J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[Hardship2021 1]

Same here Sep 21

[DrIdaddoq 22]

29 minutes ago, Hardship2021 said:

Same here Sep 21

I'm losing my mind refreshing EVERY SINGLE WORK DAY for 17 months....

[extreme_hardship 22]

2 hours ago, PeterW said:

So encouraging! I am so desperate now. Theses two cases gave us hope. Good luck to everyone. 

yeah. It seems like they do have some way of "measuring" a hardship after USCIS forwards the I-613.

I thought it was an automatic rejection if there was sponsor involved and an automatic approval otherwise, but seems like it is more involved than that. I see some cases without a sponsor's view being rejected, while others with sponsor's view being approved. I dont know anymore

[neonatal2023 2]

Has anyone send an email to: 212ewaiver@state.gov. , to get un update on the case? is it worth it? 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

4 hours ago, neonatal2023 said:

Has anyone send an email to: 212ewaiver@state.gov. , to get un update on the case? is it worth it? 

Many emails. They just respond with a generic format that your case will.be processed as soon as possible. Not worth it. 

[Robble42 6]

On 2/16/2023 at 11:48 PM, extreme_hardship said:

Two recent Favorable Recommendations (not mine ). Around a year for both.

 

It seems that the DOS takes into account "program, policy, and foreign relations" concerns as well as your country's need for your knowledge and skills. Not sure if the DOS communicates with different governments, but that seems to be all the reasoning they give these days for an unfavorable recommendation. 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

3 hours ago, Robble42 said:

It seems that the DOS takes into account "program, policy, and foreign relations" concerns as well as your country's need for your knowledge and skills. Not sure if the DOS communicates with different governments, but that seems to be all the reasoning they give these days for an unfavorable recommendation. 

I think all J-1 programs are designed to train students here and send them back once they are done (correct me If I am wrong). And all countries need knowledge and skills (no one will say I don't need a skilled person). How they weigh the risk to U.S. citizen is unknown.

[Resonance20 3]

There was a 10 month delay between the time USCIS forwarded my application and DOS acknowledged receipt of i612/i613. Has anyone been able to successfully request an expedited review by DOS? . 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

7 hours ago, Resonance20 said:

There was a 10 month delay between the time USCIS forwarded my application and DOS acknowledged receipt of i612/i613. Has anyone been able to successfully request an expedited review by DOS? . 

In my case, the delay was 5 months. I haven't heard of accepted expedite requite over the last few months. Previously they used to accept congressional inquiry or expedite request, but no more as everyone is going for that due to long delays. 

[Waiver 2021 10]

8 hours ago, Resonance20 said:

There was a 10 month delay between the time USCIS forwarded my application and DOS acknowledged receipt of i612/i613. Has anyone been able to successfully request an expedited review by DOS? . 

I am in the same situation. My case was sent to the DOS on Nov. 2021, However, DOS acknowledged the recipt of I612/I613 10 months later (Sept. 2022). I emailed the DOS to see if they can  consider the 10 months period as part of the processing time. Their answer was that the each case is considered ready for deliberation and in the queue once they have everything on file.

To sum it up, the 10 months were time wasted that we can not take back unfortunately. 

 

I am still no sure whether the delay was from USCIS side (delaying sending I613/I612to DOS on time) or from DOS side (updating their website)  

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Waiver 2021

[PeterW 17]

Hi Everyone, 

My family had been forced to return to my home country due to termination of J1 and delay process of the hardship waiver in DOS. I have to changed mailing address of all my accounts to my friend's home. For the waiver system in DOS, do I have to change the contact address? As the recommendation is electronic, I feel confused about that. Thank you so much!

[Hardship_waiver 54]

13 hours ago, Waiver 2021 said:

I am in the same situation. My case was sent to the DOS on Nov. 2021, However, DOS acknowledged the recipt of I612/I613 10 months later (Sept. 2022). I emailed the DOS to see if they can  consider the 10 months period as part of the processing time. Their answer was that the each case is considered ready for deliberation and in the queue once they have everything on file.

To sum it up, the 10 months were time wasted that we can not take back unfortunately. 

 

I am still no sure whether the delay was from USCIS side (delaying sending I613/I612to DOS on time) or from DOS side (updating their website)  

 

 

It's from DOS side as I called USCIS and they said that they have already forwarded i-613/i-612 to DOS. Even during initial application submission, DOS took 4 months just to show them on portal. That's how system works. 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

5 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Hi Everyone, 

My family had been forced to return to my home country due to termination of J1 and delay process of the hardship waiver in DOS. I have to changed mailing address of all my accounts to my friend's home. For the waiver system in DOS, do I have to change the contact address? As the recommendation is electronic, I feel confused about that. Thank you so much!

Sad to know about that. Use the highlighted tab in the image to update your address. 

[PeterW 17]

1 hour ago, Hardship_waiver said:

Sad to know about that. Use the highlighted tab in the image to update your address. 

Thanks so much!

 

[Jennifer Ramos 1]

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Edited February 25, 2023 by Jennifer Ramos
wrong comment