!

 

Best of luck to anyone waiting!

Congratulations. 🎉🎊🎈 

[nelsonspbr 1]

20 hours ago, nelsonspbr said:

Hi all!

 

Great info on this topic, I'm sure it has helped a lot of people. I'm just starting the process. I'm from and currently living in Brazil (São Paulo). My J-1 program had no government funding (US or Brazil), so my case should be straightforward. My timeline is simple for now:

 

- Sep 12, 2019: Submitted online application (here; application starts here)

 

I'm about to send the letter to US DoS but I got stuck with one of the requirements: two self-addressed stamped envelopes. I'm in Brazil so obviously I don't have access to US stamps. For those who have experience with the process, is there any UPS/FedEx/... product/service that addresses this requirement?

 

Thanks!

-- Nelson

 

I have just mailed the documents to DoS. Thanks to @Tulip987 and @privic for the information so far. Updating my (still simple) timeline: 

 

- Sep 12, 2019 (morning): Submitted online application (here; application starts here)

- Sep 12, 2019 (night): Sent e-mail to Brazilian embassy requesting my No Objection Statement)

- Sep 13, 2019 (morning): Received response from Brazilian embassy acknowledging my e-mail

- Sep 13, 2019 (afternoon): Mailed documents to Department of State

 

For the fee payment I included a personal check (regular check) from Chase (a bank in the US). Luckily I had brought my checkbook with me. 

 

For the two self-addressed stamped envelopes I used UPS Return:

• First I created an account at ups.com. I had to use my address in the US to create the account and then an account number, which is used for charging purchases. Then I added a credit card (also from the US) for the actual payment.
• Then I purchased two return labels (Shipping > Create a Return).
• In the "WHERE IS THIS RETURN SHIPMENT COMING FROM" part I put DoS' address, as specified in their example envelope (US DEPT. OF STATE, 2401 E ST, NW, SA-1, WASHINGTON, DC, 20522-0106).
• In the "WHERE IS THIS RETURN SHIPMENT GOING TO" part I put my address in Brazil. This went to the "Return to Address" part. The "Shipper Address" remained the US address I used to create the account.
• For the packaging type I guess you could choose "UPS Letter" (more on this later). When I purchase the labels I selected "Other packaging" and then specified the size of an envelope I had.

I did this process twice to get two separate labels / shipments. I printed the labels at home on regular paper and then went to the UPS Customer Center in São Paulo (Rua Pedro Taques, 77 - Consolação; directions here). I was assisted by two very helpful persons, Loene and Heloisa (hope I got their names right). They have all sorts of packaging there, including UPS Letter paper and plastic. They also let me know this is probably the only unit in São Paulo that provides this kind of service. I used two paper envelopes for the self-addressed items. They put the labels I printed at home in UPS plastic pouches (small bags) and affixed them to the paper envelopes. Then they added these envelopes and the remaining documents (check, copies of documents, etc) into a UPS plastic shipping bag (so everything could fit). The destination for this shipment is the one on the DS-3035 (Department of State J-1 Waiver, P. O. Box 979037, 1005 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63101-1200). I paid around $ 140 for each return label and another $ 50 for the DoS shipment. The shipment is expected to arrive by Monday end of day.

 

Since they have the UPS "official packaging" there I could have purchased the return labels using "UPS Letter" for package size. However, I checked that the amount I paid ($ 140) is higher than if I had chosen UPS Letter (around $ 120), so I think it's fine.

 

I'll keep you posted.

 

-- Nelson

[eliottreid 9]

What’s the second stamped envelope for? I have received only one of them from the DOS. USCIS sent me their own.

Edited September 13, 2019 by eliottreid

[privic 9]

3 hours ago, nelsonspbr said:

- Sep 13, 2019 (morning): Received response from Brazilian embassy acknowledging my e-mail

 

FYI: The Brazilian embassy sends the NOS electronically. It took only one business day for them to sen mine, so the Waiver Division actually got the NOS before my package was there. I was afraid that could be a problem, but a couple of weeks later everything showed up in the system at the same day.

 

[Abayomi 1]

1 minute ago, privic said:

FYI: The Brazilian embassy sends the NOS electronically. It took only one business day for them to sen mine, so the Waiver Division actually got the NOS before my package was there. I was afraid that could be a problem, but a couple of weeks later everything showed up in the system at the same day.

 

And have you been granted a waiver. I am not Brazilian but I lived in Brazil before starting a postdoc here. My NOS was sent to DoS even before my case got there. The first update came after about 3 weeks without my NOS and a day after, the NOS was updated. I have been waiting anxiously since then (August 27) to see a new update but nothing yet.

[privic 9]

13 minutes ago, Abayomi said:

And have you been granted a waiver.

Not yet. Going crazy here. 

 

My timeline:

 

Application packet was sent to DOS by USPS:         July 19th 2019

Packet received in St Louis, MO (USPS tracking) :  July 22nd 2019

Embassy sent No Objection Statement:                   July 22nd 2019

Application fee checked:                                             July 25th 2019

DOS updated status – Documents received:           August 10th 2019

[Lena Star 1]

Dear all - My final timeline from the beginning until now!

 

DOS application:

Item	Action	Date
Recommendation	Sent	August, 30 2019
Sponsor Views	Received	August, 29 2019
Request for Sponsor Views	Sent	May, 10 2019
No Objection Statement	Received	May, 06 2019
Fee	Received	April, 04 2019
Form DS-3035	Received	April, 04 2019
Form DS-2019	Received	April, 04 2019
Passport Data Page	Received	April, 04 2019
Statement Of Reason	Received	April, 04 2019
Other	Received	April, 04 2019

 

• DOS recommendation received at home address on September 02.
• USCIS receipt notice number received September 09. (online it said case received from DOS on September 04).
• USCIS approval notice received on September 13. (in the actual letter it says approval date on September 09).
• Online at USCIS website my case has not been updated yet to approved. 

My case was No Objection with government funding involved (Fulbright master studies). It took exactly 6 months from preparing documents to final waiver.

 

I wish everyone best of luck in getting the waiver cause I know how nerve-racking it is. Hang on and do your best to keep your mental health!

 

 

 

[Sunshine33 8]

11 hours ago, Lena Star said:

Dear all - My final timeline from the beginning until now!

 

DOS application:

Item	Action	Date
Recommendation	Sent	August, 30 2019
Sponsor Views	Received	August, 29 2019
Request for Sponsor Views	Sent	May, 10 2019
No Objection Statement	Received	May, 06 2019
Fee	Received	April, 04 2019
Form DS-3035	Received	April, 04 2019
Form DS-2019	Received	April, 04 2019
Passport Data Page	Received	April, 04 2019
Statement Of Reason	Received	April, 04 2019
Other	Received	April, 04 2019

 

• DOS recommendation received at home address on September 02.
• USCIS receipt notice number received September 09. (online it said case received from DOS on September 04).
• USCIS approval notice received on September 13. (in the actual letter it says approval date on September 09).
• Online at USCIS website my case has not been updated yet to approved. 

My case was No Objection with government funding involved (Fulbright master studies). It took exactly 6 months from preparing documents to final waiver.

 

I wish everyone best of luck in getting the waiver cause I know how nerve-racking it is. Hang on and do your best to keep your mental health!

 

 

 

Congrats!!!

[jtoh 0]

DOS sent favorable recommendation for a No objection waiver at the end of August 2019. Processing was fast like most posters here recently (2 weeks) after they received the no objection statement from the embassy. 

 

However, I have not received anything from USCIS yet---no receipt number. Seems that I should have received the approval from USCIS by now based on the recent posts here. 

 

Anyone else in my situation?

 

 

[PK_ 43]

3 hours ago, jtoh said:

DOS sent favorable recommendation for a No objection waiver at the end of August 2019. Processing was fast like most posters here recently (2 weeks) after they received the no objection statement from the embassy. 

 

However, I have not received anything from USCIS yet---no receipt number. Seems that I should have received the approval from USCIS by now based on the recent posts here. 

 

Anyone else in my situation?

 

 

On the DS-3035, did you specify a mailing address that is different from the current address?

[jtoh 0]

11 minutes ago, PK_ said:

On the DS-3035, did you specify a mailing address that is different from the current address?

The university uses an attorney for this---their address is listed. My address is current as well, but I think it should go/should have to the attorney's office. 

Edited September 15, 2019 by jtoh

[PK_ 43]

3 minutes ago, jtoh said:

The university uses an attorney for this---their address is listed. My address is current as well, but I think it should go/should have to the attorney's office. 

I'm not sure what happens when you have an attorney representation, but in my past experience, USCIS mails receipts to the current address, not the mailing address.

You can try getting the receipt number and verify your address with the USCIS directly.

• USCIS - 1-800-375-5283
  • Go to lost receipt number
  • Mention "Vermont Service Center"
  • Mention "Filed I-612 form"