2018 J1 WAIVER TIMELINE

[ericaBR 1]

Hi guys living the J-1 Waiver drama, 

 

It's been already 6 weeks without having any progress on my J-1 Waiver timeline (see bellow). I am applying for the waiver based on (Brazilian) government financing my work in the US on 2016-2017. However, as the US DOE sponsored my previous visa, I think DOS will request their view about my case. I was expecting it wouldn't take so long to see on my timeline that the DOS contacted the DOE. Do you guys think it is time to email the DOS to see what is going on?

I've already emailed the DOE, but they can't do anything until they hear from the DOS. My future employer is waiting for this drama to conclude so that we can apply for the H1B visa.   

 

I really appreciate your comments about that!

 

Cheers.

 

[Coco8 1,039]

2 minutes ago, ericaBR said:

Hi guys living the J-1 Waiver drama, 

 

It's been already 6 weeks without having any progress on my J-1 Waiver timeline (see bellow). I am applying for the waiver based on (Brazilian) government financing my work in the US on 2016-2017. However, as the US DOE sponsored my previous visa, I think DOS will request their view about my case. I was expecting it wouldn't take so long to see on my timeline that the DOS contacted the DOE. Do you guys think it is time to email the DOS to see what is going on?

I've already emailed the DOE, but they can't do anything until they hear from the DOS. My future employer is waiting for this drama to conclude so that we can apply for the H1B visa.   

 

I really appreciate your comments about that!

 

Cheers.

 

 

So are you doing a waiver for 2 different J1 visas? After the old J1, did you spend 2 years in Brazil (counting the time between the J1s and the time you've been here so far). 

 

6 weeks is not much. You have to wait 8 or more weeks. If they request the opinion of the office that sponsored your first J1 (the office is on your DS 2019), they will do that in a few weeks, then you have to wait for the office's opinion to be submitted, and then you have to wait another 6 to 8 weeks (less if you are lucky). After that, you have to wait for UCSIS to send the waiver.

 

 

 

[ericaBR 1]

9 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

 

So are you doing a waiver for 2 different J1 visas? After the old J1, did you spend 2 years in Brazil (counting the time between the J1s and the time you've been here so far). 

 

6 weeks is not much. You have to wait 8 or more weeks. If they request the opinion of the office that sponsored your first J1 (the office is on your DS 2019), they will do that in a few weeks, then you have to wait for the office's opinion to be submitted, and then you have to wait another 6 to 8 weeks (less if you are lucky). After that, you have to wait for UCSIS to send the waiver.

 

 

 

 

Hi Coco8, 

 

Thanks a lot for the quick and nice reply! I had these two J-1 visas:

 

- 2-months visit (08/01/2015 to 09/30/2015), J-1 visa sponsored by the University of Washington, financial support to research both from Brazilian government and UW.

- 1-year visit ( 05/01/2016 to 04/30/2017), J-1 Visa sponsored by the DOE (it didn't pay my stipends, only my visa), financial support to research from Brazilian government.  

 

I understand that there is no need to request the approval of the University of Washington (right?), so I am mostly worried about the time it will take to the DOS to contact the DOE... 

 

- Erica

 

 

 

 

 

[ericaBR 1]

25 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

 

So are you doing a waiver for 2 different J1 visas? After the old J1, did you spend 2 years in Brazil (counting the time between the J1s and the time you've been here so far). 

 

6 weeks is not much. You have to wait 8 or more weeks. If they request the opinion of the office that sponsored your first J1 (the office is on your DS 2019), they will do that in a few weeks, then you have to wait for the office's opinion to be submitted, and then you have to wait another 6 to 8 weeks (less if you are lucky). After that, you have to wait for UCSIS to send the waiver.

 

 

 

 After the old J1, I stayed in Brazil for 21 months... Omg, do I need to apply for a second Waiver because of the 3 missing months in Brazil due to the old J1? I thought they would consider both J1 in a single process... 

[Coco8 1,039]

47 minutes ago, ericaBR said:

 After the old J1, I stayed in Brazil for 21 months... Omg, do I need to apply for a second Waiver because of the 3 missing months in Brazil due to the old J1? I thought they would consider both J1 in a single process... 

Did you add your first J1 to the application? If so, your no objection letter from the embassy will have to mention that they do not object to a waiver for the first visa too because you are seeking waiver for both visas. In reality, you are going to be in Brazil for the missing 3 months so you will not be needing a waiver. 

 

56 minutes ago, ericaBR said:

I understand that there is no need to request the approval of the University of Washington (right?), so I am mostly worried about the time it will take to the DOS to contact the DOE... 

 

DOS might contact the University of Washington. It is hard to say. I'm pretty sure they will say yes to the waiver. Some advisors have been contacted about the source of the funding -- they asked whether it was from the university or from a grant -- and they also had to answer questions like:

 

 – will you be able to find a job in your home country to utilize the skills acquired during your program, if not explain why (avoid to say that your skill set is too unique for your country, that could be considered as you intentionally chose that skill set for your program to be able to find a job in the US only)
– how your knowledge and skills benefit your country, how your presence in the US benefits your country (participating in exchange program of other students, sharing your knowledge with your colleagues in your home country, try specify it as much as you can)
– what the impact on your home country is if you do not return
– country conditions (reducing science funding, hiring freeze), anything global that can prevent you from finding a job and applying your skills, but try to put it as recent events, otherwise your coming to the US will look like an intent to emigrate.
 

I took that from here (https://hlplab.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/information-on-applying-for-a-waiver-of-the-j1-visa-foreign-residence-requirement/) , from someone who got that information from her advisor.

 

I think the issue is whether DOE will give a favorable recommendation. I would think they will because usually the department that refuses is Fulbright. Most other departments, from what I've heard, give a favorable opinion.

 

Edited June 14, 2018 by Coco8

[ericaBR 1]

26 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

Did you add your first J1 to the application? If so, your no objection letter from the embassy will have to mention that they do not object to a waiver for the first visa too because you are seeking waiver for both visas. In reality, you are going to be in Brazil for the missing 3 months so you will not be needing a waiver. 

 

 

DOS might contact the University of Washington. It is hard to say. I'm pretty sure they will say yes to the waiver. Some advisors have been contacted about the source of the funding -- they asked whether it was from the university or from a grant -- and they also had to answer questions like:

 

 – will you be able to find a job in your home country to utilize the skills acquired during your program, if not explain why (avoid to say that your skill set is too unique for your country, that could be considered as you intentionally chose that skill set for your program to be able to find a job in the US only)
– how your knowledge and skills benefit your country, how your presence in the US benefits your country (participating in exchange program of other students, sharing your knowledge with your colleagues in your home country, try specify it as much as you can)
– what the impact on your home country is if you do not return
– country conditions (reducing science funding, hiring freeze), anything global that can prevent you from finding a job and applying your skills, but try to put it as recent events, otherwise your coming to the US will look like an intent to emigrate.
 

I took that from here (https://hlplab.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/information-on-applying-for-a-waiver-of-the-j1-visa-foreign-residence-requirement/) , from someone who got that information from her advisor.

 

I think the issue is whether DOE will give a favorable recommendation. I would think they will because usually the department that refuses is Fulbright. Most other departments, from what I've heard, give a favorable opinion.

 

 

Oh my... the person from the DOE that signed my J-1 Visa mentioned that they consider the  Fulbright-Hayes Act... She didn't say they will refuse my petition, though. She said they will contact my previsous supervisor and so on.  Maybe I can try an extreme hardship waiver? I reading about it now.  

 

[Coco8 1,039]

2 minutes ago, ericaBR said:

 

Oh my... the person from the DOE that signed my J-1 Visa mentioned that they consider the  Fulbright-Hayes Act... She didn't say they will refuse my petition, though. She said they will contact my previsous supervisor and so on.  Maybe I can try an extreme hardship waiver? I reading about it now.  

 

 

If they forward the questions to your supervisor, then you might want to talk to your supervisor about this. 

 

You won't get an extreme hardship waiver. 

[ericaBR 1]

1 minute ago, Coco8 said:

 

If they forward the questions to your supervisor, then you might want to talk to your supervisor about this. 

 

You won't get an extreme hardship waiver. 

Yes, my supervisor is aware about it. 

Actually, I don't know what is an extreme hardship waiver.. Who gets it?

[Coco8 1,039]

1 hour ago, ericaBR said:

Yes, my supervisor is aware about it. 

Actually, I don't know what is an extreme hardship waiver.. Who gets it?

 

You have to add a lot of "points". For instance, not being able to go back to your country because there is a war or persecution or what you do does not exist. But it is more than that because technically you could go to any other country if that were the case. So more "points" are added if you are married to a US citizen that could not go to your country for serious reasons (e.g. language, no jobs, religion reason) and that US citizen has loans to pay, or dependents in the US (children or old parents), or a medical condition that requires advanced treatment. And so on and so on...

 

Brazil would not be one of those types of countries.

 

 

[ericaBR 1]

5 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

 

You have to add a lot of "points". For instance, not being able to go back to your country because there is a war or persecution or what you do does not exist. But it is more than that because technically you could go to any other country if that were the case. So more "points" are added if you are married to a US citizen that could not go to your country for serious reasons (e.g. language, no jobs, religion reason) and that US citizen has loans to pay, or dependents in the US (children or old parents), or a medical condition that requires advanced treatment. And so on and so on...

 

Brazil would not be one of those types of countries.

 

 

Oh, yeah, definitely this is not our case (at least now). Well, thanks a lot for your patience and clarifications! I hope to, soon, share with you guys a positive experience in this journey.   

[vzachari 1]

NIH J1 Waiver (No Objection Basis)

 

Greetings,

 

Small update on my DOS timeline. Sponsor views were requested. It took about one month from the time the DOS reported they received my no objection statement.

NIH has a website for monitoring sponsor view process (https://dis-waiver.cit.nih.gov/search1.php) and they claim it takes about a month for them to issue them. I will try to expedite the process and let you know if anything works. I do know that they are responding to e-mails on the same day.

 

I also e-mailed the DOS once about 10 days ago but did not receive a reply yet so the DOS response time is still at least 10 days or more.

 

I hope this helps,

 

Thank you

[vzachari 1]

Hello,

 

All my information suddenly vanished from the DOS website. Is there something wrong with the website or should I try to get in touch with them? Can somebody check their status to see if they can access their info?

 

Thank you

[mohitindelhi 1]

Yes I can login

[vzachari 1]

Thank you for the quick reply. I will try to see what is going on,

[mohitindelhi 1]

How long does it take after DOS sends favorable recommendation to uscis. I mean how long does USCIS take to deliver the I-797. Also, is there nay website to check the status on USCIS website?