J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[asevstr 20]

Processing times got updated:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange/waiver-of-the-exchange-visitor/how-to-apply-waiver.html

[Hardship_waiver 54]

2 minutes ago, asevstr said:

Processing times got updated:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange/waiver-of-the-exchange-visitor/how-to-apply-waiver.html

I am surprised to see they decreased it. They should have written 24 months as that's whats going on ground. 

[Wyboxcx 49]

2 hours ago, nmanc33 said:

For people that applied under the exceptional hardship waiver - how long were your statements and pages of evidence? Also, did you get approved or denied?

As you can see from this thread, no one has received a decision and unlikely to do so anytime soon . 

[Sabina Bart 28]

1 hour ago, asevstr said:

Processing times got updated:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange/waiver-of-the-exchange-visitor/how-to-apply-waiver.html

Wow #######. Sorry. Can they just do it? I wonder if it applies to new cases! They always do this . It will be a year for me soon. 

[Sabina Bart 28]

1 hour ago, Hardship_waiver said:

I am surprised to see they decreased it. They should have written 24 months as that's whats going on ground. 

If they due that they know they would get in trouble, so a year is only “waiting period” and 24 months is actually “let’s make a decision”. Are they really understaffed? 

[Sabina Bart 28]

7 hours ago, Hardship_waiver said:

I am surprised to see they decreased it. They should have written 24 months as that's whats going on ground. 

It was 9-12 months before

[Wyboxcx 49]

6 hours ago, Sabina Bart said:

If they due that they know they would get in trouble, so a year is only “waiting period” and 24 months is actually “let’s make a decision”. Are they really understaffed? 

I think the real reason for this ridiculous delay is a combination of understaffing from  Covid and when the Philippines government stopped issuing NOS to its citizens they all flocked to hardship waivers, thus this increased workload. 

[Sabina Bart 28]

13 minutes ago, Wyboxcx said:

I think the real reason for this ridiculous delay is a combination of understaffing from  Covid and when the Philippines government stopped issuing NOS to its citizens they all flocked to hardship waivers, thus this increased workload. 

Great…. I am sure where I am from I am the only one who applied tbh. Why can’t they prioritize those applicants form countries who actually need it the most. 

[Wyboxcx 49]

3 minutes ago, Sabina Bart said:

Great…. I am sure where I am from I am the only one who applied tbh. Why can’t they prioritize those applicants form countries who actually need it the most. 

oh trust me I feel your frustration. This is not to blame Filipino students because often times they have no choice. My frustration is mostly at the waiver review division and their inhumane wait times. They also came up with this crazy rule that has no basis in law that you can only request to expedite your case once. It does not matter how compelling the circumstances are if you once requested it and it was denied they will not expedite again. There is literally nothing in the law that says they can do this but here we are.. It's cruel and so unfair.

[Sabina Bart 28]

8 minutes ago, Wyboxcx said:

oh trust me I feel your frustration. This is not to blame Filipino students because often times they have no choice. My frustration is mostly at the waiver review division and their inhumane wait times. They also came up with this crazy rule that has no basis in law that you can only request to expedite your case once. It does not matter how compelling the circumstances are if you once requested it and it was denied they will not expedite again. There is literally nothing in the law that says they can do this but here we are.. It's cruel and so unfair.

Wait why don’t they have a choice? I am just curious. I am not blaming anyone, I just truly think that they should categorize countries, if someone is from a dictatorship country where there are no human rights, women are treated like no one, healthcare is suffering-this should be prioritized in my opinion.  

[Wyboxcx 49]

28 minutes ago, Sabina Bart said:

Wait why don’t they have a choice? I am just curious. I am not blaming anyone, I just truly think that they should categorize countries, if someone is from a dictatorship country where there are no human rights, women are treated like no one, healthcare is suffering-this should be prioritized in my opinion.  

I honestly don't know the exact circumstances. But my lawyer told me that DOS has in recent months said that they suddenly experienced a "big increase in the number of hardship waiver applications", simultaneously, the Philippines government decided to stop issuing non-objection statements to its citizens, so they were only left with the hardship route most of the time. There are a lot of Filipino J-1 visa holders here so the sheer number of waivers is apparently overwhelming the hardship category. 

[Sabina Bart 28]

27 minutes ago, Wyboxcx said:

I honestly don't know the exact circumstances. But my lawyer told me that DOS has in recent months said that they suddenly experienced a "big increase in the number of hardship waiver applications", simultaneously, the Philippines government decided to stop issuing non-objection statements to its citizens, so they were only left with the hardship route most of the time. There are a lot of Filipino J-1 visa holders here so the sheer number of waivers is apparently overwhelming the hardship category. 

Makes sense, I was hoping they would be done processing 2022 cases, mine is January of this year so I am approaching 12 year mark soon. I might need to expedite though, I did congressional update when I lived on the East Coast but they only said we will try to process it asap nothing else. 

[ErinK 35]

20 hours ago, Sabina Bart said:

Wait why don’t they have a choice? I am just curious. I am not blaming anyone, I just truly think that they should categorize countries, if someone is from a dictatorship country where there are no human rights, women are treated like no one, healthcare is suffering-this should be prioritized in my opinion.  

What you are describing is Persecution waiver not Hardship. Persecution waivers are actually really fast. If you have a persecution case (if you get in trouble if you go back to your country) you or your lawyer should have filed a persecution J-1 waiver. Don't wait in this crazy long line. File a perscution waiver. They decide those in less than 6 months and it doesn't even need sponsor view 

[Hardship_waiver 54]

On 11/15/2023 at 8:18 PM, Sabina Bart said:

Makes sense, I was hoping they would be done processing 2022 cases, mine is January of this year so I am approaching 12 year mark soon. I might need to expedite though, I did congressional update when I lived on the East Coast but they only said we will try to process it asap nothing else. 

2022? No way. They have still not finished 2021 cases. Now holiday season is here and work will resume in 2024. 

"Process it asap" emails are generic and I am getting these replies from the last 1.5 year.

[asevstr 20]

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