J1 Hardship Waiver 2021-2022 Timeline

[Hanijani 8]

12 minutes ago, neonatal2023 said:

I have also applied for Temporary Protected status (TPS) so my hope is that application gets approved soon and I could potentially start working with that while my hardship gets approved. Anyone else is on the same boat? 

Do you belong to a country to which TPS is already given?  

[PeterW 17]

17 hours ago, ErinK said:

Many in this group have applied with US citizen spouse and child. Mine has been with DoS for the past 10 months and still nothing. Before that it was with USCIS for 8 months including an RFE. You can't stay legally just because your case is pending. Start looking into another J-1 or changing to O-1. O-1 package preparation takes a long time so start early and hire a lawyer that specializes in  O-1/EB1/NIW. Chen is really good. 

Mine is similar. Currently, my J1 has expired but it is still pending in DOS. The response from DOS is always "copy and paste". My US kid has medical problems. But they don't care. We have to leave the US this month.

[g3dan00 20]

1 minute ago, PeterW said:

Mine is similar. Currently, my J1 has expired but it is still pending in DOS. The response from DOS is always "copy and paste". My US kid has medical problems. But they don't care. We have to leave the US this month.

really sorry to hear that. When the waiver is approved (if you are outside), can't you continue the process with consular processing? 

[PeterW 17]

19 minutes ago, neonatal2023 said:

I have also applied for Temporary Protected status (TPS) so my hope is that application gets approved soon and I could potentially start working with that while my hardship gets approved. Anyone else is on the same boat? 

I never know TPS before. It seems that it a way to solve a problem. How can I apply for it? My grace period has only 2 weeks left? Could you recommend me your attorney? Thanks

[PeterW 17]

3 minutes ago, g3dan00 said:

really sorry to hear that. When the waiver is approved (if you are outside), can't you continue the process with consular processing? 

I have no idea. I think I can continue the consular processing for H1B. Otherwise, we have no way to solve this problem.

[SMARCA4 15]

4 minutes ago, PeterW said:

I never know TPS before. It seems that it a way to solve a problem. How can I apply for it? My grace period has only 2 weeks left? Could you recommend me your attorney? Thanks

 

[neonatal2023 2]

@Hanijani, yes my country has approval for TPS.

[ErinK 35]

2 hours ago, Hardship_waiver said:

If you have a U.S.C spouse and you stay here illegibly (after expiry of your J-1) waiting for the waiver, this illegal time will automatically be forgiven at the time you file for the green card. As you will not have any status during this illegal time, you cannot apply for work authorization. Also you can get into trouble if you caught by police in some case etc. Before expiry of your DS-2019, apply for O-1 or B1/B2 whose processing (pending) will give you legal status to stay. 

With DOS hardship processing almost at halt, more and more people are getting out of status. It was never like that before. We are unfortunate ones. 

According to all 3 lawyers I spoke with, including Chen who specializes in O-1s, applying for O-1 does not give you legal status. You still fall out of status. Not sure about B1/B2 or automatic forgiveness in case of spouses of US citizens. My lawyer said it's not automatic but it's pretty easily forgiven 

[ErinK 35]

1 minute ago, ErinK said:

According to all 3 lawyers I spoke with, including Chen who specializes in O-1s, applying for O-1 does not give you legal status. You still fall out of status. Not sure about B1/B2 or automatic forgiveness in case of spouses of US citizens. My lawyer said it's not automatic but it's pretty easily forgiven 

If you apply for O-1 you have to keep your legal status until it's decided. If you stay even one day in the States illegally the consular officer has a reason to deny your O-1 visa even after your O-1 case is approved in USCIS. At least that's what my lawyer told me. USCIS only decides if you are eligible for O-1, it's still up to the officer who interviews you in U.S. embassy to issue you a visa and overstaying your previous status is a major red flag.  

[Hardship_waiver 50]

47 minutes ago, ErinK said:

If you apply for O-1 you have to keep your legal status until it's decided. If you stay even one day in the States illegally the consular officer has a reason to deny your O-1 visa even after your O-1 case is approved in USCIS. At least that's what my lawyer told me. USCIS only decides if you are eligible for O-1, it's still up to the officer who interviews you in U.S. embassy to issue you a visa and overstaying your previous status is a major red flag.  

I agree overstaying is never a good option and consular officer has full authority to deny your application, but in worst scenarios you have to take risks. Even applying B1/B2 without a waiver will lead to ultimate denial if waiver isn't approved at time of adjudication. But what if waiver gets approved before that and you file your green card and all gets settled. It's a risk that you can take if you have no other option. Like to avoid risk to someone's life. 

[Hardship_atn 6]

Hello,

I just got my favor today. Here is my timeline. 

 

Hope you all will have good news soon!

 

[Waiver 2021 10]

24 minutes ago, Hardship_atn said:

Hello,

I just got my favor today. Here is my timeline. 

 

Hope you all will have good news soon!

 

Congratulations!!

[Hanijani 8]

2 minutes ago, Waiver 2021 said:

Congratulations!!

Congratulations! Exactly one year at DOS😃

[Pillowchis 6]

35 minutes ago, Hardship_atn said:

Hello,

I just got my favor today. Here is my timeline. 

 

Hope you all will have good news soon!

 

Congrats

 

[ErinK 35]

1 hour ago, Hardship_atn said:

Hello,

I just got my favor today. Here is my timeline. 

 

Hope you all will have good news soon!

 

Congrats!