Successful J1 waiver (NOS, Philippines)

[galantry]

Since very few experiences from Philippine nationals are posted here, I decided to post mine.

All cases are unique so this might not apply to you.

The No Objection Statement (NOS) for Philippine nationals is issued by the Commission for Filipinos Overseas (CFO). All NOS supporting documents issued in the US for submission to the CFO must be notarized and authenticated by the county, state and finally by a Philippine embassy or consulate in the US. Check the CFO and Philippine embassy websites for the required documents and fees.

Okay, here's the complete time line of my J1 waiver experience:

July 2008 - Started collecting all the documents needed for the NOS application. All documents were notarized with all the signatories signing the documents in front of the notary public. The notarized documents were authenticated first by the Clerk of Court of the county where the notary public was registered. Then, all the authenticated documents were further authenticated by the Secretary of State. It was a tiring and expensive ordeal!

August 2008- In the second week of this month, all the notarized and double authenticated documents were sent to the Philippine embassy. It only took five working days for the documents to be authenticated and sent back to me by the Philippine embassy. Not bad! . In the third week of this month, I sent all the documents to the CFO. Simultaneously, except for the NOS, all the other documents were sent to the DOS.

September 2008 - DOS received the documents. CFO issued my NOS.

October 2008 - DOS received my NOS.

December 2008 - Received the favorable recommendation by mail.

January 2009 - Received the formal waiver of the 2-year residency requirement from the USCIS. YAY!

[tsadakaayo@yaho]

I am on the process on applying for a NOS can you guide me pls my email ad is : tsadakaayo@yahoo.com . thank you

[tsadakaayo@yaho]

I am in the Philippines right now I need help in applying for NOS I would Appreciate if you can help my cell number 09095775964 my email ad is tsadakaayo@yahoo.com

[researchMD]

My j1 visa for doing clinical research has just been renewed for another 3 years. is it true that i gave to wait to finish 2/3 of my program before I can actually apply for a NOS waiver? please advise.

andregabriel1981@yahoo.com

[mmed]

My j1 visa for doing clinical research has just been renewed for another 3 years. is it true that i gave to wait to finish 2/3 of my program before I can actually apply for a NOS waiver? please advise.

andregabriel1981@yahoo.com

No, it is not true. You can start the process any time from joining the program or immediately after the extension.

[galantry]

I am in the Philippines right now I need help in applying for NOS I would Appreciate if you can help my cell number 09095775964 my email ad is tsadakaayo@yahoo.com

Please feel free to ask anything here and I'll do my best to guide you.

[galantry]

My j1 visa for doing clinical research has just been renewed for another 3 years. is it true that i gave to wait to finish 2/3 of my program before I can actually apply for a NOS waiver? please advise.

andregabriel1981@yahoo.com

Technically, you do not need to; however, if you had attended the pre-departure orientation at the CFO, the speakers should have told you to finish at least 2/3 of your program. This is more of an ethical appeal rather than a technical one. The purpose of J-1 as we all know is for exchange of knowledge and technology so both countries can benefit. If you apply for a waiver the next day after you arrive in the US, you'll come to the CFO committee as eager to ditch the program and all its goals and you are endangering your NOS chances by catching the ire of the CFO. So, wait for at least 1/2 of your program duration to pass by then apply. I did that and got my NOS without any trouble.

Hope this helps.

[missmykids]

Hi,

I am still waiting for the result of my application from the DOS.
They recieved my NOS from Phil Embassy Washington on Dec 16 last year. And it is almost 2 months now and I havent recieved anything from them. My DS 2019 is until May 22, I just hope and pray that I would be able to get my waiver before I am out of status.

[mmed]

Hi,

I am still waiting for the result of my application from the DOS.
They recieved my NOS from Phil Embassy Washington on Dec 16 last year. And it is almost 2 months now and I havent recieved anything from them. My DS 2019 is until May 22, I just hope and pray that I would be able to get my waiver before I am out of status.

For me I received the decision from the DOS after ~6 months from receiving NOS from embassy and after another ~5 months (11 months total), I received the final waiver from the USCIS. One of my colleagues applied for waiver and the J status gone and after she returned back to her home country, she got the waiver after 18 months (she was only 6 months away from finishing the 2 years required at home country). You can hope and pray as much as you can, but there is no consensus or a pattern for waiver approval, you may get it today, no one knows, keep us posted.

[missmykids]

That is just so sad....hopefully it wont be too long....My hopes are still up....Anything can happen until June 21....The day I need to return to the Phil...

[galantry]

Hi,

I am still waiting for the result of my application from the DOS.
They recieved my NOS from Phil Embassy Washington on Dec 16 last year. And it is almost 2 months now and I havent recieved anything from them. My DS 2019 is until May 22, I just hope and pray that I would be able to get my waiver before I am out of status.

Most likely, you will receive your waiver late Feb or early March. If your employer really needs you, you can be allowed to stay under "O" visa without needing the waiver; however, that has limits too, 5 years I think, but that should give you more than super enough time to receive your waiver. Good luck!

[missmykids]

Most likely, you will receive your waiver late Feb or early March. If your employer really needs you, you can be allowed to stay under "O" visa without needing the waiver; however, that has limits too, 5 years I think, but that should give you more than super enough time to receive your waiver. Good luck!

Galantry,

Thanks so much for your reply....My hopes are still high...I believe I will recieve it anytime now...although it's still pending until now....
God bless you more,
Kababayan

[rmt511]

Since very few experiences from Philippine nationals are posted here, I decided to post mine.

All cases are unique so this might not apply to you.

The No Objection Statement (NOS) for Philippine nationals is issued by the Commission for Filipinos Overseas (CFO). All NOS supporting documents issued in the US for submission to the CFO must be notarized and authenticated by the county, state and finally by a Philippine embassy or consulate in the US. Check the CFO and Philippine embassy websites for the required documents and fees.

Okay, here's the complete time line of my J1 waiver experience:

July 2008 - Started collecting all the documents needed for the NOS application. All documents were notarized with all the signatories signing the documents in front of the notary public. The notarized documents were authenticated first by the Clerk of Court of the county where the notary public was registered. Then, all the authenticated documents were further authenticated by the Secretary of State. It was a tiring and expensive ordeal!

August 2008- In the second week of this month, all the notarized and double authenticated documents were sent to the Philippine embassy. It only took five working days for the documents to be authenticated and sent back to me by the Philippine embassy. Not bad! . In the third week of this month, I sent all the documents to the CFO. Simultaneously, except for the NOS, all the other documents were sent to the DOS.

September 2008 - DOS received the documents. CFO issued my NOS.

October 2008 - DOS received my NOS.

December 2008 - Received the favorable recommendation by mail.

January 2009 - Received the formal waiver of the 2-year residency requirement from the USCIS. YAY!

I came across your advise to missmykids and you mentioned about "O". My J1 visa is supposed to expire August 2009 but Amity cut it off to May 29, 2009, so I have a very limited time to complete my waiver and my bad I have not even started the process because of confusion. I emailed CFO several times but they are not responding. I might try the "O" you are trying to advise to missmykids. may you please give some info about this route. Thanks. I appreciate.

[missmykids]

HI guys,

I had my favorable recommendation from the Department of State last March 11. Now, I am waiting for the hard copy and the final waiver from USCIS. Hopefully I would be recieving it soon.
Thanks galantry.

[galantry]

I came across your advise to missmykids and you mentioned about "O". My J1 visa is supposed to expire August 2009 but Amity cut it off to May 29, 2009, so I have a very limited time to complete my waiver and my bad I have not even started the process because of confusion. I emailed CFO several times but they are not responding. I might try the "O" you are trying to advise to missmykids. may you please give some info about this route. Thanks. I appreciate.

Hi,

You can find incredible info about the O visa here:

immigration.com/faq/ovisa.html

Good luck!

[galantry]

HI guys,

I had my favorable recommendation from the Department of State last March 11. Now, I am waiting for the hard copy and the final waiver from USCIS. Hopefully I would be recieving it soon.
Thanks galantry.

Hi,

Give it 2-4 weeks and you'll receive your formal waiver from USCIS. Congrats!

[researchMD]

Hi there, I was wondering.. what were the reasons thay you indicated for the NOS? I was hoping to say that my visa program will not allow me stay until the clinical trial im doing is over. That would have been true a few months back but with the recent cuts in the budget, the study will only be until January 30, 2011 and my status is valid until Sept 30, 20011.

Please advise.


Sincerely,

Andre'
apg2120@columbia.edu

[galantry]

Hi there, I was wondering.. what were the reasons thay you indicated for the NOS? I was hoping to say that my visa program will not allow me stay until the clinical trial im doing is over. That would have been true a few months back but with the recent cuts in the budget, the study will only be until January 30, 2011 and my status is valid until Sept 30, 20011.

Please advise.


Sincerely,

Andre'
apg2120@columbia.edu

Hi Andre,


The following were the reasons I gave for the NOS to be issued.

1) That I am making significant progress on my research work that will make important contributions to the fields of microbiology and immunology (these fields are deemed important). This was vouched by a notarized and authenticated letter from my supervisor and from the assoc dean for research.

2) That my skills are required for the research to continue and that no facility or equipment in the Philippines is available for such research work to be carried out. This too was vouched by a notarized and authenticated letter from my supervisor and from the assoc dean for research.

3) That I am being offered an employment if ever the J-1 waiver is issued. This too was vouched by a notarized and authenticated letter of offer of employment from the university with stated salary (significantly higher than the exchange visitor salary). I think that this will give the CFO committee the confidence that J-1 scholars will not be left jobless or working in other fields.

4) That my J-1 in the US is not sponsored by any international or government organizations. Notarized and authenticated copy of the DS-2019 is enclosed.

5) That I did not come to the US as a physician trainee, but rather as a postdoctoral fellow in microbiology and immunology, doing purely research and teaching.

6) That I am not bound by any outstanding contracts in the Philippines obliging me to return after J-1. I enclosed a clearance from my last employer right before leaving for the US.

7) That the waiver does not mean abandonment of my duties to my country but rather an opportunity to place more Filipino scientists in the mainstream, global research efforts; something that the Philippines is lagging behind its Asian neighbors.

It was a long letter! It will also help to enclose a CV with a list of your published papers and career highlights.

Hope this helps.

galantry

[researchMD]

This was very much helpful galantry. I will definitely keep this in mind with my application. A couple of questions....Did you have to hire a lawyer for this or is this a process that you did on your own? I sought an advisory opinion initially but I was told by the DOS that my skills were considered medical specialization which the immigration lawyer I initally consulted found to be incorrect.

Also, did you have to file this clearance from you previous employe in the Philippines? I worked with a foreign based health insurance company which had nothing to do with research and I don't think this certificate would even be relevant.

As always, thank you for your advice. It is very much appreciated.

Andre'

[galantry]

This was very much helpful galantry. I will definitely keep this in mind with my application. A couple of questions....Did you have to hire a lawyer for this or is this a process that you did on your own? I sought an advisory opinion initially but I was told by the DOS that my skills were considered medical specialization which the immigration lawyer I initally consulted found to be incorrect.

Also, did you have to file this clearance from you previous employe in the Philippines? I worked with a foreign based health insurance company which had nothing to do with research and I don't think this certificate would even be relevant.

As always, thank you for your advice. It is very much appreciated.

Andre'

I am a DIY person so I did not hire a lawyer and just followed the CFO's instructions. Your J-1 US entry visa must bear the info if you are subject to INA Section 212(e) which is the 2-yr home residency requirement. If not, then I think that the advisory opinion should be pretty much the real case scenario. Remember also that your J-1 can be extended for a total of 5 years, but once you applied for a waiver, you cannot extend or transfer it regardless of the result.

As stated in my previous reply to you, I did get a clearance from my previous employer. One could hardly be an exchange visitor without being employed in a school or a company, right? But whatever is the case, getting a clearance from your previous employer would strengthen your case and comply with the requirements, regardless of the company being relevant or not.

One note of advice though: If your DS-2019 carries G-2-0263 or P-3-4510, you might be in a very difficult situation to get an NOS or a waiver. I know some people who were not given an NOS for that. Just a reality check. Good luck!

Galantry

[missmykids]

Hi,

Give it 2-4 weeks and you'll receive your formal waiver from USCIS. Congrats!

THanks Galantry....God bless you more!

[researchMD]

Thank you Galantry.

I am a DIY person so I did not hire a lawyer and just followed the CFO's instructions. Your J-1 US entry visa must bear the info if you are subject to INA Section 212(e) which is the 2-yr home residency requirement. If not, then I think that the advisory opinion should be pretty much the real case scenario. Remember also that your J-1 can be extended for a total of 5 years, but once you applied for a waiver, you cannot extend or transfer it regardless of the result.

As stated in my previous reply to you, I did get a clearance from my previous employer. One could hardly be an exchange visitor without being employed in a school or a company, right? But whatever is the case, getting a clearance from your previous employer would strengthen your case and comply with the requirements, regardless of the company being relevant or not.

One note of advice though: If your DS-2019 carries G-2-0263 or P-3-4510, you might be in a very difficult situation to get an NOS or a waiver. I know some people who were not given an NOS for that. Just a reality check. Good luck!

Galantry

[helpmysis]

hi there.. came across this forum while I was trying to help my sis with her J1 waiver concerns. I was hoping any of you could help me/her.
Is there a way to verify with CFO (commission on filipino overseas) whether they have received the NOS application as well as the other documents? My sister asked the help of a lawyer to process her papers but we feel that the lawyer has not yet done anything even if he said he has. And now we'd like to check if the documents have indeed been passed on to the proper agency. Would any of you know if this is possible?
Thank you!

[prasad581]

what is difference between j1 and j2 ?

[branpaul_guiao]

wow! i'm glad that there are other Pinoys here too!

I'm also in the process of securing an NOS from CFO.

Do you know anyone from non-medical/teaching field who received an NOS?

My visa is a bit different because I'm a finance management trainee. It's valid for only 18 months and will expire by June next year.


Please send me a private message so we can exchange our email add. thanks.

[galantry]

hi there.. came across this forum while I was trying to help my sis with her J1 waiver concerns. I was hoping any of you could help me/her.
Is there a way to verify with CFO (commission on filipino overseas) whether they have received the NOS application as well as the other documents? My sister asked the help of a lawyer to process her papers but we feel that the lawyer has not yet done anything even if he said he has. And now we'd like to check if the documents have indeed been passed on to the proper agency. Would any of you know if this is possible?
Thank you!

The only way to verify that is to check the tracking number of your parcel if it had been delivered to Manila. Unless there is a force majeure or a theft, your parcel should be received by the CFO. From my experience and that of people I know, the CFO had been very efficient and professional in handling the NOS applications. They sent me an email with the attached NOS the day after it had been issued even if they did not inform me that they had received the documents which I did not think was really necessary to do.

Just be patient. When you have all the documents complete and in order, you should be fine.

[helpmysis]

Thank you Galantry!

[helpj1]

Gosh.. this is really embarassing but Im gonna put on a pachyderm face out here... Its just that im so anxious to start this NOS J1 waiver process since this is a one shot deal for me.. Im afraid that if I screw this up, I will never be able to get out of this 212e. Im telling you guys.... not even xanax is helping me calm my nerves thinking about this every night... I was hoping some of you here can help me out on this process by sharing some template letters that I can work on in starting this waiver process. I would very much appreciate it...

nemesis.gab@gmail.com

[branpaul_guiao]

Hi Andre,


The following were the reasons I gave for the NOS to be issued.

1) That I am making significant progress on my research work that will make important contributions to the fields of microbiology and immunology (these fields are deemed important). This was vouched by a notarized and authenticated letter from my supervisor and from the assoc dean for research.

2) That my skills are required for the research to continue and that no facility or equipment in the Philippines is available for such research work to be carried out. This too was vouched by a notarized and authenticated letter from my supervisor and from the assoc dean for research.

3) That I am being offered an employment if ever the J-1 waiver is issued. This too was vouched by a notarized and authenticated letter of offer of employment from the university with stated salary (significantly higher than the exchange visitor salary). I think that this will give the CFO committee the confidence that J-1 scholars will not be left jobless or working in other fields.

4) That my J-1 in the US is not sponsored by any international or government organizations. Notarized and authenticated copy of the DS-2019 is enclosed.

5) That I did not come to the US as a physician trainee, but rather as a postdoctoral fellow in microbiology and immunology, doing purely research and teaching.

6) That I am not bound by any outstanding contracts in the Philippines obliging me to return after J-1. I enclosed a clearance from my last employer right before leaving for the US.

7) That the waiver does not mean abandonment of my duties to my country but rather an opportunity to place more Filipino scientists in the mainstream, global research efforts; something that the Philippines is lagging behind its Asian neighbors.

It was a long letter! It will also help to enclose a CV with a list of your published papers and career highlights.

Hope this helps.

galantry

hi Galantry,

how many pages did you use in writing these reasons?

[galantry]

hi Galantry,

how many pages did you use in writing these reasons?

Hi,

2 pages.