Lolom

Hi everyone, 
I'm happy to share my timeline here for the update and benefit of others.
 
November 4, 2019: My document was sent to DOS via USPS (Delivery date 11/06/2019)
November 19, 2019: I physically applied for NOS @Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC  (Personal and DOS copies was sent within 1 week)
 
Now check the attachment
 
February, 8 2020:  I received Favorable Recommendation Notice in my mail
February, 10 2020:  I received USCIS Notice of Action I-797C in my mail
February, 13 2020: USCIS Approved my Case
February, 21 2020:  I received USCIS Notice of Action (Approval) I-797 in my mail
 
Good luck to everyone waiting. It will end in Joy, Amen.

Hi,
Are you in your 5th year of your J1 visa? If not I will first recommend to extend your J1 visa as much as possible before going for waiver. After you will apply for a J1 waiver, you are not able to do J1 visa extension. 
I do not think that job offer is needed for J1 visa waiver.
You should start with your application as soon as possible because the waiver takes a lot of time. It took to DOS 1.5 month from the time when I sent the application to the point when they updated my case to the stage of "received documents". Then it depends if you have a government funding. If yes this can make your time processing even longer because your sponsor will be asked for sponsor views. The DOS official website is now saying that the processing time can take up to 4 months since they will receive all the documents. After DOS will approve your case you still need to wait for the final USCIS decision which can take also some time.
 
Veronika