Christmas Miracle or Innocuous Mistake?

[jjj20 2]

Hey all. I am subject to 2 year home residency requirement (212e) because of my previous J1 visa. Due to the war breaking out I could not complete my last several months of a two year stay and I left the country. I had my spouse visa interview 2 months ago and the visa officer could not issue the visa because of this requirement not being satisfied. We also applied for a J1 waiver back in the day and it has been processing for almost 20 months. 
Today I received an email from the embassy saying that they need me to submit my valid passport to finalize my immigrant visa. The waiver has not been processed yet that is why we are confused. 
1) Does the visa officer have the power to waive this requirement on their own?

2) Did they make a mistake though I am sure they can all see why my visa was not issued and that the waiver is still pending. 

[pushbrk 13,107]

6 minutes ago, jjj20 said:

Hey all. I am subject to 2 year home residency requirement (212e) because of my previous J1 visa. Due to the war breaking out I could not complete my last several months of a two year stay and I left the country. I had my spouse visa interview 2 months ago and the visa officer could not issue the visa because of this requirement not being satisfied. We also applied for a J1 waiver back in the day and it has been processing for almost 20 months. 
Today I received an email from the embassy saying that they need me to submit my valid passport to finalize my immigrant visa. The waiver has not been processed yet that is why we are confused. 
1) Does the visa officer have the power to waive this requirement on their own?

2) Did they make a mistake though I am sure they can all see why my visa was not issued and that the waiver is still pending. 

You will never know until you submit your passport.  In certain circumstances, yes the Consular Officer can waive the requirement.  What country?

 

[jjj20 2]

4 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

You will never know until you submit your passport.  In certain circumstances, yes the Consular Officer can waive the requirement.  What country?

 

Russia but I hold both Ukrainian and Russian citizenships. 

[pushbrk 13,107]

1 minute ago, jjj20 said:

Russia but I hold both Ukrainian and Russian citizenships. 

Yes, I would suspect the requirement is being waived.

[jjj20 2]

On 12/29/2022 at 5:42 PM, pushbrk said:

Yes, I would suspect the requirement is being waived.

A little update: after sending my passport and waiting for 6 weeks, the consulate sent me an email that a J1 waiver is required for processing my immigrant visa. Change of mood I guess.