J1-waiver, No status Update for long time from US DOS

[j1waiver32]

Hello,

I have applied for J1 waiver on the basis of no objection certificate (NOC) from my home country. After receiving no objection letters from the home country, I submitted them in XX consulate on 15th April, 2015. They told me that embassy in Washington will directly send NOC to US department of states. I submitted my DS3035, statement of reason and waiver fee ($120) on 9th May, 2015. The J1 waiver status website showed these documents were received on 17th June. I have received the copy of NOC from Washington via mail on 6th May, 2015. However, the J1 waiver status website showed that they did not receive NOC till 1st July. I have emailed them (US DoS) a couple of times after 1st of July and they told me that they have not received it from the embassy. I called the embassy in Washington in second week of July and they told me they are going to re-send the document. I called them again on third week of July and they told me they have sent the NOC. I also received an email from the embassy confirming the fact on last week of July. I have emailed USDoS with my copy of NOC on August first week. However, there is still neither status update on the J1 waiver website nor any email saying what's happening with my case. It has been three months from my initial application and I am getting worried that if something is going wrong with my application. Any suggestions will be helpful. Here's my timeline:

First week of April, 2015: Received letters of recommendations from my home country.
Second week of April,2015: Submitted them to my consulate.
May 6, 2015: Received a copy of NOC via mail from the embassy in Washington.
May 9, 2015: Sent DS3035, statement of reason etc. to US department of states.
June 17, 2015: status updated that they have received my documents except the NOC.
Second or third week of July, 2015: NOC was re-sent by Washington embassy.
No status update till June 17th, 2015. 

Thanks in advance.

[ghytr]

hello j1waiver32,

 

i 'm in the same situation. can you tell me which address the embassy (i assume it is india embassy) sent the NOC to DOS? 

 

some people say it might be the issue.

 

thanks

[ghytr]

Hello j1waiver32, 

 

can you pls tell me the address where the embassy in DC (I think it 's india embassy) sent the NOC to the DOS? Some people complained about the address difference. 

 

Also I 'm in the same situation. I cant see my NOC update on the DOS website. I dont know what exactly happening there?

[j1waiver32]

Yes, that's right, its Indian consulate. Today I have received another email from DoS saying that they still don't have my NOS. The address is written in my copy of NOS :

Waiver Review Division, US Department of State,

Visa office/CA/VA/L/W, SA-17,

11th Floor, 600, 19th Street,

NW, Washington DC-20522-1711.

 

The second time they faxed it to 202-485-7696 (DoS fax number).

 

I am in a hopeless situation when one agency is saying that they have sent the NOS and the other one is not receiving it. Don't know what to do, any advice would be helpful.

 

I have again emailed Washington consulate to send my papers to DoS. Problem is any status update takes almost three weeks and I have to sit in the dark for that period of time. 

[ghytr]

hello j1waiver32,

 

thanks for your reply. 

 

it is the same address that was written in the third party barcode page of my document too. The copy what i received from the indian embassy in Washington was sent to this address that you specified, but i dont see any updates there on the DOS website. I 've not received any reply from them either. I 've not asked the india embassy yet to fax it as i did not received any email from them saying me to do so. 

i remember i 've read it before sometime around last year january it happened to couple of other guys but then they faxed it to the DOS and got updates on the DOS within couple of days.

But i also heard/read it took 5 weeks+ for some people to see the updates, again for some it 's just week time.  

 

Did they (DOS) emailed you to fax your NOS by the india embassy to that number? 

[quicksilversurfer]

Hi j1waiver32

 

This might be stupid, but are you sure they are sending the NOC for the correct case number. 

[ghytr]

hello j1waiver32,

 

- i dont know why my replies are taking so much time to be shown up here and taking time for moderator approval, or may be i 've some problem here while posting. 

 

- anyway, that 's the same address where the india embassy sent the NOS for my case too, and i dont see any updates. I 'm very much worried. I think this is the right address after their office was shifted last year.

 

- also did the DOS people give you the Fax number themselves while replying you by email? I have not contacted india embassy yet 'cause i did not get any reply from DOS.

 

- please keep updated how it is going.

 

thanks  

[j1waiver32]

Hello ghytr,

 

Five weeks for status update? is that right? Please post your timeline. Someone told me to to fedex my copy of NOC to DoS explaining my situation. This would me fourth week, so I am going to mail them my copy.

[ghytr]

hello j1waiver32

 

1. i would suggest you to please think once again before sending the NOS to DOS by urself - as it might confuse them unless they themselves asked for it as u know for NOS they only considers the NOS sent by embassy. i understand this desperation and helplessness (i 'm on the same boat) bt jst suggesting u to think again as it might be confusing.

 

2. second, pls follow this link from this same forum of this thread and go the post no. 13 pls by catvsrat where he/she said it took 37 days for NOS to be shown as received in their site : http://forum.murthy.com/index.php?/topic/71741-final-noc-from-indian-embassy-didnt-reach-dos/

 

3. my timeline:

may: DS3025 and others stuffs received

mid july: embassy sent nos

no updates since then 

 

I can give you the dates if u like, after i look the documents

 

4. and also i liked to know from u whether the DOS gave u the fax number by themselves (the fax number where u sent)? if not then how did u get it? 

[j1waiver32]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, after I e-mailed them about the status they gave me the fax number. I did not realize that number us not publicly available.

 

The thing is I don't know how long should I wait before they answer any email saying they don't have it. However, it is encouraging to see that others also have faced the same problem. Please let me know if you hear anything. 

[ghytr]

hello j1waiver32, 

 

sure i will tell u if i hear back anything from them. i think 5 weeks+ is minimum may be - bt I am very worried though as it just kills precious time. I have already lost a job due to this. very sad.

 

by the way till when ur current j1 status is active? 

[j1waiver32]

Okay, I"ll may be wait one or two weeks more before send the FEdEx. Sorry to hear about your job. I have my J1 till January 2016. I started application in May, 2014. It just takes so long!

[Rimpy]

Hi all,

I am also sailing in the same boat.

DS-3035, fee and Ds2019 were received by them on june 16.

I received the copy of NOC from Indian embassy on June 22, but they is no update about NOC from DOC. I have no info if they received the NOC yet or...

I wrote them two times but there is no reply yet....

very much worried...

any suggestion are most welcome.

 

thanks in advance. 

[j1waiver32]

It looks like they are taking 3 weeks to reply emails even though website says 5 business days. I am too very worried but seems like no other solution other than to wait. 

[ghytr]

yes, they r taking time to reply the emails, and if there r too many emails for same case number then stopped replying altogether. 

 

by the way @j1waiver32, did u have any updates regarding the NOC whether being received by DOS? we know there is no other solution but to wait, so when did u send emails last time? 

 

@Rimpy, we just have to wait - nothing much can be done, by the way pls check the address of the DOS where it was sent? 

[j1waiver32]

Still no update. My last email was on 8th August.

[ghytr]

hello j1waiver32,

 

i have two things to ask you - 

 

1) did the DOS send you any instruction or documents after they received your DS3035 packet and other related documents?

 

2) for me it shows that i) fee, ii) DS3035, iii) DS2019, iv) passport data page, v) statement of reason - these 5 items r received. but for some people they said it shows another 6th item named as 'others' also received? do u have something like this? 

[j1waiver32]

Hi ghytr,

 

1) No, they did not ask for anything else.

2) I don't have any "other" document listed too, other than the 5 you listed.

 

Some people also told me to ask local congressman, but at this point I don't know if they have received the NOS or not. If not, DoS is going to tell them the same thing. 

[ghytr]

@j1waiver32

 

1. also did you again create a statement of reason separately after you have your case number and sent it to the DOS directly to the address "Waiver Review Division U.S. Department of State Visa Office - CA/VO/L/W SA-17, 11th Floor 600 19th Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20522-1711" separately?

 

2. I am confused as I already sent a statement of reason along with the DS3035, DS2019, fee, passport data page in the beginning while completing my waiver application to the address "U.S. Department of State Waiver Review Division P.O. Box 952137 St. Louis, MO 63195-2137" 

 

and the DOS website also showed statement of reason is received along with others like DS3035, DS2019 etc.

 

then why creating and sending again the statement of reason to the DOS in Washington DC?

(I am asking as it made me confused while reading the second part of this webpage https://j1visawaiverrecommendation.state.gov/

 

for example they said:

 

If you already have a Waiver Review case number, you may:

  Check the status of a request for a waiver of the two-year home residence requirement

  Inform the Department of State of a change to personal data (such as mailing address, email, phone, etc.)

  Create a statement of reason

)

[j1waiver32]

No, I don't think we need to prepare the statement of reason separately. My friend and I did all these together (and mailed on the same day) and he got the waiver last week (DoS+USCIS both). 

[ghytr]

@j1waiver32,

 

- great that your friend have received the waiver. Very fast indeed. congratulations to your friend.

 

1. is both of your and his/her sponsor a university (or in other words non-US government) funding? 

 

2. How long it took for the DOS approval once they received the NOS from the embassy and then the USCIS final waiver?  

[j1waiver32]

1. No.

 

2. It took around first week of May to last week of August, so approximately 3 months. 

 

My point is we did not do anything differently. 

[Rimpy]

Hello  there,

 

@ghytr: the adress is the same as J1 waiver32 mentioned above

Waiver Review Division, US Department of State,

Visa office/CA/VO/L/W, SA-17,

11th Floor, 600, 19th Street,

NW, Washington DC-20522-1711

 

any updates guys??

[Rimpy]

Hi j1waiver32,

 

I am now in the same situation as you were....received an reply from DOS that my NORI certificate has not been received by them and they are asking me to ask embassy to resend it. after more than two months i came to know they have not yet received the NORI from embassy. Is there a way to contact you directly as would like to know what is to be done next.

 

best

Rimpy

[j1waiver32]

Hi Rimpy,

 

They may have told you to ask the embassy to resend the document to DoS and they should have given you a fax number. However, even though my embassy told me that they have faxed the NoS, I still don't see any updates in DoS website. You can try to scan and email them your copy of NoS but in my case it did not help either. I don't have any idea what to do next.

 

Thanks,