J1 waiver 2020 NOS update timeline

[vincee 2]

Hello,

 

Has anyone on No Objection category recently received FR? What is going on😪? This is the most challenging period in my life. Please, kindly update your status if you received FR

 

Thanks

[Jacobian 9]

13 hours ago, habibti said:

I am finally done!

 

My timeline:

Application packet was sent to DOS:                                                                  Feb 26th, 2020

DOS updated status – Documents received:                                                    Mar 22th, 2020

 

DOS updated status with NOS – Documents received:                                   Sep 9th, 2020

 

DOS updated status - Favorable Recommendation Sent                                September 24th, 2020

Hard copy of Favorable Recommendation received                                        September 24, 2020

USCIS I612 Application Receipt Notice (I-797C)                                              Never received hardcopy in of the receipt (I called USCIS to get my receipt number)

USCIS I612 Application Approval Notice (I-797)                                              Jan 4th, 2021                      

 

This entire process took close to a year for me. The wait can be painful, but please hang in there! 

@habibti: Thank you for sharing your timeline. You have waited long; glad it is finally over for you.

One quick question: I noticed that it took several months to update your NOS, but your FR was quickly processed afterwards. Did you connect with 212ewaiver to expedite your FR?

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

1 hour ago, Jacobian said:

@habibti: Thank you for sharing your timeline. You have waited long; glad it is finally over for you.

One quick question: I noticed that it took several months to update your NOS, but your FR was quickly processed afterwards. Did you connect with 212ewaiver to expedite your FR?

@vincee In this case it took them less than 4 week to upload the documents as 'received' , but for me its been 6 weeks and still it doesn't show up on their website although the money order was en-chased on 2 December 2020

When did they upload your NOS?

[SG_J1 4]

1 hour ago, vincee said:

Hello,

 

Has anyone on No Objection category recently received FR? What is going on😪? This is the most challenging period in my life. Please, kindly update your status if you received FR

 

Thanks

Same here! I am slowly going insane. It has been 14 weeks since NOS appeared. Going to send another email after 16 weeks (probably the 5th email).

[vincee 2]

@Mlle_Wanderlust Here is my timeline. My NOS processing was slow at my country's embassy. It was sent on Oct 1 and it was uploaded on my timeline on October 28.

'

[vincee 2]

@SG_J1 I sent my CV to them and they uploaded it on my timeline on January 06, 2021. So, I was now wondering why the person responsible for my case didn't click the FR button 😀. 

[SG_J1 4]

15 hours ago, vincee said:

@SG_J1 I sent my CV to them and they uploaded it on my timeline on January 06, 2021. So, I was now wondering why the person responsible for my case didn't click the FR button 😀. 

OMG they should have just given you FR as well... 😉 May I ask why you sent them your CV? Fingers crossed for everyone on here!

[vincee 2]

@SG_J1 I attached it to the last email i sent them about a potential job offer. I hope it helps!

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

18 hours ago, vincee said:

@Mlle_Wanderlust Here is my timeline. My NOS processing was slow at my country's embassy. It was sent on Oct 1 and it was uploaded on my timeline on October 28.

'

Hi, What's this 'other' that they received on 6th January?

Is your home embassy India?

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

Hi everyone

I just got an update that DoS received my documents on 12th January 2021

Indian embassy had sent me the NoS on 5th December with a copy to the DoS but that still does not show up

It is really stressful especially after hearing about @vincee in whose case the NoS was uploaded on 16th October but nothing happened in the past 3 months!

I don't know whether they look at the expiration of the DS2019 and process cases accordingly?

Maybe someone who has time till June 2021 will be given a 'lesser' priority over someone whose DS2019 is expiring on March 31 , 2021?

[vincee 2]

@Mlle_Wanderlust the other is my CV but it doesn't really matter. My home embassy is not India. I hope the information helps. 

[SG_J1 4]

1 hour ago, Mlle_Wanderlust said:

Hi everyone

I just got an update that DoS received my documents on 12th January 2021

Indian embassy had sent me the NoS on 5th December with a copy to the DoS but that still does not show up

It is really stressful especially after hearing about @vincee in whose case the NoS was uploaded on 16th October but nothing happened in the past 3 months!

I don't know whether they look at the expiration of the DS2019 and process cases accordingly?

Maybe someone who has time till June 2021 will be given a 'lesser' priority over someone whose DS2019 is expiring on March 31 , 2021?

@Mile_Wanderlust My NoS was uploaded on 5th October and also still waiting for a decision. Also the NoS only showed up 6 weeks after the embassy send it. My DS2019 also only expires in 2022, so I do think that could pay a role. Officially the DoS processes the applications in order of receipt (first in - first our policy) but I do think they unofficially prioritise cases where the DS2019 is about to expire. I saw a few people with expiring DS2019 who got a recommendation within 4-6 weeks.

[habibti 1]

22 hours ago, Jacobian said:

@habibti: Thank you for sharing your timeline. You have waited long; glad it is finally over for you.

One quick question: I noticed that it took several months to update your NOS, but your FR was quickly processed afterwards. Did you connect with 212ewaiver to expedite your FR?

@Jacobian

 

No I didn't connect with 212ewaiver to expedite the process. I tried reaching out to them for that, but didn't get a valuable response. 

 

I think they had received my NOS for a while but they just didn't update the system. Looks like that portal doesn't get updated as frequently  as we imagine. 

[Oriol 4]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and to the thread.

I am sharing below my timeline (please take into account that mine is, I think, a fairly straightforward case in that I did not receive home-country—Colombia—or US funds;  I am subject to the residency requirement because I am in the "skills list" even though it does not really apply: I am classed under "foreign languages" for some unfathomable reason although what I did was a PhD on ancient history; I have been living in Canada since 2017 and am currently a permanent citizen of Canada; I want to return to the US to take an academic job offer).

 

 

My observations from looking around this and the previous 2019 forum:

-Throughout 2020 the actual processing time between NOS upload and FR seems to have been on average two months.

-The impression that I get from recent posts, and perhaps related with the Christmas holidays (?) and the chaotic end of Trump's term, is that the NOS upload-FR processing time has increased to at least three months in some cases (@Vincee).

-The time between FR and final receipt of the waiver seems to have been about a month throughout 2020, but the delays that I think I am seeing in the DOS side may apply also to USCIS.

-If you are from Colombia (I am), please know that it will take the embassy a leisurely five months to send your NOS to the DOS (at least they tell you so upfront and the receptionist at the embassy in DC is very helpful—believe it or not, it is the receptionist who will process your request, which is sent to SENA, ICETEX, and COLCIENCIAS).

 

I conclude with a question for @Vincee: Why did you send them your CV and job offer? Did they request it or was it your own initiative? I am conflicted: these supporting documents were not requested, and while they may make one's case stronger, perhaps also more documents could also conceivably increase the "processing time"? My job technically starts on July 1st, hopefully with some leeway to September if things come to worst on the fraught path through j1 waiver and h1b application...

 

We are all in this journey together. Don't give up!

 

[Oriol 4]

PS: There is a bit of information that some people may find useful which I did not mention in my previous post. Although it took 99 eternities for the embassy to issue the NOS, I gathered through my friend the embassy receptionist that it was issued in early December: then it was updated as "received" on the DOS end on December 17. It seems that that specific step happened for me in record time. What explains the wide range of possible times that that step takes? I do not have the slightest idea: the ways of the DOS are mysterious...  

Edited January 14, 2021 by Oriol