J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[Sabina Bart 27]

On 3/26/2024 at 8:11 AM, corgidance said:

That's right, no sponsor views yet for me. It was easier to wait before the sponsor views were requested. Now I know it's almost over (hopefully), I get impatient. Definitely need to distract myself and not check the website so damn often.

Any news? 

[lennikov 31]

8 hours ago, Sabina Bart said:

Did they not request even sponsor views? Whoa! Or you don't have gov support? 

No, they did not; I have gov support, making it even less promising as sponsor views take about 4-6 months extra, so it's unlikely that I will have a decision in 24 months. I need to file mondamus, but don't have spare funds for it. 

 

12 hours ago, OldUser said:

I understand the pain, but immigration is not a right, it's a privilege. At least waivers are offered. In many other jurisdictions people are asked to leave the country. 

Indeed it is a privilege, but I'm on an O-1 visa, if you check the requirements for an O-1, you will see that they dramatically exceed the requirements for an NIW green card, which was also granted to me, but I can't claim it due to an unresolved waiver. I would be glad to fulfill the 2YHR, but my country is ravaged by war. I should have probably applied for fear of prosecution waiver, but I submitted the hardships waiver due to my son's health condition to USCIS a few weeks before the war started, and did not have spare funds to do another application. 

12 hours ago, OldUser said:

UK for example doesn't even allow getting marrying in the UK on visitor visa or other visas other than special Marriage Visa.

I think it's very different from the hardships waiver situation. If you want a direct comparison, even if you are married to a US citizen, you still have to fulfill 2YHR or get a waiver; on the other hand, you are also non-deportable in this case, giving you plenty of time to deal with the situation. 

[Sabina Bart 27]

57 minutes ago, lennikov said:

No, they did not; I have gov support, making it even less promising as sponsor views take about 4-6 months extra, so it's unlikely that I will have a decision in 24 months. I need to file mondamus, but don't have spare funds for it. 

 

Indeed it is a privilege, but I'm on an O-1 visa, if you check the requirements for an O-1, you will see that they dramatically exceed the requirements for an NIW green card, which was also granted to me, but I can't claim it due to an unresolved waiver. I would be glad to fulfill the 2YHR, but my country is ravaged by war. I should have probably applied for fear of prosecution waiver, but I submitted the hardships waiver due to my son's health condition to USCIS a few weeks before the war started, and did not have spare funds to do another application. 

I think it's very different from the hardships waiver situation. If you want a direct comparison, even if you are married to a US citizen, you still have to fulfill 2YHR or get a waiver; on the other hand, you are also non-deportable in this case, giving you plenty of time to deal with the situation. 

I am sorry that sucks  assuming you are 2022 I wonder why haven’t they tried to request sv. I am not sure anymore how things work to be honest. I doubt there is first come first serve, maybe they forget to open a case… 

Edited March 28 by Sabina Bart

[Sabina Bart 27]

On 3/26/2024 at 12:10 AM, Wyboxcx said:

I feel you 100 %. I wonder if they gather a number of cases with government funding and deliberate over them during the same meeting, or if each case is decided separately. 

Hey any news? Still says sv received? 

[BadAss007 0]

Any news on hardship cases with gov funding is it true that they're moving faster now 

[Sabina Bart 27]

10 hours ago, BadAss007 said:

Any news on hardship cases with gov funding is it true that they're moving faster now 

Couple cases were approved from June and July 2022 so far… many had sponsor views requested I guess that about it, no more news… it seems that this month has been particularly slow, I wonder if many took spring break vacation and/or Easter break… seems that this week no new cases…

[lennikov 31]

Quote

Couple cases were approved from June and July 2022 so far… many had sponsor views requested I guess that about it, no more news… it seems that this month has been particularly slow, I wonder if many took spring break vacation and/or Easter break… seems that this week no new cases…

Only a fraction of all J-1 cases are posted on this forum, so there are certainly cases that are decided upon, simply not among the members of Visajourney. The lack of activity is, of course, disheartening.  

[worrieduser 1]

Hey guys, 

 

I got a RFE asking for additional documents 🤦🏻‍♀️  this situation is consuming my life 😞 

[Wyboxcx 44]

2 minutes ago, worrieduser said:

Hey guys, 

 

I got a RFE asking for additional documents 🤦🏻‍♀️  this situation is consuming my life 😞 

USCIS is issuing RFEs for hardships all the time these days. Even when the case is very strong and sometimes they ask for documents you already submitted. It’s their way of delaying your case even more and taking more time . Just send them what they asked 

[flyonearth 5]

2 hours ago, worrieduser said:

Hey guys, 

 

I got a RFE asking for additional documents 🤦🏻‍♀️  this situation is consuming my life 😞 

Hi. How long does it take for uscis to get back to you? I’ve been waiting for 13 months at uscis and my status is still case received 🤦‍♀️

[corgidance 4]

On 4/5/2024 at 2:40 PM, worrieduser said:

Hey guys, 

 

I got a RFE asking for additional documents 🤦🏻‍♀️  this situation is consuming my life 😞 

I also had an RFE. It was obvious that they didn't even read my statement or look at the documents because they asked for things we included in the file. It's stressful and annoying. The only good thing about this situation is that you have a chance to submit even more proof and make your case even stronger. My spouse got an additional evaluation from an expert who has dealt with government institutions before. My lawyer previously advised us that this evaluation was unnecessary because he believed our case was strong and self-evident. Also in my case, my lawyer added to the pressure by dragging his feet and being unresponsive, sending in the additional documents at the last moment. So if I could do it over again, I would check in with my lawyer sooner asking for progress updates, instead of trusting that he will work on my case as he promised. 

[Sabina Bart 27]

3 hours ago, corgidance said:

I also had an RFE. It was obvious that they didn't even read my statement or look at the documents because they asked for things we included in the file. It's stressful and annoying. The only good thing about this situation is that you have a chance to submit even more proof and make your case even stronger. My spouse got an additional evaluation from an expert who has dealt with government institutions before. My lawyer previously advised us that this evaluation was unnecessary because he believed our case was strong and self-evident. Also in my case, my lawyer added to the pressure by dragging his feet and being unresponsive, sending in the additional documents at the last moment. So if I could do it over again, I would check in with my lawyer sooner asking for progress updates, instead of trusting that he will work on my case as he promised. 

Me too, I had RFE as well, and it took them 11 days after they received the docs to approve. Overall for me was like 10 months but it was in late 2022. The same added psych evals and even more docs and wrote new statements indicating what we added before and what we are adding more. I did get a very detailed letter from them what they are looking for though... I think they might have gone through majority of docs. Honestly, I think it depends who the officer is, they are all different and you never know who you will have. 

[Wyboxcx 44]

The time has come for me to share this with you and hopefully give you some hope in this seemingly never ending nightmare. After what felt like eternity, my hardship waiver was approved yesterday. I was Fulbright and received US government funding. I tried to expedite and DOS didn’t respond. I was eligible for both persecution and hardship and didn’t know that you can’t apply for both so I did, but the hardship waiver ended up being decided faster. It was crucial to combine factors from both grounds for the waiver to win the case. You can see my timeline here . 

[Sabina Bart 27]

7 hours ago, Wyboxcx said:

The time has come for me to share this with you and hopefully give you some hope in this seemingly never ending nightmare. After what felt like eternity, my hardship waiver was approved yesterday. I was Fulbright and received US government funding. I tried to expedite and DOS didn’t respond. I was eligible for both persecution and hardship and didn’t know that you can’t apply for both so I did, but the hardship waiver ended up being decided faster. It was crucial to combine factors from both grounds for the waiver to win the case. You can see my timeline here . 

Yay congratulations!! I am happy for you, so basically you waited for 2ish months for this whole process. Man they definitely don't do “first come first serve”, some from 2022 are still pending. 

[lennikov 31]

So, your case was with DOS only for about a year because the USICS took a year to deliberate on whether they had provided findings of hardships and Forms I-612 and I-613. My case with DOS for 1.5 years (with another year spent with USCIS) had no apparent activity since the initial submission of 612 and 613, in which all the documents were recorded. On the other hand, DOS sometimes does not post updates on the tracking page, with bulk updates suddenly showing up. But honestly, 1.5 years with no end in sight is a long long time. I'm collecting money for mandamus, but with this economy and family, it is rough, especially with an entirely possible outcome after all of these investments of time and effort can be a simple NFR. 

 

I see a usual document in your stack Letter of representation. Could you tell us more about it? While many of us submit hardships applications through an immigration attorney firm, I have never seen such documents posted by DOS before.