J1 waiver 2020 NOS update timeline

[Curious one 3]

 

These threads were very helpful for me during my application process.  Therefore, sharing my timeline so that it can be helpful for others.

I submitted my documents in end of Oct 2021.

NOS was sent on first week of Nov 2021 by embassy.

Follow up: Feb and March 2022. No update.

Third follow up: There was no update so I emailed on dedicated email id and shared all documents. Also, sent the hard copy of same on 13th March 2022.

All Documents updated on March 15th 2022 except NOS.

Fourth follow up: I emailed embassy and asked to resend. They did it very fast. I forwarded email on dedicated email id.

I got response that they received NOS and will update soon.

NOS was updated late but they put date of 14th Mar 2022.

Favorable recommendation on 15th Jun 2022. 

Wish you good luck.

[konrad89 4]

12 minutes ago, Curious one said:

 

These threads were very helpful for me during my application process.  Therefore, sharing my timeline so that it can be helpful for others.

I submitted my documents in end of Oct 2021.

NOS was sent on first week of Nov 2021 by embassy.

Follow up: Feb and March 2022. No update.

Third follow up: There was no update so I emailed on dedicated email id and shared all documents. Also, sent the hard copy of same on 13th March 2022.

All Documents updated on March 15th 2022 except NOS.

Fourth follow up: I emailed embassy and asked to resend. They did it very fast. I forwarded email on dedicated email id.

I got response that they received NOS and will update soon.

NOS was updated late but they put date of 14th Mar 2022.

Favorable recommendation on 15th Jun 2022. 

Wish you good luck.

@Curious one Do you remember how late it was updated (more or less)? They confirmed they had received mine on April 26th and it’s still not updated.

[Curious one 3]

3 hours ago, konrad89 said:

@Curious one Do you remember how late it was updated (more or less)? They confirmed they had received mine on April 26th and it’s still not updated.

They took around 2 weeks to upload. 

[dcg1011 5]

Hey @asmacan I have the very same timeline:

 

(My initial application was in the first half of November (around Nov 8-10) and the documents were reflected in the DoS waiver website in March 24, and the NOS on March 29)

 

DoS sent FR to USCIS: on May 25th

Received hardcopy of letter sent to USCIS with FR: May 31st (sent on May 25th)

 

Now I've been calling/chatting(beyond Emma) with USCIS. They have not been able to locate case number. As stated here by other people, this is unlikely to be successful before the 1 month mark after the FR is sent.

 

Please let me know when you are successful getting the case number from the USCIS (either via chat or by getting their letter), and when you get the Waiver approval.

 

I'll post here that too in case it's helpful.

 

 

[asmacan 3]

16 hours ago, dcg1011 said:

Hey @asmacan I have the very same timeline:

 

(My initial application was in the first half of November (around Nov 8-10) and the documents were reflected in the DoS waiver website in March 24, and the NOS on March 29)

 

DoS sent FR to USCIS: on May 25th

Received hardcopy of letter sent to USCIS with FR: May 31st (sent on May 25th)

 

Now I've been calling/chatting(beyond Emma) with USCIS. They have not been able to locate case number. As stated here by other people, this is unlikely to be successful before the 1 month mark after the FR is sent.

 

Please let me know when you are successful getting the case number from the USCIS (either via chat or by getting their letter), and when you get the Waiver approval.

 

I'll post here that too in case it's helpful.

 

 

Sure wiil do , i don't have case number yet though 

[rianno 7]

Update: FINALLY got my receipt notice in the mail. It says received date as 5/4/22 (?!) and notice date 6/17/22. 

 

When I put my receipt # on my online account, the case history shows:

- 6/16/22 "We accepted your Form I-612, Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement (under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Amended)." 

- 6/17/22 "Case was received at another USCIS office"

 

I know that my mail to VT service center (I had included the email USCIS had sent me on 6/3/22 saying they couldn't locate my record, my FR letter and other bits of evidence) was received 6/16/22 and signed for by a L. Zuchowski (who is addressed in my FR letter as the director). 

 

And if it helps - I mailed it to the following address which was in the USCIS email they sent me on 6/3/22: 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
USCIS Vermont Service Center
38 River Road
Essex Junction,VT 05479-0001

 

I'm going to try and see if I can expedite later today if I can find time to sit around and wait on the phone. 

[qwopqwop 5]

On 6/22/2022 at 5:20 AM, rianno said:

Update: FINALLY got my receipt notice in the mail. It says received date as 5/4/22 (?!) and notice date 6/17/22. 

 

When I put my receipt # on my online account, the case history shows:

- 6/16/22 "We accepted your Form I-612, Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement (under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Amended)." 

- 6/17/22 "Case was received at another USCIS office"

 

I know that my mail to VT service center (I had included the email USCIS had sent me on 6/3/22 saying they couldn't locate my record, my FR letter and other bits of evidence) was received 6/16/22 and signed for by a L. Zuchowski (who is addressed in my FR letter as the director). 

 

And if it helps - I mailed it to the following address which was in the USCIS email they sent me on 6/3/22: 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
USCIS Vermont Service Center
38 River Road
Essex Junction,VT 05479-0001

 

I'm going to try and see if I can expedite later today if I can find time to sit around and wait on the phone. 

I just got mine too. FR May 4; received date May 14; notice date June 17. Arrived today.

 

Looks like things are starting to move.

[dcg1011 5]

Any luck @asmacan ?

 

Since it's been 30 days I talked to them via chat and the agent put a Service Request for a Tier 2 representative to call me. Alas, I am out of the US so they will contact my Attorney in the US instead.

 

Same thing as the others:

 

"Please allow up to 30 calendar days to receive a response by phone or email. You will receive a text message and/or email 1 to 2 business days before we contact you. If by phone, callbacks will begin at 7am local. To verify the return call is coming from USCIS, the number on your caller id will be 202-838-2104.  Please write down the following service item number and have it available for verification when we call you. Your service item number is * * * * * * * *."

 

Does anybody have any clue what happens during these calls? (maybe @rianno or @qwopqwop?) It's astounding they cannot locate our cases (and receipt numbers) after this long and that their answer now is to wait longer for yet another call (I've also have had several calls with agents as of now).

 

Sigh

 

 

[qwopqwop 5]

2 minutes ago, dcg1011 said:

Any luck @asmacan ?

 

Since it's been 30 days I talked to them via chat and the agent put a Service Request for a Tier 2 representative to call me. Alas, I am out of the US so they will contact my Attorney in the US instead.

 

Same thing as the others:

 

"Please allow up to 30 calendar days to receive a response by phone or email. You will receive a text message and/or email 1 to 2 business days before we contact you. If by phone, callbacks will begin at 7am local. To verify the return call is coming from USCIS, the number on your caller id will be 202-838-2104.  Please write down the following service item number and have it available for verification when we call you. Your service item number is * * * * * * * *."

 

Does anybody have any clue what happens during these calls? (maybe @rianno or @qwopqwop?) It's astounding they cannot locate our cases (and receipt numbers) after this long and that their answer now is to wait longer for yet another call (I've also have had several calls with agents as of now).

 

Sigh

 

 

It's similar to a Tier 1 call except the person you are talking to is a trained immigration officer (as opposed to a call center agent). They sound a bit more authoritative and apparently have a bit deeper access to the system. But they just told me to email lockboxsupport again, which still hasn't replied to me. But I think things are starting to move quickly after they just sat on all the incoming cases for a month. 

I had emailed the public engagement email address for USCIS last week, saying nobody's I-612s are being processed. I received this reply, which alleviated a tiny bit of the frustration because it was the first acknowledgment I got from them that something was up. Sharing here for reference:

Quote

 

Good afternoon,

 

Thank you for your inquiry and additional information.

 

Please be advised that USCIS is currently working on this issue.  If your issue is not resolved within the next two weeks, please send us an email.

 

 

Another thing that's weird is that I received my receipt notice dated 6/17. But I called them on 6/21 and the agent still could not see my case in the system. I found out I was getting my receipt notice because of USPS Informed Delivery, which emails you a picture of incoming envelopes for the day every morning. After getting it I called them to file the expedite, gave them my newly-acquired receipt number and it showed up on their system no problem. Very odd...

 

Anyway, I think a lot of receipt notices will go out this week and next. The critical question is: will they be able to stick the 10-day-ish timeline from receipt to approval that they had around March, or will this stage also be subject to "unprecedented" delays? We'll find out terrifyingly soon!

[asmacan 3]

6 hours ago, dcg1011 said:

Any luck @asmacan ?

 

Since it's been 30 days I talked to them via chat and the agent put a Service Request for a Tier 2 representative to call me. Alas, I am out of the US so they will contact my Attorney in the US instead.

 

Same thing as the others:

 

"Please allow up to 30 calendar days to receive a response by phone or email. You will receive a text message and/or email 1 to 2 business days before we contact you. If by phone, callbacks will begin at 7am local. To verify the return call is coming from USCIS, the number on your caller id will be 202-838-2104.  Please write down the following service item number and have it available for verification when we call you. Your service item number is * * * * * * * *."

 

Does anybody have any clue what happens during these calls? (maybe @rianno or @qwopqwop?) It's astounding they cannot locate our cases (and receipt numbers) after this long and that their answer now is to wait longer for yet another call (I've also have had several calls with agents as of now).

 

Sigh

 

 

Unfortunately not

[rianno 7]

Hi all,

 

A final update! My case status is showing as approved as of 6/27 and I'm now waiting for the final notice. I had tried to expedite it (which they denied very quickly), but I'm just glad it didn't take them another 1+ months to get to this stage. 

 

To recap my timeline in case it might be helpful for others: 

 

13 Nov 21 - documents mailed to St. Louis 

17 Nov 21 - St. Louis cashes check 

early Dec - embassy sends NOS

28 Mar 22 - update on DoS website to state all documents except NOS received

5 Apr 22 - NOS updated as received 

20 Apr 22 - DoS sends request for sponsor views (NIH)

27 Apr 22 - Sponsor views are received by DoS 

29 Apr 22 - FR from DoS and sent to USCIS

16-17 Jun 22 - Case received by USCIS

27 Jun 22 - USCIS approved and mails notice. 

 

Good luck everyone - this process is absolutely a killer in terms of waiting. 

[Ffghw 0]

On 6/23/2022 at 9:29 AM, qwopqwop said:

I just got mine too. FR May 4; received date May 14; notice date June 17. Arrived today.

 

Looks like things are starting to move.

Hello, I have the same message (Case was received at another USCIS office) in my receipt notice as well. Is this normal? 

[dcg1011 5]

Hi All, 

 

@asmacan I put your name here as we have the very same date of "Sent FR" by the DOS (May 25)

 

Finally, I was able to locate my USCIS A or Receipt Number. I'm not sure if it was the Service Request (most likely this is what helped), or a Tier 2 Call that I referred to my representative attorney, or, even less likely a Lockbox support email I sent yesterday. Whichever the case, I received an email today by the USCIS stating my Case Number, and that the case was received on June 13, 2022 and Accepted on June 29, 2022.

 

With this I can now see the case status online in the USCIS website (see image below).

 

To summarize:

 

DOS:

Submission of Application: Nov 24, 2021

Submission accepted in St. Louis: Nov 29, 2021

Case showed in DOS check status website: Mar 20, 2022

No Objection Statement (received): Mar 24, 2022 (I was sent way before but this is what they report)

Passport data page (received): Mar 29, 2022

Favorable Recomendation - Sent (to USCIS): May 25, 2022

 

USCIS:

i612 Received: June 13, 2022

Form Accepted:  June 28, 2022

Change of office: June 30, 2022

Name Update: July 5, 2022 (not sure what this is but they mentioned they made an update to the Attorney information, they changed names as one was on a leave)

.

.

.

Now waiting for approval. If I'm lucky and looks like recent timelines, something like 10-12 days after June 30 the Approval should be reflected on the website. Fingers crossed!

 

 

 

[Rimssk 1]

On 6/16/2022 at 2:14 PM, asmacan said:

I had favorable recommendation at May 25 th, had the hardcopy at June 3th, now waiting for USCIS receipt 

 

timeline

sent package at November 13 th 2021

Seen received at system March 23  2022

Get favorable recommendation May 25 

Had hardcopy June 3

 

Hi, Have you received the waiver?

[Curious one 3]

On 6/16/2022 at 3:14 PM, Curious one said:

 

These threads were very helpful for me during my application process.  Therefore, sharing my timeline so that it can be helpful for others.

I submitted my documents in end of Oct 2021.

NOS was sent on first week of Nov 2021 by embassy.

Follow up: Feb and March 2022. No update.

Third follow up: There was no update so I emailed on dedicated email id and shared all documents. Also, sent the hard copy of same on 13th March 2022.

All Documents updated on March 15th 2022 except NOS.

Fourth follow up: I emailed embassy and asked to resend. They did it very fast. I forwarded email on dedicated email id.

I got response that they received NOS and will update soon.

NOS was updated late but they put date of 14th Mar 2022.

Favorable recommendation on 15th Jun 2022. 

Wish you good luck.

Recent Update: 

June 15th, 2022 FR Sent

June 27, 2022 We accepted your Form I-612, Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement (under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Amended).

June 29, 2022 Case Was Received At Another USCIS Office

 

And, waiting.....