Hardship LM

Any news from those waiting at DOS since 2022? I had to go back to my country and I wanted to request another J1 visa for a fellowship but was told by 2 lawyers that it would trigger another waiver in the future.

Everything pending for me as well. USCIS received: April 7, 2021 USCIS sent to DOS: Sept 2, 2021. DOS received: Feb 9, 2022. Unfortunately I had to go back to my country and now my US citizen son had been hospitalized and needing so much medical services, going thru the real hardship right now. Hope we all get our response soon. Best wishes everyone.

LOL I had to stop myself from doing that because it was way too much stress every time. So now I check once a day or every other day, and the days that I don't check my mental health is way better! haha My J1 expires in 11 days, I 'll be leaving the country soon but my lawyer suggested to stay here even after J1 expires... I can't do it due to my finances but any thoughts ?

In my case, they took them 5 months to update as received. Sent to USCIS: 4/7/21. Forwarded to DOS: 9/2/21. DOS "received" date: 2/9/22. Status: pending.

Hi, I'm around those dates too! My DOS received date is February 9th, 2022. No recommendation yet. However, USCIS forwarded my file to DOS on September 2nd 2021. It took them 5 months to update it !!

Maybe it takes more time for ECFMG sponsored applicants? Is there a separate threat for IMGs? maybe we should create one and figure out our own trend/timeline

Yeah my lawyer tried twice to expedite the process, but same as you they denied it within minutes without reading my documents. I'm sorry you're going thru a life/death situation. We are all super stressed out, I wish there was something else we could do like create a viral twitter thread or something to get the president's attention lol

Helo! I did my first congressional inquiry. This is what the DOS responded... Is this a general automatic response? I don't want to feel hopeful if it's just an automatic response to everybody. Thanks for reading me. Thank you for contacting 212(e) Waiver Congressional Inquiries. The Waiver Review Division is working to process "####" case. Processing times for waiver recommendations by the Department of State, Waiver Review Division vary depending on the basis under which the applicant requests a waiver of the two-year home-country physical presence requirement. The processing time of nine to twelve months is an estimated timeframe and sometimes can take longer. When all documents have been received, the processing time starts to run and the requests are taken in order of receipt. Once a recommendation has been made, "####" case will be electronically forwarded to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) California Service Center (CSC) where "####" J-1 waiver eligibility will be determined. We assure you that the request will be processed as soon as possible. "####" may continue to monitor the status of the request by going to https://j1visawaiverrecommendation.state.gov/ and using case number "####". The Waiver Review Division does have an expedited processing track, but it is reserved only for those cases in which there is a significant humanitarian need or in which there exists a clear and significant U.S. government interest. Should this office/the applicant feel this case meets one or both of these criteria, please send an email outlining the circumstances and clearly request expedited processing. We hope that this information proves helpful. Regards, Waiver Review Division U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs

Any good news around here? If so, pleaaaase share and give us some hope

Although this is killing me, I’d like to assume that they would want to accelerate the process because the fiscal year is about to end. Assuming they want to end the year with good numbers they should hurry up right now.

ECFMG never said it would be a new DS2019, even though I asked in two different phone calls. They only said that they would not approve an extension of my J1 if I'm already out of residency. Like no gaps allowed. So I guess the fact that I'm in my board extension period makes me not eligible for a fellowship extension. However, the first person mentioned that I would have to withdraw my board extension before applying for fellowship extension but that it was up to the department of state to approve the fellowship J1 (either extension or new DS2019). I have an offer for fellowship, but now I don't even know what the heck to do.

Well I just called ECFMG, and because I extended my J1 for the boards I cannot really apply for a fellowship right now, they were kinda vague about it only saying that board extension should not be used as a bridge in between residency and fellowship. My lawyer said that if the fellowship will give me a new DS2019 then I will need to file for another waiver. So not a good option for me I believe. I started my waiver application in April 2021. DOS said they received my documents in February 2022. (frustrating because they were sent in September 2021).

No news. But I have a question for the physicians in the group, do you guys know if doing a fellowship while waiting for the waiver is permissible? I finished my residency on 6/30/22. thank you

Do we know when the time starts counting? My lawyer is not sure if it starts when everything is sent to DOS, or when we first file to USCIS? any idea? I filed to USCIS on April 2021. On September USCIS sent to DOS.

To complete my timeline... I applied early 2021. USCIS sent to DOS on 9/2021. DOS updated files on 2/2022.