J1visa

On 2/13/2020 at 3:49 PM, jessjess said:

I see. Sorry to hear that. I'm very anxious because I saw other people's cases got approve within a week or two after the USCIS received notices. It's pretty much a month now for my case. 

 

Good luck to you. Hope it will happen soon. 

Hi, @jessjess I am from Colombia. But I don't really think that the country delays the process. It's just USCIS times and some people say, it depends on the officer who is working on your case, but we don't really know that. 

I mentioned @tnnandi that the form I-797B doesn't apply in my case because I read it is for something related to work permission. 

I received my Approval notice on January 20th in my mail, but it was dated on January 14th. In their website, checking in my USCIS account says On January 15, 2020, we approved your Form I-612....

The receipt notice was dated in the document on Jan. 7th and I received on the 10th. 

It won't take long for you to receive it! No worries!!  Positive thoughts and vibes!!  

12 hours ago, tnnandi said:

From this screenshot, it's clear that your case has been approved. Unfortunately, I haven't reached this stage yet; I have only received the I-797C, Notice of Action, which in my case says "Notice Type: Receipt Notice" and not "Approval Notice". For subsequent immigration steps, you need the final approval letter from USCIS, which I think you can expect to get anytime soon.

@tnnandi Thank you for the clarification. Hopefully you will get the Approval notice soon! Keep on checking online. I got the application in my phone too! I received the Approval notice on January 20th in my mail, but it was dated on January 14th. The receipt notice was dated in the document on Jan. 7th and I received on the 10th. 

It won't take long! No worries!!  

22 minutes ago, tnnandi said:

I haven't received the approval from USCIS yet (not even online), that is what I'm waiting for! I have only received the Notice of Action form (I-797C) from USCIS on 1st February, and now eagerly waiting for I-797B (or atleast the online approval).

@tnnandi I was reading about the I-797B and it doesn't apply in my case.

Hopefully, you will receive that one this week! But in any case, the I-797 says that your case was approved!  

1 minute ago, tnnandi said:

I haven't received the approval from USCIS yet (not even online), that is what I'm waiting for! I have only received the Notice of Action form (I-797C) from USCIS on 1st February, and now eagerly waiting for I-797B (or atleast the online approval).

@tnnandi When you receive the I-797 Notice of action, on the right side of the form, it says: Notice type: Aproval Notice. 

That's what I received  mid January. So far, I haven't received another notification. It says that USCIS has completed the processing of my application. I am kind of confused now! omg!!

1 minute ago, tnnandi said:

Thank you so much for your very informative responses. I got my I-797C form from USCIS around 1st February (the notice date is mentioned as 29th Jan), but yet to receive the final approval. From many of the posts, it seemed that the approval is updated within 7-10 days after receipt of I-797C, that's why I was slightly worried.

Congrats!!! @tnnandi I am so glad you got it approved!!  

On 1/16/2020 at 7:44 AM, Mgj1 said:

Congrats!!! 😁😁😁

Mine still says that was received at another office. Hopefully it will change soon. 

Thanks for the update 

 

😊

Thank you!! 

Hi, @Mgj1 Yay!!!!   Hopefully you have already received your final notification, right?!  Congrats too!!!  

19 hours ago, LauCC said:

how often do you guys check the DOS status?

Hi, @LauCC how is your process going?

When I knew that the 12-16 weeks to get the waiver approved actually start as soon as DOS receives the NOS from each person's country, I started to check it on Saturdays... but of course, I know we all are anxious about knowing the good news, just do not let that the process itself consumes you, it's hectic, I know!  Just keep on being positive!!  

23 hours ago, tnnandi said:

Hi,

 

Can you please tell how long did USCIS take to approve your case (the I 797C form)?

 

Thanks

Hi, @tnnandi I received my FR on Dec. 20th 2019. Following that, on Dec. 27th I received their letter. Then, on January 15th my case was finally approved by USCIS and I received the I-797C form on January 20th. It took exactly 6 months the whole process. 

On 1/24/2020 at 11:16 AM, tnnandi said:

Hi,

 

I just checked the DoS website to find out that they have issued a favorable recommendation for my J-1 waiver. Now, it seems I've to wait for a letter from USCIS as the final confirmation for the favorable recommendation. For that, do I need to do anything, i.e. fill up any form or something? Or will it be taken care automatically? Also, after how many days of the favorable recommendation by the DoS can I expect the letter from USCIS to be in hand?

@tnnandi I am sorry, I wasn't able to reply before. 

Hopefully you got your official letter from USCIS with your case approved. Regarding the Waiver, you don't have to fill in anything else. DOS finishes that part of the process when they sent you the letter advising USCIS grant your waiver. From that, USCIS has the final decision. It took 15 days for me to receive USCIS final notification with my case approved. 

20 hours ago, Mgj1 said:

Any news?! I am already freaking out from the lack of communication 😊😁

Hi, @Mgj1  any news? Don't panic! 

Last night it was pending..... and I just checked and my case shows "Approved" yay!!!  soooo, happy!!!!  

Now I am going to wait for my notice in the mail. Wish you the best and stay positive, it doesn't take that long to have it approved!!  

Keep us posted! 

On 1/13/2020 at 8:01 PM, PK_ said:

Correct. I have received the approval notice in the mail, and even today, the status still says "Case Was Received At Another USCIS Office".

Hi, @PK_ I just checked and my case shows "Approved" yay!!!  soooo, happy!!!! 

Thank you, now I am going to wait for my notice in the mail. 

12 minutes ago, PK_ said:

Correct. I have received the approval notice in the mail, and even today, the status still says "Case Was Received At Another USCIS Office".

I will take that into account not to panic before I get my approval notice in the mail. 

Thank you! 

8 minutes ago, qwerty101 said:

Great. Congos! USCIS step should be much faster.

I am waiting for DoS FR.

Hi, @qwerty101 Positive energy and all the positive vibes!  Keep us posted! 

1 minute ago, PK_ said:

Awesome! You should be getting the final approval within a week. My online status did not get updated with the approval. 

@PK_ Thank you!!! Great to know that within a week this first part of the process will be concluded.  They didn't updated in the website but do you already have your case approved, right? 

2 hours ago, Mgj1 said:

Just got my receipt number from USCIS today. Any news on your case? The only weird thing is that appears that they received in January 8th instead of Dec 20th. Hopefully I get the waiver before February. 

Hi, @Mgj1 yay!!! Yes, I just got it today!!  I am sooo happy!! As it takes some days for them to receive the documents, mine says that they received it on 1/07/2020. 

Hopefully our cases will be approved soon and for sure, before February!!  

Positive vibes!!! 

14 hours ago, PK_ said:

On the DS-3035, was your physical address different than your mailing address?

 

You should be getting your initial USCIS receipt by now. The alternative way to get your receipt number is through:

1. Call USCIS - 1-800-375-5283
2. Go to lost receipt number (Press 1-1-2-2)
3. Mention that you filed I-612 form with the Vermont Service Center
4. They will ask for your name, date of birth, address, etc. Make sure you give them the physical address that you have listed on the DS-3035 (not the mailing address)

Hi, @LauCC and @PK_ yay!!   I just went to the mail and found my I-797C form!! I have now a case number! 

Thank you so much for your advice!! 

Positive vibes for everybody!!

On 1/10/2020 at 6:16 PM, jessjess said:

@J1visa Finally I got my FR in the system. It really took them 12 weeks. Now I'm waiting for the immigration office. Have you heard anything yet?

Hi, @jessjess  yay!!!Congrats!!!!  

Nothing yet in my snail mail  

On 1/10/2020 at 6:16 PM, jessjess said:

@J1visa Finally I got my FR in the system. It really took them 12 weeks. Now I'm waiting for the immigration office. Have you heard anything yet?

Hi, @jessjess  Yay!!! Congrats!!!

I haven't heard anything yet from USCIS. Hopefully next week. A copy of  my FR was sent on Dec. 20th to my Embassy too. 

On 1/7/2020 at 12:15 PM, Mgj1 said:

I also got FR on Dec 20th. I've called USCIS but no luck getting the receipt number for my case. Any news on yours?? 

Hi, @Mgj1  Yay!!! Congrats!!

Any news yet.   

On 1/6/2020 at 10:18 PM, LauCC said:

Hi! Congrats on your FR!! so your timeline was 2 months total for the DOS?? that's great... hope mine goes like that... still no news.. since Dec 10th... 

 

 

Hi, @LauCC Thank you! My timeline started on July 18th when I saw they received my documents. Then, on October 17th I saw the NOS from my Embassy in the system. On Dec. 20th the FR showed up as sent. I received a letter from DOS in which they Grant my waiver. It was addressed to USCIS, they sent a copy to my Embassy as well. But since then, I haven't received anything else. I called USCIS but I need the case number, and I don't have it. I am worried about it. So, in total there has been almost 6 months. 

18 hours ago, waiverSE said:

I got a favorable recommendation on Dec 26th, but I don't know where to look for approval. Is there an USCIS website to look for the approval status? I have not received anything in mail yet. 

Hi, @waiverSE , I am in the same situation. I got my FR on December 20th. According to what I have read in the forums, we have to wait until USCIS send us the I-797 form with a case number to check in this website:

https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do

Hopefully, they already got the copy of the letter that the Waiver Review Division sent them.

On page 59 there are some posts about this topic. and on page 56 I found someone posted a USCIS app to track the cases. 

You can call to USCIS and ask about your case, I plan to call tomorrow and check if I can get some information. I know we just past the Holidays, but at least to know something. This is the number: 18003755283

On 12/19/2019 at 7:39 PM, J1visa said:

Hi, Nothing yet. Still waiting.... It's 2 months now since the NOS showed up as received. Now with holidays, I guess this process will take longer! So let's be patient and trust everything will be ok for all of us and we are going to get the FR soon! 

@LauCC Hi, LauCC, My FR showed today in the system!!! Finally, after being waiting for 2 months. I am soooo happy!!.  

The delay seems to be in general, 2 of my friends sent the documents a month ago and there is nothing in their systems. Hopefully soon. All of us in the same situation, but trusting, everything will be in place soon. Be patient.... I was almost becoming crazy thinking about the FR  

Good luck and hang in there with USCIS times! 

On 12/19/2019 at 7:53 PM, J1visa said:

We have the same timeline. I am still waiting to see the FR since then. Nothing has changed in the USCIS website.

I know it's from 12 to 16 weeks, but I know about people who got it in 2 months or less. I don't know how these times work for USCIS, but let's keep on been positive! 

@jessjess  hii!! Check today, omg I am so happy!!! I got my FR in the system. Appears as sent yesterday. I went to bed thinking that there were exactly 2 months and nothing, but it is there today!! Yaaaay!!!  Hopefully yours will be too! Stay positive!  

On 12/17/2019 at 3:11 PM, jessjess said:

I submitted all my documents in the end of June and DOS updated it in July. From July to October, I was waiting on my home country embassy to issue the NOS. My home country approved the NOS on October 2nd. But the DOS didn't update they received the NOS until October 20th. And I've been waiting for the FR since then. 

We have the same timeline. I am still waiting to see the FR since then. Nothing has changed in the USCIS website.

I know it's from 12 to 16 weeks, but I know about people who got it in 2 months or less. I don't know how these times work for USCIS, but let's keep on been positive! 

On 12/3/2019 at 5:07 PM, LauCC said:

Hi, do you have any update? My embassy sent the NOS to the DOS 3 weeks ago and there it doesn't show as received... I also thought that the time started as soon as they received the applicant documents..  

Hi, Nothing yet. Still waiting.... It's 2 months now since the NOS showed up as received. Now with holidays, I guess this process will take longer! So let's be patient and trust everything will be ok for all of us and we are going to get the FR soon!