Filipi

On 10/27/2018 at 10:18 PM, fs2439 said:

Yup! All worked through quickly and efficiently, tg

Hi FS2439,

I know the post is old, but I'm now in the same situation as you was before, my visa is approved but it can only be issued after PIMS checking. Do you remember how long you waited for the visa to be issued after the interview?

Thanks you!

Hello,

I would like to know if I can apply for H4 visa for my spouse at the same time that I apply for H1-B for me, so that we can travel together. More specifically, do we need to wait the H1-B stamp to start the H4 visa for my spouse?

Thanks

On 4/9/2019 at 3:28 PM, okland said:

@Filipi I tried calling USCIS but they were super confused about me asking for a case number for the i-612. How long did you wait to call them and how did you explain that it was for the waiver?

 

Thanks.

Hi okland,

I called them 3 times to get the case number, so yes, you may need some luck to reach the right person there. I asked specifically for the case number related to an I-612 filled by Department of State. I tried first in 10 days after DOS sent the favorable recommendation and they said they could not find my name there. I tried again in the next day, same thing, and finally I was successful 2 days later. Hope this helps.

By the way, I received notice of action with the approval yesterday (04/09), yay!, I didn't receive any letter from DOS and neither the notice of action from USCIS for receiving the case.

30 minutes ago, okland said:

Filipi,

 

How did you figure out your case number without the USCIS notice of action? 

Hi okland,

I called them and asked for my case number. They asked for a few information, such as full name, passport, birth date, etc.

Hi guys,

I've just discovered that my case was approved on march 27th. I'm still waiting for the DOS and first USCIS notice (I'm in Brazil, and it take a weeks to receive any international mail.

My current timeline:

Application packet was sent to DOS by UPS (from Brazil):                              December 16^th 2018

Packet received (UPS tracking):                                                                           December 20^th 2018

Embassy sent NOS by mail to DOS:                                                                     December 22^th 2018

DOS updated status – Documents received:                                                     January 24^th 2019

DOS received No Objection Statement on:                                                         January 29^th 2019

Favorable Recommendations:                                                                              March 12^th 2019

USCIS accepted my case on:                                                                                March 20^th 2019

USCIS approved my case on:                                                                                March 27^th 2019

By the way, if you are using https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/ website to check your USCIS case status, keep in mind that sometimes it is not being updated correctly. I've just discovered that if you go to my.uscis.gov, create an account and add your case as a paper-filled case, you have access to more recent information.

Good luck to all.

19 hours ago, JWaiver_2019 said:

I have got recommendations from DOS finally! Yay!!! 

I am a research scholar and my case is US Govt funding based, applied for No Objection category, for this forum's record.

Congratulations JWaiver, now we just need to wait for the USCIS process.

BTW I contacted USCIS to get my case number, So I'm updating my timeline here:

My timeline:

Application packet was sent to DOS by UPS (from Brazil):                              December 16^th 2018

Packet received (UPS tracking):                                                                           December 20^th 2018

Embassy sent NOS by mail to DOS:                                                                     December 22^th 2018

DOS updated status – Documents received:                                                     January 24^th 2019

DOS received No Objection Statement on:                                                         January 29^th 2019

Favorable Recommendations:                                                                              March 12^th 2019

USCIS accepted my case on:                                                                                March 20^th 2019

I'm yet to receive the notice of action from USCIS and favorable recommendation letter from DOS my mail. I'm in Brazil, so it may take some time for the letters to arrive.

2 hours ago, ellamcc said:

Received DOS letter : March 4, 2019 dates as February 25.

Case accepted by USCIS: March 6, 2019

Received I-797C : March 12, 2019 dated as March 6.

Waiver approved: March 14, 2019.

Received I-797: March 18, 2019 dates as March 14, 2019.

Hi Ellamcc,

Congratulations! It is nice to know that the USCIS part is not taking too long. Did you had access to your USCIS case number before receiving I-797C? How did you obtain it? Thanks!

Regards,

Filipi

This is to give an update on my this. I checked with my university and they prefer to await for USCI final approval. They said that when they have sent in the DOS letter on other cases in recent years it has not been accepted.

On 3/13/2019 at 11:41 PM, JWaiver_2019 said:

This is great news Filipi! Congratulations! And I wish you all the best for final USCIS formality and hope you get the decision letter soon as well !

Can you please share if your case involved government funding or scholarship or straight case. I am collecting this information for future applicants to get ideas on expected timelines.

Thanks! Sure, during my j1 I was sponsored by a government funding agency from Brazil. In my NOS the embassy included a statement informing that I fullfilled all my obligations with that sponsor. I didn't receive any funding from US, so it is a straight case I think.

Thank you, I will check with the university about this possibility, they are handling my case (I don't have direct access to their Lawyer).

Hey everyone,

I've just received a status update for my j1 visa waiver from DoS indicating a favorable recommendation. I was offered with a job in a university and they are waiting for my waiver to apply for the H1-B visa (cap exempt). I've seem people here applying to the visa only with the DoS recommendation since USCIS will have a final decision on both. So I would like to know how to proceed and if I need to send the original recommendation letter to the university. Thanks

Hey guys, my status changed to favorable recommendation. It took exactly 6 weeks, so maybe the new estimated times are overestimated. Hope everyone here get a favorable recommendation soon.

56 minutes ago, Kr1234 said:

Thanks for your reply,  May I know at what date they emailed DOS? My embassy have emailed DOS on 11th Feb 2019. 

The embassy said that they sent the NOS by 22 Dec 2018, so, they took about a month and a week to update my status.  

33 minutes ago, Kr1234 said:

Hi 

  Today i enquired about my No objection statement through email from washington embassy, they have replied  that they have sent my no objection statement through email to DOS on February 15th. Is that okay? Im worried since the DOS has clearly mentioned to sent through post to waiver review division. Any replies regarding this are appreciated. Thanks in advance. 

Hi Kr1234,

I was worried as well because my embassy (Brazil) informed they have sent the NOS electronically to DOS. It took about a month to have it updated in the system.

This is my current timeline:

So I think you are good. Hope your status updates soon.

8 hours ago, JWaiver_2019 said:

There is an update on DOS website for new applicants. Keep these timings in mind before planning and applying for J1 waiver.

 

Change in No Objection timeline from '6-8 weeks' to '12 to 1 weeks', almost doubled.

 

Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange/waiver-of-the-exchange-visitor/how-to-apply-waiver.html

 

This is bad news for everyone. I wonder if applications made before this change are still expected to be processed within the previous estimates.

Aside from the new processing times, it seems that DoS is also taking much longer to update the initial case information in the website. In my case it took about a month from the time they received the package and the time they updated the website.

19 minutes ago, J1waiver19 said:

I applied for "no-objection" J1 waiver. Here is my timeline.

Any suggestions? Do I need to submit other documents?

 

Thank you!

 

Department of State Advisory Opinion Finding: Pending

Item	Action	Date
No Objection Statement	Received	January, 08 2019
Fee	Received	August, 15 2018
Form DS-3035	Received	August, 15 2018
Form DS-2019	Received	August, 15 2018
Passport Data Page	Received	August, 15 2018
Statement Of Reason	Received	August, 15 2018

Hi,

The processing time starts after they receive all documents, so I believe it still too early for any news on that, it may still take 6~8 weeks. Note that it started only after they received the NOS in January. If you do not need sponsor views, this should be enough. If they need any other document they will ask you to send them.

Regards,

Filipi

On 1/25/2019 at 12:07 PM, JWaiver_2019 said:

Wow, this is great news Filipi! Happy for you!

Yes, fingers crossed for my case and my Embassy has also sent NOS and, I agree it may take some additional time for NOS update but no harm in requesting Embassy to resend and is safe action.

 

Keep us posted on NOS status update as well!

Thanks again for sharing!

Visa status just updated indicating they received the NOC. How it's going for you? Any news?

On 1/22/2019 at 7:08 PM, JWaiver_2019 said:

Strange! Your status really fulfilled their timeline and should be updated. I will suggest you keep sending them emails since this is the only available option to get response and keep us posted too.

We do pray, that you see status update soon!

Hey, my case number status has just updated (what a relief). The no objection certificate is not there yet. My embassy sent the NOC a few weeks ago, maybe it take some time for them to add to the status (I've just sent a email to my Embassy to have it sent again, just in case).

Thanks for the support. Hope your case is updated soon.

2 minutes ago, JWaiver_2019 said:

One more thing, did your Embassy sent NOS to DoS? If yes, when did they sent. 

I didn't notice, sinc I was more depending on other members timelines here, but I just read DoS website note again and it suggests to check the status after completing steps 1-3 that includes NOS sent from Embassy and then status to be updated in a month time. 

Read step 4:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange/waiver-of-the-exchange-visitor/how-to-apply-waiver.html

 

Yes my embassy sent the NOS at about the same time the package arrived (around 20/DEC/2018). But no updates to the website and they are not responding any of my inquiries by email.

On 1/19/2019 at 6:01 PM, JWaiver_2019 said:

Keep us posted if you get status update by next Tuesday, since it should not take more than a month to update status online as per DoS statement below:

 

"Allow approximately one month after submitting a complete application before checking your status. You may send questions about your case or questions that are not answered on this website to 212ewaiver@state.gov. We will send you a response by email."

 

This looks maximum timeline since previous threads showed average 2-3 weeks time to update status.

If it is not updated by Tuesday for you, the you must write them (212ewaiver@state.gov) to check, if they have really received your package or not.

 

My Embassy has informed me that they will be sending my NOS next week too but I am also waiting for DoS to update my application status if documents/fee received or not. Let's keep all posted!

 

 

 

No changes on the status page for my case yet and never got a response from 212ewaiver@state.gov, I sent an email more than 10 days ago and nothing. I've just sent another msg to them, let's see what happens.

17 hours ago, JWaiver_2019 said:

If possible for you to check, if your money order has been cashed. This is one way to track if they have received your package.

That is a good idea, however I'm not in US anymore, so for me it is a little bit complicated because I need to call the bank. I will try that later. How about you, did you checked if your order has been checked already?

Thanks for sharing your experience, JWaiver_2019.

That is not a good sign, maybe the Shutdown is affecting new applications, or, maybe, they are just not getting updated in the website, as you said. Another possibility is that December holidays had some impact in their workflow.

I'm particularly worried because I'm not in US anymore and for me to send another package to then, takes a lot of time, it is also very difficult to buy an US dollar money order from where I live. Same can be said about the stamped envelopes.

Regarding the Status, for me it is the same, this happens for any case number not yet received by them.

Let's hope everything goes smoothly. Please keep us updated if anything changes in status page. I will do the same.

Thanks

Thanks for the information, geowrian.

I'm very worried because by observing some timelines here, the interval between receiving the package and having it in their system never goes beyond 20 days. I've send a msg to 212ewaiver@state.gov a few days ago, but received no response yet.

Hi all,

I'm applying for a j1 waiver on basis of No-Objection Certificate and sent all documents last December. The package has received on 20/DEC/2018 by DoS according to UPS tracking. Today is 16/JAN/2019 and my case number is not yet in their system (case number not found on https://j1visawaiverstatus.state.gov). The embassy of my country already sent the NOC and nothing changed in the system as well.

Any of you know if govt shutdown is having any influence on waiver processing?

Thanks