Nancy29

3 minutes ago, RD07 said:

Any updates on your situation? I am still waiting for the USCIS 

I finally got the waiver. The receipt notice came about a week ago and the waiver yesterday. I keep asking on EMMA everyday (the uscis online chat) about my case and even the day before I got the receipt notice in the mail they said they didn't have my info. I don't think they are reliable. My lawyer said she was able to file for the H visa just with receipt notice but the waiver came quite fast after that so we are all. It took a month after I got the DoS favorable recommendation to get the uscis approval (3 weeks to get receipt notice). 

2 minutes ago, kaz2021 said:

when is your grace period ending ? if your home country is not on the list of 33 countries , it should be find processing consular. not sure why that would be a big deal for your employer ? because your employer would not need to pay for consular processing, he/she just need to wait few weeks. a very wanting employer might go with dos only , but this is decision of the corresponding lawyer, if he/she is comfortable with applying with DOS only.  There is an option to apply for B2 status , if h1b cannot go in time. bottom line a status change application has to go in before the last day. is it a research related work ? 

That is exactly what the lawyer recommended a while ago, apply for B2. My grace period will expire in 10 days. She said I might have to apply Friday. But that was because of some delay with the check, not waiver related. Traveling to my country is a bit complicated right now. So I hope that's the last option. According to another lawyer I consulted he said we could file IF we had at least  the waiver receipt number. But I know I have to ask my employer's lawyer directly. I just been pushing it hoping USCIS would answer my request. 

1 minute ago, kaz2021 said:

to maintain your legal status in USA the h1b application has to go in before the last day of your grace period with a request of "change of status". Otherwise,  in the worse case scenario, you actually may have to leave usa temporarily ( change all mail address to a friend), which is fine again. You just have to obtain the visa stamp from your home country consulate office -takes a few weeks maybe, once your H1b is approved and they can send you i-129 from here. but don't over stay at all , that would be problematic.

Yes, in case we are not able to file before I will be traveling. But my employer is not willing to do consular process, which I understand because embassies are not operating fully and might close unexpectedly. So, I am at risk of losing this opportunity altogether. The lawyer just told me to wait a few days for the employers check, but she hasn't said anything about the waiver, although she has all my paperwork. Could she file just with DoS letter? 

1 minute ago, kaz2021 said:

also reach out USCIS live chat again and tell them you want to talk to tire2 officer and explain the situation that you have to travel in the pandemic with a risk and severe financial consequence if you lose this job offer in time. did you tell the congressman office that it's very URGENT. call them and ask them you want to inquire your case at USCIS and request expedition . Can your employer submit H1B application with DOS approval , given rest is pending at USCIS ? 

I haven't directly asked my employer and their lawyer to file just with the recommendation from DoS. They have all my paperwork and the lawyer hasn't asked me for more. Could we file like that? Right now the lawyer is waiting for my employer to send the required check, so I think that has been the delay. 

I will keep calling the congressman, uscis and I also reached out to my state senator a am trying to do all I can. 

Just now, kedi said:

Update your address with USPS and enable mail forwarding. I've heard sometimes USCIS mails do not get forwarded and are returned to the sender, but the support agent on the live chat will know the receipt number by that time hopefully and you can update your address. 

Got it! Thanks!!!

4 minutes ago, kaz2021 said:

hey . i think reaching out congressman office is the best option. uscis can never tell anything . it took a month for me to get the receipt number. there is 1/2 weeks gap between the DOS sending date and USCIS receiving date and again a gap between generating the receipt notice. some people get them in couple of weeks. it will come to your mailbox. are you applying for h1b?

Thanks! Yes, I will be applying for an H1B. On top of everything I am moving next

week and uscis again told me I can't update my address until I get the receipt number, but how am going to get it if I am moving! I am beyond frustrated. All the wait with the DoS, who also messed up my paperwork at the beginning 😒😑 and now uscis. I am in my grace period right now. It is about to end 😞

I am also waiting for the USCIS to send me the final waiver. The Department of State sent the favorable recommendation on June 30th. I haven't even received the receipt number. I contacted them through the live chat, and they told me I have to wait 60 DAYS! The thing is that I just have a few days left. I got approved for expedited with the Department of State. I was planning to do the same with USCIS but with no case number I have my hands tied. Does anyone know if there is something I could do? I tried contacting my congressman, but no answer yet. 

16 hours ago, kedi said:

Thanks! Contacted them again and the agent mentions an I-612 case is not in their system yet. Unsure what is causing the delay...

On 7/8/2021 at 9:57 AM, RD07 said:

I have received a case number, but still waiting for the approval, its been almost 6 weeks.

How did you get in contact with them? I tried to call but just get the machine. I received my FR two weeks ago and reading the cases here it seems like now I have to keep waiting an unknown amount of time

I have a J1 Visa that is about to expire. I applied for the waiver back in February. The DoS received most of my documentation in April, including the no objection letter. However, they did not received the form Ds-3035 until May 14th. I still don't understand how this happened when I submitted the form online and the paper version was included in the same envelope with the rest of the paperwork. With the timelines they have, I might be getting my no-objection waiver until September or so. My sponsor for the H1B visa is not willing to wait for me that long, also, by then, I will be out of status

I have a specific situation that I think will allow me to request the expedited processing due to humanitarian reasons. I sent a letter and evidence of my case visa E-mail, but I know that can take weeks. I also contacted my congressman but they haven't replied yet. Has someone gone through that expedited process? Did you send a paper packet? where could I send this packet? directly to the waiver division. I actually live in DC, I wonder if could ask for an appointment or be able to drop it off. I literally have two weeks right now. 

I have a J1 Visa that is about to expire. I applied for the waiver back in February. The DoS received most of my documentation in April, including the no objection letter. However, they did not received the form Ds-3035 until May 14th. I still don't understand how this happened when I submitted the form online and the paper version was included in the same envelope with the rest of the paperwork. With the timelines they have, I might be getting my no-objection waiver until September or so. My sponsor for the H1B visa is not willing to wait for me that long, also, by then, I will be out of status

I have a specific situation that I think will allow me to request the expedited processing due to humanitarian reasons. I sent a letter and evidence of my case visa E-mail, but I know that can take weeks. I also contacted my congressman but they haven't replied yet. Has someone gone through that expedited process? Did you send a paper packet? where could I send this packet? directly to the waiver division. I actually live in DC, I wonder if could ask for an appointment or be able to drop it off. I literally have two weeks right now. 
 

6 hours ago, MKH said:

They generally update all the documents except the NOS at a same date(this should be the case as these are all part of single package), but I remember seen similar situation or two like yours in this forum. Yes it take 2-3 months to get the DOS site update from the delivery date to the Lockbox. 

Processing time is greatly varied after this stage( to be on positive note it took mine only 2 weeks), and it would do no harm sending an email with kindly mentioning the  details of your filing date and the dead line of yours.

 

Thanks! If you don't mind me asking, was your process recent? 

Hello Everyone, I need some help

I have a j1 visa and applied for my waiver 3 months ago. Last Friday, May 14th, the website updated that they received my DS-3035 form. I filled this online form three moths ago, I actually think that I saw it on the list of received documents before. Why is it now showing up. Why would it take three months for the DoS to receive an online form when they got all the rest of the paperwork I had to mail months ago. Even the letter of no objection all the way from my country. Does this mean that the countdown for them to review will start from May 14? I know it can take several moths after they received all documents. I know several other people that applied for waivers and The online form ds-3035 was one of the first things that the department of state marked as received. The company that is looking to sponsor me was also not happy about this because it looks like I just filled in the form. Is this a normal thing to happen? Would this delay process for too long? I barely have two months now. 

Any info woulod be great

Thanks!