J1 visa waiver NOS 2021 Timeline

[JBRE22022 37]

Dear all, It seems that timelines and responsiveness from the contact channels at the waiver review division are about to get even slower. The following note was sent in response to an email to 212ewaiver@state.gov

 

 

Two points are worth noting

 

1. They mentioned that the consular systems will be under maintenance until Sep 20, which will affect completing DS-3035 and checking the status of waiver applications. 

 

2. The previous version of this email asked for a 10 business days (around 2 weeks) timeframe for a reply. This has been increased to 25 - 30 business days (5 to 6 weeks or 1.5 months) for a reply

 

I believe that the department is in a rush to issue GC visa stamps before the end of the fiscal year, and maybe this ends up in the way of the waiver work, so hopefully the situation will be better in October. 

[da22 1]

Is there anyone who sent documents in November still waiting to get their waiver?

 

Nov 22, 2021 - Sent my documents to DOS

Nov 28, 2021 - USPS notified my documents were delivered

Jan 5, 2022 - Embassy notified me that the NOS was sent

Mar 14, 2022 - My case was updated to "Pending" on the website with Fee, DS-3035, DS-2019, passport data page and statement of reason marked as Received. The website didn't say anything about the NOS.

Jun 9, 2022 - I contacted the embassy and they resent the NOS to the DOS. They shared an electronic copy of the NOS with me.

Jun 22, 2022 - Sent email to 212e and received this reply: A check of our systems shows that your application was received along with the document from your embassy (which will be entered in the future - any delay will not affect processing of the case). Cases are processed in order they are received and your case should be processed in the coming weeks. No action is needed by you at this time.

Aug 8, 2022 - Congressperson representative contacted 212e and got a similar generic answer. 

 

It's been more than 9 months and my NOS has not appeared as "Received" in the system yet. Was anyone in a similar situation? 

 

[JBRE22022 37]

@da22 My documents arrived on March 12 and documents including NOS were marked as received on 4/16 with 4/14 date for the NOS and 4/15 for the other documents. Case is still pending. Case is plain vanilla post doc without any complications. Are you aware of any complications on your case such as Fulbrigth or other scholarships? 

[JBRE22022 37]

An update here, got FR on 09/7 (coincidentally Brazil's independence day), website changed overnight before 09/08 morning. Now waiting for the receipt number from USCIS

[da22 1]

@JBRE22022 Wow that's great, congratulations! Your case was processed much faster than mine. No, I'm not aware of any complications, it's a pretty usual no-objection case. I'm at more than 35 weeks after my documents were received now.

Today my NOS was FINALLY marked as Received, so there is still hope. 

[Pinguina 6]

10 minutes ago, da22 said:

@JBRE22022 Wow that's great, congratulations! Your case was processed much faster than mine. No, I'm not aware of any complications, it's a pretty usual no-objection case. I'm at more than 35 weeks after my documents were received now.

Today my NOS was FINALLY marked as Received, so there is still hope. 

When is your visa expiring? I’m pretty sure they take that into account too. 

[da22 1]

@Pinguina Yes, I have heard that. In fact it's expiring in early 2024. I understand that this might be a criterion, but in that case I don't understand the claim "cases are processed in the order in which they were received." 

[Pinguina 6]

14 hours ago, da22 said:

@Pinguina Yes, I have heard that. In fact it's expiring in early 2024. I understand that this might be a criterion, but in that case I don't understand the claim "cases are processed in the order in which they were received." 

Yeah that’s what they tell people but it’s definitely not true… I’ve heard of cases of people from the same nationality, same work place, basically the same case, and one of them got it in just one or two months, and the other one was waiting for long… I hope your case gets approved soon!!!

[JBRE22022 37]

Finally got the I797 notice in the mail on 7/19. It states that case was received by USCIS on 9/14. This way my updated timeline is

 

 

[Snore22 2]

On 9/14/2022 at 8:01 PM, da22 said:

@Pinguina Yes, I have heard that. In fact it's expiring in early 2024. I understand that this might be a criterion, but in that case I don't understand the claim "cases are processed in the order in which they were received." 

Hey! Any update? 

[Snore22 2]

Hi Everyone, 

I’ve had a j1 before my current j1. This first J1 had a very small amount of funding from NIH, now with the waiver they requested a sponsor view. I’m wondering if this is related to my old j1 from 8 year ago? Which I went back to my home country and stayed there for 5 years? I mean no matter when you had a NIH funding they will always ask for sponsor view? 
Does anyone know more about it? 
thanks for you help 😊

[da22 1]

Hi @Snore22, I unfortunately don't know anything about sponsor views, so I don't have an answer to your question. Yes, I finally got an update today—a favorable recommendation was sent yesterday. It is finally moving along after so many months. Here is the timeline:

 

Nov 22, 2021 - Sent my documents to DOS.

Nov 28, 2021 - USPS notified my documents were delivered.

Jan 5, 2022 - Embassy notified me that the NOS was sent.

Mar 14, 2022 - My case was updated to "Pending" on the website with Fee, DS-3035, DS-2019, passport data page and statement of reason marked as "Received" (dated March 14th). The website didn't say anything about the NOS.

Jun 9, 2022 - I contacted the embassy and they resent the NOS to the DOS. They shared an electronic copy of the NOS with me.

Jun 22, 2022 - Sent email to 212e with the NOS attached and received this reply: A check of our systems shows that your application was received along with the document from your embassy (which will be entered in the future - any delay will not affect processing of the case). Cases are processed in order they are received and your case should be processed in the coming weeks. No action is needed by you at this time.

Aug 8, 2022 - Congressperson representative contacted 212e and got a similar generic answer. 

Sep 12, 2022 - Sent email to 212e to ask about my case and got a generic answer: The Waiver Review Division will continue to process your case in its normal first-in, first-out queue. Please note that the processing times are estimates only, and individual processing times may vary.

Sep 14, 2022 - No objection letter was marked as "Received" (dated June 8th). Status was still "Pending".

Sep 23, 2022 - Status updated to "Favorable recommendation", which was marked as sent on September 22nd. 

 

[JBRE22022 37]

So my I-612 was approved, updated timeline is then 

[JBRE22022 37]

And finally I have received the I-612 approval. Final timeline:

 

[is930 0]

Hi all, my boyfriend submitted all his documents in October, NOS received Nov 1. We contacted the Congressperson in January and they got a general response saying it can take up to 16 weeks. Now it has been 5 months and we got no response. His case is relatively straightforward, he is a physician and was a research fellow without any government scholarship. Our friends with similar cases got favorable recommendations. Anyone with a similar situation of this taking so long?