J1 waiver 2020 NOS update timeline

[Jacobian 9]

@Oriol I had to wait long before the NOS appeared on my tracker, and honestly, I was almost going insane. But I would imagine that while NOS was received on time and they started working on it,  while it was updated only later in the system.  

 

@vincee No, I am not on OPT.

 

I hope and pray that everyone gets their FR soon. 

 

 

 

[Oriol 4]

@SG_J1 Thank you for sharing this information: I think that we all benefit from these factors that might be at play. I oscillate between giving up in trying to discern a pattern—perhaps it is just a lottery and processing depends on the wildly varying paces of different officers—and soaking up factors that may have a bearing in all this: in spite of the assurances you received, I do wonder if your record of funding may have had an influence, as also the divergence between country of citizenship and country of residence. All in all your case seems at first sight fairly uncomplicated and I was especially surprised to learn that both your country of citizenship and of residence are "big" and European: I would have assumed that security protocols like Schengen would play in one's advantage.

 

Let's take solace in knowing that there are many of us in this situation and that we can rely on each other at least for info (and for me this acts as a valve of escape to my anxiety regarding the whole procedure...)

[Oriol 4]

Thanks @Jacobian for the reply and for your good wishes. Enjoy your not-J1-waiver-related time now!

[SG_J1 4]

8 minutes ago, Oriol said:

@SG_J1 Thank you for sharing this information: I think that we all benefit from these factors that might be at play. I oscillate between giving up in trying to discern a pattern—perhaps it is just a lottery and processing depends on the wildly varying paces of different officers—and soaking up factors that may have a bearing in all this: in spite of the assurances you received, I do wonder if your record of funding may have had an influence, as also the divergence between country of citizenship and country of residence. All in all your case seems at first sight fairly uncomplicated and I was especially surprised to learn that both your country of citizenship and of residence are "big" and European: I would have assumed that security protocols like Schengen would play in one's advantage.

 

Let's take solace in knowing that there are many of us in this situation and that we can rely on each other at least for info (and for me this acts as a valve of escape to my anxiety regarding the whole procedure...)

I am also close to giving up on discerning a pattern. At least so far DoS has not asked for any additional information but just repeated that my application package is complete, ready for processing and within the standard processing time. Lets see what they will tell me now as I am beyond the standard 16 weeks.

 

This is really stressful because I have an extremely competitive job lined up at a top 3 academic institution in the US which is the result of many years of hard work. I still have quite a bit of buffer as I will only need my FR by April but still it is intensely stressful.

Edited January 19, 2021 by SG_J1

[vincee 2]

@Jacobian thank you for your response. One more question, are you a Postdoc? From the look of things, it seems or I guess the processing time for postdocs may be longer. @SG_J1 do you think DOS will ask for the postdoc PIs opinion before issuing a FR??

[SG_J1 4]

13 hours ago, vincee said:

@Jacobian thank you for your response. One more question, are you a Postdoc? From the look of things, it seems or I guess the processing time for postdocs may be longer. @SG_J1 do you think DOS will ask for the postdoc PIs opinion before issuing a FR??

I do not think they will ask for your PIs opinion. I could only imagine that if you are on your institutions payroll they might check where that money is coming from. Or it could be our cases are slow because we both have a DS2019 that is still valid for more than a year. This process is a total black box so really hard to say.

[SG_J1 4]

Does anyone know if there is any way to call the DoS?

[food_fanatic 1]

So I finally have an update as well, and thought it would be useful to share (since this thread has helped me so much!).

 

First, my timeline so far:

 

==========================================================================

My timeline:

Application packet was sent to DOS:                                                                          Late August 2019

DOS updated status – Documents received:                                                             Sep 20th, 2019

 

DOS updated status with NOS – Documents received:                                            Dec 10th, 2019

 

DOS updated status - Favorable Recommendation Sent                                         June 17th, 2020

 

I had received no documents by November 2020, so I assumed there were postal delays due to Covid (I live abroad, and international mail was/is especially affected).

 

Sent an email to DoS                                                                                                      mid November 2020

DoS emailed electronic copy of FR                                                                              late November 2020

 

Obtain USCIS receipt number over call                                                                       late November 2020                                                                                              

 

I then checked online that my case had been approved in July. But I still haven't received the hard copy.

 

Emailed USCIS about the potentially lost approval notice, they re-posted            mid December 2020.

 

But once again, I am still waiting for the hard copy.

==========================================================================

 

Now, a few questions:

 

Does anyone else here live abroad, and has successfully received the hard copy of the final USCIS approval (especially in the past few months)?

Where do you live (if you don't mind sharing)? And how long was the delay?

 

If I want to apply for a work visa, can I use the electronic copy of the DoS approval, and a print out of the USCIS tracking form to prove that I have received a waiver?

 

Are there any other options anyone here could suggest?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

 

Edited January 21, 2021 by food_fanatic

[Oriol 4]

Hello, @food_fanatic . Thank you for sharing your detailed timeline. I have to say though that your 17-month ordeal without a final resolution is frankly alarming.

Like I suppose to be your case, I am applying for the waiver after the expiration of my J1/DS2019, and also from outside the US (Canada, where I am a permanent resident). Let me ask you a couple questions:

 

-Do you need the waiver for a specific purpose or  you just have in mind a potential future use?

-In your original application did you specify any timeline that would let them treat your application with such lassitude? (in all fairness, you seem also to have been rather relaxed with tracking, am I wrong?) 

-Otherwise, can you think of any factors that may have made your application extraordinarily complex or lengthy?

 

I guess the Covid-19 initial shock plus the March lockdowns may have stood on the way, but I still find your timeline astonishing and especially the 9-month lag between NOS and FR. A possibly very naïve question for everyone:

 

-Has anyone had the experience of having specified in the application a "hard" deadline (e.g. J1 expiring and having to leave the US, job offer start date, etc.) and have the waiver NOT come in time to meet that deadline?

 

I would be eager to know to what extent are DoS officers sensitive to such time considerations. I also would be curious to know what exactly is enough for a visa application, and whether the dreaded hard copies are unavoidable.

 

Thanks again. I say goodbye with my usual words of encouragement: don't give up!

 

Edited January 21, 2021 by Oriol

[SG_J1 4]

On 1/19/2021 at 6:55 PM, vincee said:

@Jacobian thank you for your response. One more question, are you a Postdoc? From the look of things, it seems or I guess the processing time for postdocs may be longer. @SG_J1 do you think DOS will ask for the postdoc PIs opinion before issuing a FR??

After reading more in the forum I am pretty sure that the most important factor why our application is so slow is our DS2019 expiration date. It looks like that the DoS takes it sweet time if you apply and still have a year or more left on your J1. It also makes applying for expedited processing difficult because they are like, oh well you still have a year left, we will be done before that...

 

Generally it seems like that people with DS2019 < 1 year get FR w/in about 1-2 months after NOS and people with DS2019 > 1 year valid get FR w/in 3-4 months after NOS. Home government funding, country of origin and so on seems to be less of a factor.

Edited January 21, 2021 by SG_J1

[food_fanatic 1]

4 hours ago, Oriol said:

Hello, @food_fanatic . Thank you for sharing your detailed timeline. I have to say though that your 17-month ordeal without a final resolution is frankly alarming.

Like I suppose to be your case, I am applying for the waiver after the expiration of my J1/DS2019, and also from outside the US (Canada, where I am a permanent resident). Let me ask you a couple questions:

 

-Do you need the waiver for a specific purpose or  you just have in mind a potential future use?

-In your original application did you specify any timeline that would let them treat your application with such lassitude? (in all fairness, you seem also to have been rather relaxed with tracking, am I wrong?) 

-Otherwise, can you think of any factors that may have made your application extraordinarily complex or lengthy?

 

I guess the Covid-19 initial shock plus the March lockdowns may have stood on the way, but I still find your timeline astonishing and especially the 9-month lag between NOS and FR. A possibly very naïve question for everyone:

 

-Has anyone had the experience of having specified in the application a "hard" deadline (e.g. J1 expiring and having to leave the US, job offer start date, etc.) and have the waiver NOT come in time to meet that deadline?

 

I would be eager to know to what extent are DoS officers sensitive to such time considerations. I also would be curious to know what exactly is enough for a visa application, and whether the dreaded hard copies are unavoidable.

 

Thanks again. I say goodbye with my usual words of encouragement: don't give up!

 

Hi @Oriol,

 

Indeed, I'm a bit annoyed by the whole process, but what to do.

 

Answering your questions:

 

Quote

Do you need the waiver for a specific purpose or  you just have in mind a potential future use?

 

When I applied, I did not. But I do now have a potential opportunity for which I would need the waiver.

 

Quote

In your original application did you specify any timeline that would let them treat your application with such lassitude? (in all fairness, you seem also to have been rather relaxed with tracking, am I wrong?)

 

I did not specify any timeline. But I actually did follow up quite a few times - just with a bit less vigor around the time of the pandemic, since I guessed they were facing logistical issues 

 

Quote

Otherwise, can you think of any factors that may have made your application extraordinarily complex or lengthy?

 

Honestly, it was a pretty run-of-the-mill application. The only thing that could have caused it to be lengthy is Covid - which is also probably the reason I'm not receiving the physical mails.

 

Hope this helps!

[Oriol 4]

49 minutes ago, SG_J1 said:

After reading more in the forum I am pretty sure that the most important factor why our application is so slow is our DS2019 expiration date. It looks like that the DoS takes it sweet time if you apply and still have a year or more left on your J1. It also makes applying for expedited processing difficult because they are like, oh well you still have a year left, we will be done before that...

 

Generally it seems like that people with DS2019 < 1 year get FR w/in about 1-2 months after NOS and people with DS2019 > 1 year valid get FR w/in 3-4 months after NOS. Home government funding, country of origin and so on seems to be less of a factor.

Huh, I wonder where would that leave those of us whose DS2019 is already expired. @food_fanatic's story is pretty shocking, but I look forward to hear more on whether in that case there is a deadline DoS may have had to consider. In my case, I am supposed to start a job on July 1st, and the panicky part of me is seeing the possibility of having waiver and visa by then slipping by...

[Oriol 4]

Ahaha, last post written just as @food_fanatic submitted their last post! Thank you, this is all very informative, even though still pretty shocking. I very much look forward to hearing other people's experiences and views. 

 

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

The timelines are really alarming!

Does anyone know how much time it takes from the time since DoS uploaded the receipt of all documents from us till they upload the NOS?

My embassy had sent it to them on Dec 5 , 2020 but it still doesn't show up although they show receipt of my documents on Jan 12, 2021 ( they were delivered on Nov 28, 2020)

My DS2019 expires in October but I need to start processing my H1B before that

 

 

[Oriol 4]

@Mlle_Wanderlust, on the basis of the experience of @Jacobian I feel that the date of update of the NOS as "received" doesn't matter much: somehow, in their case the processing started without the NOS showing up as "received" until a week before the FR was issued. But see however @SG_J1's case too: their NOS took two months to show as "received" but 15 weeks have passed since then and the FR hasn't come. My reading is that acknowledgment of the NOS receipt is not systematic and more or less arbitrary.