Jai1

Yes, it was a staight forward case without any complication of govt funding.  I got a bit worried looking at the 12-16 week as the new estimate. Since I got it in the usual 6 week period, perhaps the new timeline is an over estimation. 

With the new 2019 estimates on processing time for J1 no objection, I thought I will post the timeline for my application. Note that I started my application during shutdown, and some delays in status updates could be because of it.
 
1) Sent documents to DoS using USPS -- Dec 24th, 2018
2) Documents received at St. Louis, MO on Dec 27th, 2018 as per USPS tracking.
3) Cheque cashed on 3rd Jan, 2019 as I found out from my bank.
4) Status finally updated in DoS webpage on Jan 22nd, 2019. 
5) NOC received by DoS on Jan 24th, 2019.  But I received a copy of the letter from my embassy on Jan 7th, 2019.
6) Favorable recommendation on Mar 7th, 2019
 
So it took about 6 weeks from DoS receiving NOC, and about 10 weeks from when I sent the documents.

With the new 2019 estimates on processing time for J1 no objection, I thought I will post the timeline for my application. Note that I started my application during shutdown, and some delays in status updates could be because of it.
 
1) Sent documents to DoS using USPS -- Dec 24th, 2018
2) Documents received at St. Louis, MO on Dec 27th, 2018 as per USPS tracking.
3) Cheque cashed on 3rd Jan, 2019 as I found out from my bank.
4) Status finally updated in DoS webpage on Jan 22nd, 2019. 
5) NOC received by DoS on Jan 24th, 2019.  But I received a copy of the letter from my embassy on Jan 7th, 2019.
6) Favorable recommendation on Mar 7th, 2019
 
So it took about 6 weeks from DoS receiving NOC, and about 10 weeks from when I sent the documents.