J1 waiver 2020 NOS update timeline

[Danny2022 0]

22 hours ago, konrad89 said:

Update: My No Objection Statement is received now with the date one day before the other docs were received. I'm so happy  Finally some progress. By the way, I checked on Friday - nothing, I checked on Saturday after midnight (ET) still nothing, and I checked later today (Saturday) and it is there. So keep checking also on weekends

I read somewhere that the system updates automatically at 2AM Eastern Time. I believe government officers don't work on Saturday so when people see on Saturday, it is the result of their work on Friday. I know people knowing the results on Sat but Sun so I believe in these observation and speculation unless hearing a different case.

I do love to see more statistics from people on this though. I have never experienced these myself.

[qwopqwop 5]

4 minutes ago, Danny2022 said:

I read somewhere that the system updates automatically at 2AM Eastern Time. I believe government officers don't work on Saturday so when people see on Saturday, it is the result of their work on Friday. I know people knowing the results on Sat but Sun so I believe in these observation and speculation unless hearing a different case.

I do love to see more statistics from people on this though. I have never experienced these myself.

I once got an email from them on Saturday saying my NOS was missing (which it wasn’t, but that’s beside the point). 

[Danny2022 0]

1 minute ago, qwopqwop said:

I once got an email from them on Saturday saying my NOS was missing (which it wasn’t, but that’s beside the point). 

Interesting. Those folks work harder than I thought 🙂

[ctbply 5]

Hi all, this forum has helped me going through this journey. Many many thanks for those who have shared their experience with us.

 

I am still waiting for DoS recommendation for my NOS waiver request (no goverment funding, see my timeline below) and sadly my J1 will expire on 8/14. My current employer is willing to file a H1B (cap-exempt with premium processing) and is suggesting that we file it soon so that I have a pending review while waiting for the DoS recommendation and USCIS approval. This is so that I could at least stay stateside even after my grace period ends on 9/13. They are banking that USCIS will send and RFE and hopefully by then I will have my waiver ready. Any thoughts if I should do this or if I should wait until I at least get a favorable recommendation from DoS?

 

I requested 3 congressional assistance (2 senators, 1 rep), only one of the senator offices obliged (on 6/27). Unfortunately, they immediately received the boiler plate response from DoS. No indication of this inquiry was received on the j1waiverstatus website. I also emailed DoS once but no response.

 

Thank you all!

[kokee123 0]

10 hours ago, ctbply said:

Hi all, this forum has helped me going through this journey. Many many thanks for those who have shared their experience with us.

 

I am still waiting for DoS recommendation for my NOS waiver request (no goverment funding, see my timeline below) and sadly my J1 will expire on 8/14. My current employer is willing to file a H1B (cap-exempt with premium processing) and is suggesting that we file it soon so that I have a pending review while waiting for the DoS recommendation and USCIS approval. This is so that I could at least stay stateside even after my grace period ends on 9/13. They are banking that USCIS will send and RFE and hopefully by then I will have my waiver ready. Any thoughts if I should do this or if I should wait until I at least get a favorable recommendation from DoS?

 

I requested 3 congressional assistance (2 senators, 1 rep), only one of the senator offices obliged (on 6/27). Unfortunately, they immediately received the boiler plate response from DoS. No indication of this inquiry was received on the j1waiverstatus website. I also emailed DoS once but no response.

 

Thank you all!

I am also waiting for waiver.  I had applied in Feb 2022 second week, with documents updated online on 31st March.  My lawyer initially wanting to file only with USCIS final approval,  has agreed to file with atleast DOS recommendation. RFE is sure without USCIS approval. But I would suggest wait at least for DOS favorable recommendation.  This to me will reduce the chances of an NOID or outright rejection.

[dcg1011 5]

10 hours ago, ctbply said:

Hi all, this forum has helped me going through this journey. Many many thanks for those who have shared their experience with us.

 

I am still waiting for DoS recommendation for my NOS waiver request (no goverment funding, see my timeline below) and sadly my J1 will expire on 8/14. My current employer is willing to file a H1B (cap-exempt with premium processing) and is suggesting that we file it soon so that I have a pending review while waiting for the DoS recommendation and USCIS approval. This is so that I could at least stay stateside even after my grace period ends on 9/13. They are banking that USCIS will send and RFE and hopefully by then I will have my waiver ready. Any thoughts if I should do this or if I should wait until I at least get a favorable recommendation from DoS?

 

I requested 3 congressional assistance (2 senators, 1 rep), only one of the senator offices obliged (on 6/27). Unfortunately, they immediately received the boiler plate response from DoS. No indication of this inquiry was received on the j1waiverstatus website. I also emailed DoS once but no response.

 

Thank you all!

 

Hi, I was on a similar situation so here go my two cents:

 

My wife's employer filed her H1B request before the waiver. We got it, so I think this process is independent of the waiver. 

 

The waiver arrived 7 months later!  But it did ... by that time the J1/J2 visas were long expired. So we left the US. Here I should clarify it does not matter you have an approved i129 or H1B case. Apparently you need the waiver for the visa appointment, i.e., to get the actual visa at the consulate/embassy.

 

So we sat on the approved H1B request for 7 months, outside the US, while we got the waiver. After we got it we went to the appointment and got our visas.

 

My advice, based on the generics I understand of your situation, is that either, 1) extend your current visa if it's a J1, or 2) leave the country and get your H1B visa when the approval arrives.

 

You can check my timeline, but basically, these days the delay in the process is not only that of the DoS (FR, or Favorable Recommendation), but also the USCIS, it's also taking a way longer time than usual to do the processing of the FR (before it was 2 weeks, not it's 7-8). This is why the whole process took 7 months in my case, as opposed of 10-12 weeks as it did in pre-Covid times.

 

Best of luck and a lot of patience for the loooong waiting. It's a pity the process is soo time consuming.

 

 

 

 

 

[konrad89 4]

Hi @kokee123. So, all your docs, including NOS are uploaded with the date March, 31 and still no decision? If you don’t have any US gov funding and are not waiting for sponsor views, you can drop an email to 212ewaiver in case you haven’t done it yet. You’re not the only one waiting longer than 16 weeks since the latest date in the system, but they are typically “on time” with the creative counting from the arbitrary received date. So it’s worth to try and ping them.

Edited August 2, 2022 by konrad89

[WaiverFinder 13]

13 hours ago, dcg1011 said:

 

Apparently you need the waiver for the visa appointment, i.e., to get the actual visa at the consulate/embassy.

 

Were you asked to show the approval of the waiver, or was the officer able to check internally? I'm asking because I never got the paper confirmation. The case shows as approved on USCIS portal. 

Edited August 2, 2022 by WaiverFinder

[dcg1011 5]

1 hour ago, WaiverFinder said:

Were you asked to show the approval of the waiver, or was the officer able to check internally? I'm asking because I never got the paper confirmation. The case shows as approved on USCIS portal. 

 

I brought it up and handed it to the officer with the other paperwork. However, I think he either was already aware, or didn't think much of it as he was not surprised when I mentioned it. 

 

I've seen other people saying the waiver itself was never mentioned (by any party) during the consulate appointment. So most likely, they can verify that internally and that's why you are really never asked for it during the appointment.

[kokee123 0]

On 8/1/2022 at 10:51 PM, konrad89 said:

Hi @kokee123. So, all your docs, including NOS are uploaded with the date March, 31 and still no decision? If you don’t have any US gov funding and are not waiting for sponsor views, you can drop an email to 212ewaiver in case you haven’t done it yet. You’re not the only one waiting longer than 16 weeks since the latest date in the system, but they are typically “on time” with the creative counting from the arbitrary received date. So it’s worth to try and ping them.

Hi @konrad89i had emailed multiple times DOS but get the same answer that your documents had been received and no action is required from my side. I had also asked my local congresswoman office's help but so far no success. I just hope my company dont revoke my offer. They extended my joining date by 1.5 months already. My waiver apication completes 18 weeks tomorrow after being updated on DOS system. My DS2019 states my university as the program sponsor and the reason i am subjected to 2 y HRR is skilllist for which i received NOS from my home government. The only reason for delay seems to be that my DS2019 is valid till next year. The DOS email says that they process on first come basis which is not true. I see a number of cases receiving FR being received after my date. 

[kokee123 0]

On 8/3/2022 at 12:15 AM, kokee123 said:

Hi @konrad89i had emailed multiple times DOS but get the same answer that your documents had been received and no action is required from my side. I had also asked my local congresswoman office's help but so far no success. I just hope my company dont revoke my offer. They extended my joining date by 1.5 months already. My waiver apication completes 18 weeks tomorrow after being updated on DOS system. My DS2019 states my university as the program sponsor and the reason i am subjected to 2 y HRR is skilllist for which i received NOS from my home government. The only reason for delay seems to be that my DS2019 is valid till next year. The DOS email says that they process on first come basis which is not true. I see a number of cases receiving FR being received after my date. 

I finally received FR today morning. How long does USCIS take and how do we get the receipt number? 

Thanks

[Mboti 1]

On 8/4/2022 at 10:33 AM, kokee123 said:

I finally received FR today morning. How long does USCIS take and how do we get the receipt number? 

Thanks

FR 07/27

Receipt number 08/06

[pales 1]

On 7/28/2022 at 3:18 PM, konrad89 said:

@GHYF Did they reply you with some random text and processed it anyway? I wrote an email to them, explained everything, asked for assistance and I got the same reply with "The Waiver Review Division will continue to process your case in its normal first-in, first-out queue". My request for expedited processing was denied some time ago.

@pales My documents were received beginning of April, but NOS is still not there. The Embassy sent it 3 times (the paper version got lost, although it was delivered according to the USPS). Each time I asked DOS, they confirmed they have it (starting from end of April) and it will be entered in the future. I feel there is nothing else I can do. Expedited processing- denied. Sometimes my impression is that they delay it on purpose because I bothered them too much with inquiries, hopefully it is only my stupid worry.

Still waiting for my FR. I had the same feeling that maybe I bothered them with my emails. But every single step for me took more than usual timeline. My documents to be uploaded, my NOS to be uploaded, and now waiting for FR. It has been 8 months since I sent them. If I know that they will do it in 2 months, I will relieve. What kills me is the uncertainty. For how long will I wait? 

[konrad89 4]

3 hours ago, pales said:

Still waiting for my FR. I had the same feeling that maybe I bothered them with my emails. But every single step for me took more than usual timeline. My documents to be uploaded, my NOS to be uploaded, and now waiting for FR. It has been 8 months since I sent them. If I know that they will do it in 2 months, I will relieve. What kills me is the uncertainty. For how long will I wait? 

So your latest date in the system is March, 28? If so, I believe the decision will come really soon. Many people with all the docs uploaded end of March/ beginning of April are getting their decisions now. I hope for the same.

[pales 1]

3 hours ago, konrad89 said:

So your latest date in the system is March, 28? If so, I believe the decision will come really soon. Many people with all the docs uploaded end of March/ beginning of April are getting their decisions now. I hope for the same.

Yes, mine was uploaded March 28th. I really hope so!