J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[Waiver 2021 10]

22 hours ago, lennikov said:

It is more complicated than simple punishment; DOS is not an entity to punish someone, just a raging bureaucracy involving both USICS and DOS branches. I doubt any individual DOS and USCIS staff member is interested in causing suffering to families and US citizens. Yet, the lack of explanation of ~24-48 months waiting time for a decision on the case makes it sound like a penalty to the individuals who claim hardships waiver. I think it's just system runs itself into the condition that the only way a J-1 hardship waiver can work is if the applicant can obtain an O-1 visa to have the ability to wait for the decision otherwise, depending on how early the applicant files for the hardship wavier he most likely fulfill the 2YHR before the waiver decision is made making the whole category completely useless for the average person filing for it. The reasonable thing to do would be to make strict requirements for the waiver, i.e., supported by medical documents, as it is frequently health-related, but make the decision time the same as other categories. I think one of the problems is that hardship is a very vague term that in DOS's mind, requires a lot of time to investigate and look at from every perspective before reaching a conclusion, so paradoxically the very long decision time most likely done by the DOS in the interest of the applicant, but as usual, they fail to account that such a long waiting time cause even more hardships. 

With this painful reality, where do go from here? is there anything we can do as a group collectively to voice our concerns and struggles with this endless process through the appropriate channels? 

[lennikov 36]

Quote

With this painful reality, where do go from here? is there anything we can do as a group collectively to voice our concerns and struggles with this endless process through the appropriate channels? 

Theoretically, you can file a Supreme Court case for the unconstitutional hardships waiver waiting times violating your constitutional rights. But it requires very substantial financial investments, maybe a decade of legal effort, and would only help those who face this challenge after you. Most of us regular people eventually go through this and even get our green cards and prefer never to forget this difficult time. On top of that, you will need evidence that your constitutional rights were violated, and DOS can always counterclaim that they are understaffed and under-budgeted, likely resulting in the case dismissal without a hearing. With DOS being quite a black box, it's hard to build an argument. There was a person who tried to collect the hardships cases and run some analysis on them; remember what happened to him? Furthermore, the strongest argument against any J-1 hardship seeker can be "Nobody forced you to take the J-1". It's not like they do not tell you that there is a 2YHR. It's just they are not clear enough about how big of a trouble it can be. Many people have no idea about J-1 2YHR until they encounter it. This is actually the biggest fallacy of the J-1: if you can get hired as a J-1, you most likely can file for the NIW green card. In summary, as an individual, you probably can't do much to change this situation as it has remained unchanged for the past 30 years. Wait it out if you can, or file mandamus if you can afford it. If you win a couple of million in the lottery and would be willing to spend it on a legal battle with DOS in the supreme court, let me know. 

[DrFood 9]

On 10/13/2023 at 11:27 AM, Saysono said:

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

Can you share the layer details with me as well? My case has been with DOS for 15 months now.

[extreme_hardship 22]

Another favorable. Took them 20 months.

[Hardship_waiver 54]

4 minutes ago, extreme_hardship said:

Another favorable. Took them 20 months.

 

Thanks for posting. Keep posting these updates. I am also in 20th month. Still pending. 

[Wyboxcx 49]

4 minutes ago, extreme_hardship said:

Another favorable. Took them 20 months.

 

it does not seem that this person even had any government funding, based on the lack of "sponsor views". While I am happy for them, the fact that it took them 20 months to issue a FR is beyond depressing. This is so fundamentally cruel 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

Just now, Wyboxcx said:

it does not seem that this person even had any government funding, based on the lack of "sponsor views". While I am happy for them, the fact that it took them 20 months to issue a FR is beyond depressing. This is so fundamentally cruel 

COVID passed long ago but still pouring its wrath on some (hardship-based) applicants. 

[extreme_hardship 22]

1 hour ago, Wyboxcx said:

it does not seem that this person even had any government funding, based on the lack of "sponsor views". While I am happy for them, the fact that it took them 20 months to issue a FR is beyond depressing. This is so fundamentally cruel 

Yeah. I feel like the Sponsor’s view process is 3 more months in addition to the 20 month wait time. I.e the ones with governmental funding will wait around 20 months and then their case will be sent to the sponsor, which will take another 3 months. 😔

[Hardship_waiver 54]

4 minutes ago, extreme_hardship said:

Yeah. I feel like the Sponsor’s view process is 3 more months in addition to the 20 month wait time. I.e the ones with governmental funding will wait around 20 months and then their case will be sent to the sponsor, which will take another 3 months. 😔

And then they would have already completed 2 years in home country or keep suffering for two years here in US. 

 

Even if DOS post correct timelines on it's website will help many suffering families for deciding a proper strategy. 

 

[J1 wavier_09/2022 3]

My case:

submitted to USCIS 09/22/2023,

I612/I613 sent to DOS 10/04/2023. 

 

Do you guys know how long will it take DOS to update these forms in the system? I was writing to DOS on 10/18/2023 to ask whether they have received these forms, they replied that they did not receive these forms yet. 

[J1 Physician 4]

18 minutes ago, J1 wavier_09/2022 said:

My case:

submitted to USCIS 09/22/2023,

I612/I613 sent to DOS 10/04/2023. 

 

Do you guys know how long will it take DOS to update these forms in the system? I was writing to DOS on 10/18/2023 to ask whether they have received these forms, they replied that they did not receive these forms yet. 

It can take few weeks for DOS to update it on their website. Your case was with USCIS for a month only?

[J1 wavier_09/2022 3]

4 hours ago, J1 Physician said:

It can take few weeks for DOS to update it on their website. Your case was with USCIS for a month only?

Sorry, it was a typo, submitted to USCIS on 09/22/2022. 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

8 minutes ago, J1 wavier_09/2022 said:

Sorry, it was a typo, submitted to USCIS on 09/22/2022. 

It can take a week to as long as 10months (I know one case) just to upload the I-612/I-613 on their website. Then it can take 20-24 months or even more to get a decision. 

Do plan some backup as this process is highly unpredictable. 

[Waiver 2021 10]

On 10/23/2023 at 3:06 AM, J1 wavier_09/2022 said:

My case:

submitted to USCIS 09/22/2023,

I612/I613 sent to DOS 10/04/2023. 

 

Do you guys know how long will it take DOS to update these forms in the system? I was writing to DOS on 10/18/2023 to ask whether they have received these forms, they replied that they did not receive these forms yet. 

I lost  10 months because of issues with I-613/I-612. USCIS received my case in Feb. 2021 and forwarded it to DOS in Nov. 2021.  However, the I-613/I-612 did not appear on the DOS website until Sep. 2022. (almost a year after). The case is still pending 2 years and 8 months with USCIS and 13 Months at DOS.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Waiver 2021

[Hardship_waiver 54]

12 minutes ago, Waiver 2021 said:

I lost  10 months because of issues with I-613/I-612. USCIS received my case in Feb. 2021 and forwarded it to DOS in Nov. 2021.  However, the I-613/I-612 did not appear on the DOS website until Sep. 2022. (almost a year after). The case is still pending 2 years and 8 months with USCIS and 13 Months at DOS.

Even considering the absurd delays in document uploads, electronic transmisttal, your case has already completed its normal processing time.