J1 waiver 2020 NOS update timeline

[talboth 0]

4 hours ago, Oriol said:

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.

 

@Mlle_Wanderlust and @Oriol … a large number of J1 visas are actually sponsored by private companies like Microsoft, Texas Instruments etc. for their employees from overseas offices for getting trained in the US and they don't take any government funding. Many of those employees get a 2 year home residency requirement since they are subject due to skills list from their home countries. 

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

9 hours ago, Oriol said:

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.

 

Hi

Thanks for the help.

I have not been asked for sponsor views.

I know of people funded by the NIH but working at either VA center or a University lab who have received their waivers based on NOS from India

( I am Indian too). So I was hoping that would not be a problem

As for the program funding, the sponsor name is mentioned on the DS2019 and that is what they asked us to follow (international office) and in my case it just mentions the university name).

Here is my timeline. Although it says DOS received documents on 12th January 2021 they were delivered on 28th November 2020 and the NOS was delivered on 10th December 2020 by my embassy.

[Coco8 1,042]

6 hours ago, Mlle_Wanderlust said:

Hi

Thanks for the help.

I have not been asked for sponsor views.

I know of people funded by the NIH but working at either VA center or a University lab who have received their waivers based on NOS from India

( I am Indian too). So I was hoping that would not be a problem

As for the program funding, the sponsor name is mentioned on the DS2019 and that is what they asked us to follow (international office) and in my case it just mentions the university name).

Here is my timeline. Although it says DOS received documents on 12th January 2021 they were delivered on 28th November 2020 and the NOS was delivered on 10th December 2020 by my embassy.

 

NHI has special rules somewhere on sponsor views. Have you found them/read them? Though it seems you did not receive funding for NIH or US Government, so I don't think they need to ask for sponsor views. Who do you think should be asked? Universities are not asked for sponsor views.

 

Also, they are slow and it's been less than a month.

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Coco8

[SG_J1 4]

On 3/6/2021 at 12:59 AM, Mlle_Wanderlust said:

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?

Regarding government funding I did quite a bit of research... Whats important is if a grant was awarded DIRECTLY to you. Of course almost all postdocs will have indirect government funding through NIH grants (R01 etc) of their PI/Institution BUT this does not constitute government funding in the eyes of the DoS.

 

Problematic:

1. YOU got awarded a NIH grant/fulbright grant = government funding

2. YOU got awarded a private grant/fellowship/scholarship that is in part financed by a US government institution or your home government = government funding

3. YOU are on the payroll of a government institution (NIH etc) = government funding 

 

NOT Problematic:

1. Part or all of your pay roll/experiments/reagents etc. is financed by a government grant (NIH etc) awarded NOT DIRECTLY TO YOU BUT to your PI or institution = NOT government funding

 

I hope this helps!

Edited March 7, 2021 by SG_J1

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

On 3/7/2021 at 8:57 AM, SG_J1 said:

Regarding government funding I did quite a bit of research... Whats important is if a grant was awarded DIRECTLY to you. Of course almost all postdocs will have indirect government funding through NIH grants (R01 etc) of their PI/Institution BUT this does not constitute government funding in the eyes of the DoS.

 

Problematic:

1. YOU got awarded a NIH grant/fulbright grant = government funding

2. YOU got awarded a private grant/fellowship/scholarship that is in part financed by a US government institution or your home government = government funding

3. YOU are on the payroll of a government institution (NIH etc) = government funding 

 

NOT Problematic:

1. Part or all of your pay roll/experiments/reagents etc. is financed by a government grant (NIH etc) awarded NOT DIRECTLY TO YOU BUT to your PI or institution = NOT government funding

 

I hope this helps!

Thank you so much. It did help and the wait continues.....

[dm2003 3]

After 2 weeks from the "Sent"-day of FR (Feb 22, 2021), I have received from USPS-delivery-informed the letter of USCIS. 

I haven't opened it yet but I guessed this is the Notice of Receiving for my case.

Just a positive update.

Thanks and wish everyone the best and luck.

[Oriol 4]

Congrats, @dm2003! One more step forward. Mine was supposedly sent to USCIS a week earlier than yours, but I have received nothing here yet. I'm in Canada, so I hope that that explains the delay...

This is further confirmation, though, of my suspicion that the entire process and its timeline are simply unpredictable, perhaps subject to arbitrary factors like the pace of work of different officers, large batches of applications processed in random order rather than in order of receipt,  etc. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Oriol

[dm2003 3]

Thank you @Oriol

I did send an email asking if I can have a hard or scanned copy of the FR letter and DoS replied to me today also.

The also shared a pdf of the FR to me in addition to the hard copy mailed. I guess the hard copy takes longer time to reach to my address.

I didn't see it at all but the notice from USCIS came sooner.

 

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

On 2/11/2021 at 1:09 PM, M.A.B said:

Yes, it is taking too long, tried to contact the DoS, but didn't get any reply beside the automatic email response!

 

Any update??

[talboth 0]

On 3/9/2021 at 4:15 PM, dm2003 said:

Thank you @Oriol

I did send an email asking if I can have a hard or scanned copy of the FR letter and DoS replied to me today also.

The also shared a pdf of the FR to me in addition to the hard copy mailed. I guess the hard copy takes longer time to reach to my address.

I didn't see it at all but the notice from USCIS came sooner.

 

Hi @dm2003, I have also received the receipt notice around the same time as you. On checking using receipt number it says it was transferred to another location. What does yours say? 
 

 

[dm2003 3]

1 hour ago, talboth said:

Hi @dm2003, I have also received the receipt notice around the same time as you. On checking using receipt number it says it was transferred to another location. What does yours say? 
 

 

Mine says as following

 

 

[Mlle_Wanderlust 3]

On 2/11/2021 at 1:09 PM, M.A.B said:

Yes, it is taking too long, tried to contact the DoS, but didn't get any reply beside the automatic email response!

 

 

On 3/7/2021 at 8:57 AM, SG_J1 said:

Regarding government funding I did quite a bit of research... Whats important is if a grant was awarded DIRECTLY to you. Of course almost all postdocs will have indirect government funding through NIH grants (R01 etc) of their PI/Institution BUT this does not constitute government funding in the eyes of the DoS.

 

Problematic:

1. YOU got awarded a NIH grant/fulbright grant = government funding

2. YOU got awarded a private grant/fellowship/scholarship that is in part financed by a US government institution or your home government = government funding

3. YOU are on the payroll of a government institution (NIH etc) = government funding 

 

NOT Problematic:

1. Part or all of your pay roll/experiments/reagents etc. is financed by a government grant (NIH etc) awarded NOT DIRECTLY TO YOU BUT to your PI or institution = NOT government funding

 

I hope this helps!

Hi

 

I had two other questions

1. I changed my J-1 program from one university to another (within the approved 5 year limit) does that subject me to the waiver twice or make it a ground for rejection?

2. I was on a J-2 visa as a child and went back to India and returned after 15 years- is that a violation or anything negative?

 

I’m freaking out since it’s been ~3 months that they physically received the documents but still shows pending.

 

appreciate all the  help I get here. 

[SG_J1 4]

12 hours ago, Mlle_Wanderlust said:

 

Hi

 

I had two other questions

1. I changed my J-1 program from one university to another (within the approved 5 year limit) does that subject me to the waiver twice or make it a ground for rejection?

2. I was on a J-2 visa as a child and went back to India and returned after 15 years- is that a violation or anything negative?

 

I’m freaking out since it’s been ~3 months that they physically received the documents but still shows pending.

 

appreciate all the  help I get here. 

Hi Mile_Wanderlust,

I am not 100% sure but this is what I gathered:

1. This could be problematic as it could subject you to the 2 year home requirement twice (for a total of 4 years). I am not sure how the DOS handles these cases and if you need a second waiver.

2. This should not matter at all.

For me it took almost exactly 4 months, so I think you will hear from them soon. I just kept writing them an email every 2 weeks (always got same standard response)

Edited March 11, 2021 by SG_J1

[M.A.B 0]

On 3/10/2021 at 12:26 AM, Mlle_Wanderlust said:

Any update??

Hi Mlle_Wanderlust, 

Thanks for asking, still no update, my status is still pending, last time, about a month ago, I got response after emailing them saying that your application was sent to Waiver Review Officer for further processing, I don't know what does that mean! now it is 5 month since they received the NOS and 7 months since I first sent my application!

Edited March 11, 2021 by M.A.B

[dm2003 3]

1 hour ago, M.A.B said:

Hi Mlle_Wanderlust, 

Thanks for asking, still no update, my status is still pending, last time, about a month ago, I got response after emailing them saying that your application was sent to Waiver Review Officer for further processing, I don't know what does that mean! now it is 5 month since they received the NOS and 7 months since I first sent my application!

@M.A.B

Would you mind sharing possible details of your case?
Normally, as far as I know, visa transfer, sources of funds will be complicating factors of the processing. Besides, visa status, expiry date can also play certain roles.

Each of us here will absolutely have diverse background which reflects differences in our timeline.

Hope you will get great news soon.