J1 waiver 2020 NOS update timeline

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

On 3/2/2021 at 2:44 PM, Aramcod said:

I am in my 27th week. I have emailed them for the fourth time. They just reply but the problem is the response is pre-made and doesn't give any specific information about your case. They just told me it might even take longer than the normal processing time. I don't know, I'm so confused what's this long delay for. Hope you we get our FR soon. 

Are you under the NOS category?

Were you funded by US government sources?

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

On 3/2/2021 at 2:55 PM, vincee said:

@Mlle_Wanderlust my case was approved by USCIS Vermont after a week plus of receiving a favorable recommendation on my case.

Did you have to contact USCIS for the case number or was it automatically sent to your email or by mail?

[dm2003 3]

@Mlle_Wanderlust,

What is your current stage with the waiver?

Sorry if it is a repeated question.

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

7 minutes ago, dm2003 said:

@Mlle_Wanderlust,

What is your current stage with the waiver?

Sorry if it is a repeated question.

Waiting hopelessly

Still says pending

I sent my documents on Nov 24 and it was uploaded as "received" on 12 th January and the NOS uploaded on 9th February

I have emailed them 2-3 times but same "we will process at our own sweet time "

 

Did you have to contact USCIS to get your case number or is it just done automatically?

 

[dm2003 3]

1 minute ago, Mlle_Wanderlust said:

Waiting hopelessly

Still says pending

I sent my documents on Nov 24 and it was uploaded as "received" on 12 th January and the NOS uploaded on 9th February

I have emailed them 2-3 times but same "we will process at our own sweet time "

 

Did you have to contact USCIS to get your case number or is it just done automatically?

 

@Mlle_Wanderlust, I got FR from DoS but nothing official yet in hands. Neither scanned or hard copies of FR sent by DoS to me. In regard to USCIS, i have no idea which means i am still pending for the case.

Good luck to all of us then.

 

[Ola87 5]

Hi all, 

 

I got a 6 weeks US Government funding exchange program (Mandela Washington Fellowship) in 2019, after which I returned to my country immediately after the program without extending my stay. After 5 months in Nigeria, I got a scholarship for my PhD in the United States and I’m currently on F1 visa. A year into my PhD program , I got married to a USC medical doctor. 
 

We’re currently applying for a no objection waiver through a lawyer. 
 

I am wondering if anyone is in my shoes - my F1 visa is still valid till November 2021 while my I20 is still valid till 2024. 
 

do you think this would be approved. I think my funding of $20k was from IREX or The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). 
 

the process started in February 1st 2021 but no update yet. 

[dm2003 3]

8 hours ago, Ola87 said:

 

Hi all, 

 

I got a 6 weeks US Government funding exchange program (Mandela Washington Fellowship) in 2019, after which I returned to my country immediately after the program without extending my stay. After 5 months in Nigeria, I got a scholarship for my PhD in the United States and I’m currently on F1 visa. A year into my PhD program , I got married to a USC medical doctor. 
 

We’re currently applying for a no objection waiver through a lawyer. 
 

I am wondering if anyone is in my shoes - my F1 visa is still valid till November 2021 while my I20 is still valid till 2024. 
 

do you think this would be approved. I think my funding of $20k was from IREX or The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). 
 

the process started in February 1st 2021 but no update yet. 

@Ola87

It normally takes around 7 weeks plus to get your package updated on the website, please be patient.

Many members here will share with you  more insight comments.

Wish all of us here luck and success.

[Ola87 5]

2 hours ago, dm2003 said:

@Ola87

It normally takes around 7 weeks plus to get your package updated on the website, please be patient.

Many members here will share with you  more insight comments.

Wish all of us here luck and success.

Thanks for the calming 

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

23 hours ago, dm2003 said:

@Mlle_Wanderlust, I got FR from DoS but nothing official yet in hands. Neither scanned or hard copies of FR sent by DoS to me. In regard to USCIS, i have no idea which means i am still pending for the case.

Good luck to all of us then.

 

@vincee did you have to contact USCIS to get a case number or did tehy automatically create it and send you a letter by post?

[dm2003 3]

@Mlle_Wanderlust!

Attached is from DoS's website

As far as i understand from many members here, either favorable or not DoS will send a notice to you about their decision.

At the same time they will also transfer the whole package to USCIS for final approval. From this time on, DoS is not involved anymore.

USCIS will send you a notice of receiving which will have your NEW CASE NUMBER with USCIS. This one can be tracked using USCIS's website.

It is supposed to be all in hard copies delivered by post mails but things change due to backlog and covid19.

That's all I know in general. For my specific case, I have received neither scanned copy nor postal mail document even though I had FR for nearly 2 weeks.

As I mentioned before, my case is 1-week after Oriol in regard to processing timeline but he/she got the scanned copy of the FR which I didn't receive so far after 11 days.

 

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

21 minutes ago, dm2003 said:

@Mlle_Wanderlust!

Attached is from DoS's website

As far as i understand from many members here, either favorable or not DoS will send a notice to you about their decision.

At the same time they will also transfer the whole package to USCIS for final approval. From this time on, DoS is not involved anymore.

USCIS will send you a notice of receiving which will have your NEW CASE NUMBER with USCIS. This one can be tracked using USCIS's website.

It is supposed to be all in hard copies delivered by post mails but things change due to backlog and covid19.

That's all I know in general. For my specific case, I have received neither scanned copy nor postal mail document even though I had FR for nearly 2 weeks.

As I mentioned before, my case is 1-week after Oriol in regard to processing timeline but he/she got the scanned copy of the FR which I didn't receive so far after 11 days.

 

scary

Did you ever hear of anyone getting denied a waiver under the NOS category?

I am panicking now

[Oriol 4]

@Mlle_Wanderlust,

 

Although I understand that it is a natural reaction, don't panic! After all, nothing is to be gained by panicking.

In my short experience of the forum, I have not seen NOS-based applications denied, except in cases in which there was US federal funding involved. Is that your case?

My own humble advice would be that since the waiver procedure is pretty much unpredictable, you may try to do what you can on your end, and that would be attempting to negotiate or extend whatever start dates or other "hard" deadlines you may have. I fully understand that all of this really sucks, though.

[Aramcod 0]

On 3/4/2021 at 10:43 AM, Mlle_Wanderlust said:

Are you under the NOS category?

Were you funded by US government sources?

mine is hardship based. 

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

12 hours ago, Oriol said:

@Mlle_Wanderlust,

 

Although I understand that it is a natural reaction, don't panic! After all, nothing is to be gained by panicking.

In my short experience of the forum, I have not seen NOS-based applications denied, except in cases in which there was US federal funding involved. Is that your case?

My own humble advice would be that since the waiver procedure is pretty much unpredictable, you may try to do what you can on your end, and that would be attempting to negotiate or extend whatever start dates or other "hard" deadlines you may have. I fully understand that all of this really sucks, though.

My DS2019 says it is for the special skills

Of course all projects are funded in some way by NIH/NSF/DoD which are all US government sources

I was on university and NH funding as well as NSF

All this was not mentioned in the DS2019 but I am thinking that most J1 postdocs are funded from these sources so will we all get rejected?

[Oriol 4]

Hello @Mlle_Wanderlust,

 

I want to emphasize, before saying anything, that I am not an expert and that what I will say is based only on what I have seen on this forum and generally available information, so I may very well be wrong.

 

Here are my two cents:

 

-I would like to counteract your impression that "most projects have federal funding." Mine had state and private funds, and I personally know of many people (in real life and here) who did not receive federal funds, even in STEM (I am in the humanities).

 

-The DoC general info page
(https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange/waiver-of-the-exchange-visitor/exchange-waiver-faqs.html) states explicitly that
"waiver recommendation applications from exchange visitors who received U.S. government funding are generally denied." Now, in this forum we have seen many exceptions to that.

 

-However, another thing the DoC info page says is that waivers may be denied "when the reasons given for requesting the waiver do not outweigh the program and foreign policy considerations of the exchange visitor program." That is to say that, in any particular case, outcomes may vary according to the current state of the diplomatic relations between the US and the country of origin of the applicant. A country in the good graces of the US that is suffering from "brain drain" and shortage of qualified personnel in a given area may be allowed to enforce the residency requirement strictly, etc. That is the whole point of the more advantageous conditions of the J visa.

 

Have you been asked for sponsor views? Could you remind us of your timeline? If I recall correctly, it may be a bit too early for you to fear the worst!

 

I hope this is helpful. My only advice here would be to be always open to all possible options and outcomes.