J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[Alkha 0]

I see many of you post about timelines once case gets to DOS but what about before that? 
 

my case has still not been approved by USCIS and nothing has been sent to DOS. It has been 14 months, anyone have any insight on this? 

Edited October 9, 2023 by Alkha

[Yaz-123 4]

22 hours ago, Alkha said:

I see many of you post about timelines once case gets to DOS but what about before that? 
 

my case has still not been approved by USCIS and nothing has been sent to DOS. It has been 14 months, anyone have any insight on this? 

Unfortunately, things are getting harder day by day. My case took 3 months to be approved by USCIS and now setting for than 19 months in DOS. I guess they have an overwhelming backlog.

[Hardship_waiver 54]

11 hours ago, Yaz-123 said:

Unfortunately, things are getting harder day by day. My case took 3 months to be approved by USCIS and now setting for than 19 months in DOS. I guess they have an overwhelming backlog.

I agree. Hardship cases are almost going above 20 months with DOS for some applicants (there is no specific pattern, some earlier some very very late).

If we see the whole process, it's taking 3 years now which finishes the purpose of this waiver. 

No objection based are still fast. Saw some cases filed in June 2023 and got decisions now. 

[g3dan00 20]

Got FR today after submitting WoM 2.5 months ago (DoS asked for a 2 week extension). My lawyer reached out to me this morning and said AUSA told them the case is approved. The site was updated roughly 3 hours later.

 

Paid 3.5K for the attorney and highly recommend them. Dm for the attorney recommendation. 

 

 

[Saysono 5]

3 minutes ago, g3dan00 said:

Got FR today after submitting WoM 2.5 months ago (DoS asked for a 2 week extension). My lawyer reached out to me this morning and said AUSA told them the case is approved. The site was updated roughly 3 hours later.

 

Paid 3.5K for the attorney and highly recommend them. Dm for the attorney recommendation. 

 

 

Can you send me your lawyer details? My case has been pending since Feb 2022 at DOS. 

[ErinK 35]

Finally got approval.

 

My case has been pending with DoS since Feb 2022. Filed a lawsuit which took about 1 month for all parties (USCIS and DOS) to be served. Once they got served, it took around 3 weeks to get FR from DoS. USCIS asked for an extension until Nov but ended up approving the case and sending me the final waiver within 2 weeks of FR from DoS. 

 

I hired a lawyer and paid 5K. Good luck everybody 

[Saysono 5]

4 minutes ago, ErinK said:

Finally got approval.

 

My case has been pending with DoS since Feb 2022. Filed a lawsuit which took about 1 month for all parties (USCIS and DOS) to be served. Once they got served, it took around 3 weeks to get FR from DoS. USCIS asked for an extension until Nov but ended up approving the case and sending me the final waiver within 2 weeks of FR from DoS. 

 

I hired a lawyer and paid 5K. Good luck everybody 

Can you send me your lawyer details as well please? I have the same timeline as you. 

[J1 Physician 4]

How soon can we file WoM and please recommend the lawyers?

[Sabina Bart 28]

2 hours ago, ErinK said:

Finally got approval.

 

My case has been pending with DoS since Feb 2022. Filed a lawsuit which took about 1 month for all parties (USCIS and DOS) to be served. Once they got served, it took around 3 weeks to get FR from DoS. USCIS asked for an extension until Nov but ended up approving the case and sending me the final waiver within 2 weeks of FR from DoS. 

 

I hired a lawyer and paid 5K. Good luck everybody 

Wow so for them to start speeding up all of us should just file this Mandamus? That's pretty crazy! 
Also has anyone with sponsor did that? I see that majority who did that don't have Gov Funding, and this one is a risky one. 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

2 minutes ago, Sabina Bart said:

Wow so for them to start speeding up all of us should just file this Mandamus? That's pretty crazy! 
Also has anyone with sponsor did that? I see that majority who did that don't have Gov Funding, and this one is a risky one. 

Its a broken system unfortunately. 

[g3dan00 20]

How long does it take for DoS to send the verdict to USICS and for USCIS to send the actual i612 approval back to us? 

Does anyone have any experience with this part? 

[Sabina Bart 28]

15 minutes ago, Hardship_waiver said:

Its a broken system unfortunately. 

What's strange that this is already like 4th or 5th mandamus filed and they seem not to care. Indeed a broken system. 
But really has anyone with a Gov funding ever filed it? 
 

[Sabina Bart 28]

How many of us are still waiting a decision from the DOS?

[Magnet 12]

@ErinK @g3dan00

 

Congrats to both of you. Did you try to expedite or contact congressman before resorting to WoM? 
 

Do you recommend trying those before the Mandamus or go straight for WoM when we are out of processing timeline?

[g3dan00 20]

5 minutes ago, Magnet said:

@ErinK @g3dan00

 

Congrats to both of you. Did you try to expedite or contact congressman before resorting to WoM? 
 

Do you recommend trying those before the Mandamus or go straight for WoM when we are out of processing timeline?

Thanks! Depends on your timeline. If it's less than 1 year (since i612/i613), then you probably need to do them, since the lawyer would have a better case. 

I personally didn't since my case was just over 1 year. And the lawyer was just totally fine.