J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[Hardship2021 1]

USCIS received the case on March 2021 and I612 got forwarded to DOS on August 2021

[Waiver 2021 10]

I don't know if anyone in a similar situation. I lost about 11 months beacuse of issues with I-613/I-612. USCIS received my case in Feb. 2021, forward it to DOS in Nov. 2021. To my knowledge, forwarding a case to DOS means sending I-613/I-612. However, the I-613/I-612 did not appear on the DOS website until Oct. 2022.(almost a year after). Do you guys think this delay was from USCIS or DOS? 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Waiver 2021

[jjj20 2]

20 minutes ago, Waiver 2021 said:

I don't know if anyone in a similar situation. I lost about 11 months beacuse of issues with I-613/I-612. USCIS received my case in Feb. 2021, forward it to DOS in Nov. 2021. To my knowledge, forwarding a case to DOS means sending I-613/I-612. However, the I-613/I-612 did not appear on the DOS website until Oct. 2022.(almost a year after). Do you guys think this delay was from USCIS or DOS? 

Hard to say. Mine did not show up in the DOS system for 3 months and USCIS claimed to have sent it and DOS told me they did not receive anything from USCIS. Then an Emma chat agent told me that USCIS actually did not send it to DOS. I sent a complaint to Ombudsman but they could not say anything other than what USCIS told me. So I am really sorry, but it seems like they wasted 11 months of your time... 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

5 hours ago, Waiver 2021 said:

I don't know if anyone in a similar situation. I lost about 11 months beacuse of issues with I-613/I-612. USCIS received my case in Feb. 2021, forward it to DOS in Nov. 2021. To my knowledge, forwarding a case to DOS means sending I-613/I-612. However, the I-613/I-612 did not appear on the DOS website until Oct. 2022.(almost a year after). Do you guys think this delay was from USCIS or DOS? 

In my case, DOS spent 5 months to upload i-612/i-613 on their system. However, when I emailed DOS, they claimed to have received these forms about two weeks after USCIS sent them. In short, It's a black box. 

[KA1214 1]

On 3/19/2023 at 10:58 AM, Waiver 2021 said:

I don't know if anyone in a similar situation. I lost about 11 months beacuse of issues with I-613/I-612. USCIS received my case in Feb. 2021, forward it to DOS in Nov. 2021. To my knowledge, forwarding a case to DOS means sending I-613/I-612. However, the I-613/I-612 did not appear on the DOS website until Oct. 2022.(almost a year after). Do you guys think this delay was from USCIS or DOS? 

Did you go back to your home country during these times?

[Waiver 2021 10]

6 minutes ago, KA1214 said:

Did you go back to your home country during these times?

No, I didn't . However,  my DS will expire in the next coming months. 

Edited March 20, 2023 by Waiver 2021

[KA1214 1]

13 minutes ago, Waiver 2021 said:

No, I didn't . However,  my DS will expire in the next coming months. 

Thanks for that. Did you have RFE on the initial stage?

[Waiver 2021 10]

Just now, KA1214 said:

Thanks for that. Did you have RFE on the initial stage?

Yes. I did. 

[HardshipWaiverApr 10]

On 3/19/2023 at 10:58 AM, Waiver 2021 said:

I don't know if anyone in a similar situation. I lost about 11 months beacuse of issues with I-613/I-612. USCIS received my case in Feb. 2021, forward it to DOS in Nov. 2021. To my knowledge, forwarding a case to DOS means sending I-613/I-612. However, the I-613/I-612 did not appear on the DOS website until Oct. 2022.(almost a year after). Do you guys think this delay was from USCIS or DOS? 

If you haven’t, try form 7001 since you are already outside of the normal processing times https://www.dhs.gov/topic/cis-ombudsman/forms/7001#no-back. Unfortunately, you might lose those 11 months. Be also prepared to change status if you have any available to you.

[Waiver 2021 10]

2 minutes ago, HardshipWaiverApr said:

If you haven’t, try form 7001 since you are already outside of the normal processing times https://www.dhs.gov/topic/cis-ombudsman/forms/7001#no-back. Unfortunately, you might lose those 11 months. Be also prepared to change status if you have any available to you.

Thank you for the information and suggestion. 

[lennikov 36]

If you frequently check the status of your case on https://j1visawaiverstatus.state.gov/ here's some advice. You may have noticed that the first attempt to enter the captcha always fails. This is because the first captcha image is wrong and completely mismatch the intended captcha values (see example image). However, there is a solution: use the listening function to learn the correct captcha, which is correct every time. Alternatively, you can regenerate the first captcha if you don't want to use earphones, and all subsequent captchas will be correct. It's unclear whether this is an oversight or an intentional feature designed to make bot training more difficult.

Edited March 25, 2023 by lennikov

[HardshipWaiverApr 10]

On 3/25/2023 at 5:00 PM, lennikov said:

If you frequently check the status of your case on https://j1visawaiverstatus.state.gov/ here's some advice. You may have noticed that the first attempt to enter the captcha always fails. This is because the first captcha image is wrong and completely mismatch the intended captcha values (see example image). However, there is a solution: use the listening function to learn the correct captcha, which is correct every time. Alternatively, you can regenerate the first captcha if you don't want to use earphones, and all subsequent captchas will be correct. It's unclear whether this is an oversight or an intentional feature designed to make bot training more difficult.

Thanks for sharing. I check once a day and usually got in with the first image.

 

Remember the status in only updated once a day around 2:00 AM during weekdays. So no need to check more than once a day and during weekends.

 

I would also advise for your own sanity to not check the status if you are not close to the 12 months mark at DOS.

[J1mom 0]

On 3/17/2023 at 8:57 AM, DrIdaddoq said:

Guys... my wait has just ended! 😭 I checked yesterday (3/16/23) was pending, but just changed this morning. Stay hopeful!

Congratulations! Mush deserved after an awful long wait. 

 

I see an additional Item (other) on your list compared to mine. Do you mind letting me know what what it was? 

[lennikov 36]

If you are referring to "Other" it is usually an updated personal statement where you provide an update how your situation changed from the moment you have submitted the documents to USCIS which is usually 6-12 months to the moment documents goes to DOS it is optional and would not affect your process. 

[surefire6 13]

On 3/27/2023 at 7:34 AM, HardshipWaiverApr said:

Thanks for sharing. I check once a day and usually got in with the first image.

 

Remember the status in only updated once a day around 2:00 AM during weekdays. So no need to check more than once a day and during weekends.

 

I would also advise for your own sanity to not check the status if you are not close to the 12 months mark at DOS.

lol 12 months that's rare alot of us are 17 plus months here waiting. I'm at 18 months and waiting for DOS