J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[Hanijani 8]

23 hours ago, Hardship_waiver said:

Can anybody advise how to file a case against DoS for abnormal delaying? Can it be filed on our own as I don't have money for a lawyer for this process?

Thanks,

 

Someone had shared a link few pages back how to DIY. Lawyers took 5k from someone few pages back. 

[metehan 3]

On 8/15/2023 at 6:16 PM, Hanijani said:

@metehanHad you gotten RFE? which seviice center was you case at?  I have gotten RFE. what speciality are you? I am Pathologist with 2 fellowships. I do not have very great research, have many posters and abstracts but few real articles. They have sent an RFEobjecting on everything. Even the contract and salary. 

Sorry I wasn't around for a while.

 

I got a RFE and got denied shortly after. It was Vermont. The attorney was also shocked because my case was strong. I added more letters and refiling this week. Hope it will work this time. 

[Hanijani 8]

1 hour ago, metehan said:

Sorry I wasn't around for a while.

 

I got a RFE and got denied shortly after. It was Vermont. The attorney was also shocked because my case was strong. I added more letters and refiling this week. Hope it will work this time. 

We responded to RFE on friday, and I signed J1 waiver papers too. Refiling wont help me if denied. I was going crazy. I was hypotensive, had diarrhea, and am taking sleep aid. I have to figure out where to spend the few months when i am out of status. I wish I had never applied this ext hardship waiver. 

[Hanijani 8]

Just now, Hanijani said:

We responded to RFE on friday, and I signed J1 waiver papers too. Refiling wont help me if denied. I was going crazy. I was hypotensive, had diarrhea, and am taking sleep aid. I have to figure out where to spend the few months when i am out of status. I wish I had never applied this ext hardship waiver. 

I just wish all these lawyers I showed my cv to assess for O1 had told me truth. 

[AM820 12]

On 8/11/2023 at 3:12 PM, Motheus said:

Hey guys happy to share that my hardship waiver application was approved as of 8.10.2023!!! I am so happy and relieved after such a long wait.

 I did file a writ of Mandamus in June, so not sure if that had anything to do with it. Best of luck to everyone out there! 

@Motheus I know that you may just got tired of the group and this process in general, but we really appreciate if you please share more about your mandamus (it is definitely the cause that your case is approved nothing else). Questions would be:

1) was the suit against DOS only or USCIS and DOS? 

2) how long your lawyer prepared for the case? 
3) you said in June, would you mind share the date? I am trying to calculate when should be filed befor my status expire?

4) how much did it cost you? 
thanks and hope that you consider sharing info with us. Most of people are separate here and any info would be very valuable.

Edited August 20, 2023 by AM820
More info

[Motheus 1]

5 hours ago, AM820 said:

@Motheus I know that you may just got tired of the group and this process in general, but we really appreciate if you please share more about your mandamus (it is definitely the cause that your case is approved nothing else). Questions would be:

1) was the suit against DOS only or USCIS and DOS? 

2) how long your lawyer prepared for the case? 
3) you said in June, would you mind share the date? I am trying to calculate when should be filed befor my status expire?

4) how much did it cost you? 
thanks and hope that you consider sharing info with us. Most of people are separate here and any info would be very valuable.

No worries at all, I am happy to share my experience. I can't say for sure it was the Mandamus suit that did it as far as my case is concerned. Either way, I am happy DoS gave me my recommendation even if it took almost 16 months. For context, I know someone who got their DoS recommendation after only 9 months in June 2023 (without a mandamus suit). Their case involved a USC child, whereas mine is a spouse. My mandamus suit was filed against both DoS and USCIS at the same time. It took my lawyer about 2 weeks to prepare/file the case. The cost was $5,400. The case marked as received by the court on June the 16th, 2023 and I got my DoS decision on August the 10th. I am still now waiting for USCIS to send me the final notice of approval, so I am not out of the woods yet. Hope this helps! 

[ErinK 35]

5 hours ago, Motheus said:

No worries at all, I am happy to share my experience. I can't say for sure it was the Mandamus suit that did it as far as my case is concerned. Either way, I am happy DoS gave me my recommendation even if it took almost 16 months. For context, I know someone who got their DoS recommendation after only 9 months in June 2023 (without a mandamus suit). Their case involved a USC child, whereas mine is a spouse. My mandamus suit was filed against both DoS and USCIS at the same time. It took my lawyer about 2 weeks to prepare/file the case. The cost was $5,400. The case marked as received by the court on June the 16th, 2023 and I got my DoS decision on August the 10th. I am still now waiting for USCIS to send me the final notice of approval, so I am not out of the woods yet. Hope this helps! 

Do you know when the defendants were served? It's a different date than when the court received the case. It can take up to one month for the defendants to be served from the time the court receives the case. It's very likely that the lawsuit had nothing to do with the approval. Either way, it's great that you finally received an answer. 16 months is way too long. Mine is at 17 months 

Edited August 21, 2023 by ErinK

[g3dan00 20]

7 hours ago, ErinK said:

Do you know when the defendants were served? It's a different date than when the court received the case. It can take up to one month for the defendants to be served from the time the court receives the case. It's very likely that the lawsuit had nothing to do with the approval. Either way, it's great that you finally received an answer. 16 months is way too long. Mine is at 17 months 

Pardon me, but it's very likely that the lawsuit had EVERYTHING to do with the approval. 16 month approval is a luxury now. 21+ is a norm. 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

Correct. This person successfully entered 3rd year, what a waste of time. 

[PJAW 18]

21 hours ago, Motheus said:

No worries at all, I am happy to share my experience. I can't say for sure it was the Mandamus suit that did it as far as my case is concerned. Either way, I am happy DoS gave me my recommendation even if it took almost 16 months. For context, I know someone who got their DoS recommendation after only 9 months in June 2023 (without a mandamus suit). Their case involved a USC child, whereas mine is a spouse. My mandamus suit was filed against both DoS and USCIS at the same time. It took my lawyer about 2 weeks to prepare/file the case. The cost was $5,400. The case marked as received by the court on June the 16th, 2023 and I got my DoS decision on August the 10th. I am still now waiting for USCIS to send me the final notice of approval, so I am not out of the woods yet. Hope this helps! 

 

Could you please share what court you filed the mandamus suit in?  

[Motheus 1]

On 5/28/2023 at 2:18 PM, Arnav kumar said:

If Troy r waiting for 12 months they it shroud me 3 more month max. Otherwise it can be 2 year

 

7 minutes ago, PJAW said:

 

Could you please share what court you filed the mandamus suit 

Where my lawsuit was filed is irrelevant to you. Since the mandamus lawsuit is a lawsuit against federal agencies, you need a lawyer with a license for filing suits in federal court. The lawsuit will be filed at whichever federal court has jurisdiction over where you live currently. 

[g3dan00 20]

21 hours ago, Motheus said:

No worries at all, I am happy to share my experience. I can't say for sure it was the Mandamus suit that did it as far as my case is concerned. Either way, I am happy DoS gave me my recommendation even if it took almost 16 months. For context, I know someone who got their DoS recommendation after only 9 months in June 2023 (without a mandamus suit). Their case involved a USC child, whereas mine is a spouse. My mandamus suit was filed against both DoS and USCIS at the same time. It took my lawyer about 2 weeks to prepare/file the case. The cost was $5,400. The case marked as received by the court on June the 16th, 2023 and I got my DoS decision on August the 10th. I am still now waiting for USCIS to send me the final notice of approval, so I am not out of the woods yet. Hope this helps! 

Hey, two questions:

- Were you notified by your lawyer? or you just randomly checked everyday until you found out it's favorable? 

- Do you remember which day of the week you noticed the change?

[ErinK 35]

11 hours ago, g3dan00 said:

Pardon me, but it's very likely that the lawsuit had EVERYTHING to do with the approval. 16 month approval is a luxury now. 21+ is a norm. 

That is a possibility.

 

The way lawsuits work is that your lawyer file with the court, then the court sends summons to the defendants (in this case both DoS and USCIS) which informs them that they sued. All of this is on paper and via regular mail. The process of sending the summons takes up to a month. Once every
defendant has been served, they have 60 days to respond and on top of that they can ask for another 30 days extension. So if you add those days up with the date when OP filed the lawsuit until they got an FR, you will come to the conclusion that it's unlikely that the lawsuit got DoS moving. But again it's not impossible and still, I think a lawsuit is the way to go. 

 

I'm not sure if 21+ months is the norm. We all have delayed cases which is why we are here on this forum. I actually have no data to know if we are the norm or the outlier. Do you?

[g3dan00 20]

13 hours ago, ErinK said:

That is a possibility.

 

The way lawsuits work is that your lawyer file with the court, then the court sends summons to the defendants (in this case both DoS and USCIS) which informs them that they sued. All of this is on paper and via regular mail. The process of sending the summons takes up to a month. Once every
defendant has been served, they have 60 days to respond and on top of that they can ask for another 30 days extension. So if you add those days up with the date when OP filed the lawsuit until they got an FR, you will come to the conclusion that it's unlikely that the lawsuit got DoS moving. But again it's not impossible and still, I think a lawsuit is the way to go. 

 

I'm not sure if 21+ months is the norm. We all have delayed cases which is why we are here on this forum. I actually have no data to know if we are the norm or the outlier. Do you?

No offense, but you don't know what you're taking about. All your timings are wrong. Please don't state your opinions as facts in a public forum. 

 

I don't know what you're trying to prove here by spreading misinformation. 

 

For anyone reading this guy's response, don't trust my words, don't trust this guy's words. Have a consult with a lawyer before making a decision. Consults for WoM are almost always free. 

 

 

Edit: 

Yes I do. I have data for over 600 hardship cases and have analyzed them month to month by submission, day of the week, year and volume. YOU don't have data but you're posing as if you do. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by g3dan00

[PJAW 18]

17 hours ago, Motheus said:

 

Where my lawsuit was filed is irrelevant to you. Since the mandamus lawsuit is a lawsuit against federal agencies, you need a lawyer with a license for filing suits in federal court. The lawsuit will be filed at whichever federal court has jurisdiction over where you live currently. 

It's relevant because I am interested in seeing a copy of the petition.  I want to pull a copy from the cm/ecf but I need to know what jurisdiction it was filed in.