J1 waiver 2020 NOS update timeline

[vincee 2]

@OriolEmailing my CV to them was my own initiative. It was attached to email I sent to them about a potential faculty job offer and the possibility of expediting my case. The response I received from WRD is that the processing time for No Objection category is 12-16 weeks and sometime may take longer.  

[Oriol 4]

14 minutes ago, vincee said:

@OriolEmailing my CV to them was my own initiative. It was attached to email I sent to them about a potential faculty job offer and the possibility of expediting my case. The response I received from WRD is that the processing time for No Objection category is 12-16 weeks and sometime may take longer.  

 

I have the impression that those tentative processing times are way longer than they actually are. I can't remember exactly when, but i did read here that the processing time was given in 2018 or 2019 as 6-8 weeks, and then it was expanded to 12-16 weeks, but then the average processing time for the people that have posted timelines here was about 8 weeks in 2020. Perhaps we are now at an actual 12 weeks?

 

On a different matter, some people here have said that J1s about to expire sometimes can be taken into account at the moment of prioritizing some applications. I wonder if the DOS takes job offers into account in a similar way. Any ideas or experiences in this regard?

 

PS2: In my previous post I wrote "permanent citizen" for what should have been "permanent resident" of Canada: if I was a citizen none of this would be necessary! (Canadian citizens do not require a visa; only a work permit).

Edited January 14, 2021 by Oriol

[hlUSAj1 6]

Finally I got my USCIS notice in the mail (receipt), I never received the DOS favorable recommendation letter by mail. I went to USCIS website and it’s showing approved already! 
 

I got the FR from DOS on December 28th!! Good luck to everyone!! 

[SG_J1 4]

My application is pending since 15 weeks now. 🤢 Gonna write them again on Monday...

[vincee 2]

@hlUSAj1 Congratulations and keep praying for us!

 

@SG_J1It is hard to believe that one has to wait for so long to receive FR. Hopefully we will all receive FR by the end of January. 

[J1twe 0]

I am applying through NOS as basis. I filed my DS-3035 with DoS. Do i also need to file a I-612 for a NOS based J1-waiver? Please help.

[SG_J1 4]

On 1/16/2021 at 3:17 PM, J1twe said:

I am applying through NOS as basis. I filed my DS-3035 with DoS. Do i also need to file a I-612 for a NOS based J1-waiver? Please help.

I think I-612 is only for hardship waivers. Please follow the instructions carefully: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange/waiver-of-the-exchange-visitor/how-to-apply-waiver.html. I hope this helps!

[Jacobian 9]

Finally received my FR on January 15th.

I had sent my completed application on October 5th.

 

 

 

[Oriol 4]

On 1/16/2021 at 2:17 PM, J1twe said:

I am applying through NOS as basis. I filed my DS-3035 with DoS. Do i also need to file a I-612 for a NOS based J1-waiver? Please help.

I am sorry for this late reply, but I can confirm that as far as I know the I-612 is only for waivers on the basis of fear of persecution and hardship:

https://www.lawfirm4immigrants.com/the-j-1-waiver-how-to-fill-out-form-i-612/

 

[Oriol 4]

1 hour ago, Jacobian said:

Finally received my FR on January 15th.

I had sent my completed application on October 5th.

 

 

 

Congratulations, @Jacobian!

This is insane, though: the span between receipt of your NOS and FR was one week!

Trying to understand what might condition the processing times is frankly a challenge to one's faculties of pattern-recognition.

I understand that you may not share this information, but for the sake of us lost souls still in the midst of this ordeal, would you be willing to answer a couple questions:

-Are you from a high-income country, or one that has special security agreements with the US (e.g. Schengen)?

-Can you think of any factors that may have made your application especially straightforward? In a previous post you wrote that the NOS took three months to update... The date of October 15 that you give is the one of issue of the NOS from your embassy?

 

[Oriol 4]

@Jacobian , please feel free to ignore my queries (I see now that your embassy issued the NOS on October 20)

My tentative conclusion here is that the date of update of the NOS to "received" doesn't matter at all: they start processing it when received and for some arcane reason it is updated for some and not for others. The embassies are in DC and I can't imagine inter-city shipping takes more than a couple days: whatever date the embassy gives you as the issue date is more or less the actual time in which the application starts its labored processing course (the only drawback here is that if the NOS is not updated, 16 weeks they give as maximum processing time won't lapse and one would, I guess, not have a formal basis for a more substantial inquiry). Between 3 and 4 months for the NOS-FR lapse is my current estimate.

[vincee 2]

@Jacobian A big Congratulations!!!!

 

I have one question for you. Are you on OPT? I think the processing time for those on OPTs is faster. 

[SG_J1 4]

53 minutes ago, Oriol said:

@Jacobian , please feel free to ignore my queries (I see now that your embassy issued the NOS on October 20)

My tentative conclusion here is that the date of update of the NOS to "received" doesn't matter at all: they start processing it when received and for some arcane reason it is updated for some and not for others. The embassies are in DC and I can't imagine inter-city shipping takes more than a couple days: whatever date the embassy gives you as the issue date is more or less the actual time in which the application starts its labored processing course (the only drawback here is that if the NOS is not updated, 16 weeks they give as maximum processing time won't lapse and one would, I guess, not have a formal basis for a more substantial inquiry). Between 3 and 4 months for the NOS-FR lapse is my current estimate.

That is a good theory but if that would be true my case would be already processing since 5-6 months as it took almost 2 months for my NOS to show up. My embassy send it by email so no shipping involved. The ways of the DoS are truly arcane...

[Oriol 4]

@SG_J1 Your case is truly frightening. Can you think of any factors that may conceivably make your application complex or difficult from the USDoS point of view?

[SG_J1 4]

1 minute ago, Oriol said:

@SG_J1 Your case is truly frightening. Can you think of any factors that may conceivably make your application complex or difficult from the USDoS point of view?

The only things I can think of:

- Funding from my home government. However, very common funding source and was assured from my home institution that it is usually not a problem at all to Waive it.

- On the payroll of a major non-profit academic hospital. My PI gets NIH grants but non awarded directly to me and was assured that is not a problem.

- DS2019 still valid for 2 years.

- My country of permanent residency is different from my country of birth/citizenship. I got funding from my country of permanent residence and got NOS from their embassy. Both countries are very big countries in Europe that do not make me subject due to skills list.