Hi all,
I got my waiver finally. Here's my story :
I came to US on a j1, from a european country, instead from India.
Since my passport/visa was stamped that I am not subject to HRR, me and my college assumed that I dont need to get a waiver.The unpleasant enlightenment was in when my attorney was filing for H1B : that indeed i do need the waiver and the stamp on my visa does not mean anything.
I didn't waste a day after that. I searched / and still do / the internet (esp. murthy and khanna forums) for all the info i could get on j1 waiver.
1.I took the maximum allowed extension on my J1 (total 3 and half yr) which meant that I had exactly one year to get my waiver.
2.got a new passport from chicago as my passport was due to expire.
3. sent all the forms to india : my parents pursued my case in india and i got all three NO OBJ within 2 months. (BTW Iam from Hyd/Secbad, AP)
3. Meanwhile, I applied for the case no with DOS: got it within 2 weeks. (BTW, you dont need any NO OBJ / or waiver letter from Indian embassy to apply for case no)
4. With the 3 no obj lett and case no, applied for a waiver with indian embassy : took 2 weeks to get the letter from chicago.
5. Within next 10 days I got the waiver from Indian embassy, washington DC.
6. By then, I sent the statement (reasons for not fulfilling HRR) to DOS.
7. DOS received all my documents incl waiver form indian embassy by dec 3 week, as their waiver update indicated.
8. At this time, i was expecting to hear from DOS within 2-3 weeks, as most of my colleagues did. After the 8 week time which DOS anticipates for No Obj waiver, I started enquiring the status of my case every few days on phone/fax/mail. All the info i could get from them was already on their web-site !
9. After three months wait, my college cummunicated with DOS through their liaison to speed things up.
10. Beleive it or not : I even contacted the local senator's office for help.
11. Eventually, I got my waiver today exactly after four months of excruciating wait and i am still five months away from my J1 expiry plus a month of grace time.
Most advised that i sit back and wait. I know things take time and more time for some than others; but I believe do what you can in your capacity for things to happen. It helps. I am not sure whether it helped in my case.
I thank all for the info posted on this forum and elsewhere. Its invaluable.
streddy
I got my waiver finally. Here's my story :
I came to US on a j1, from a european country, instead from India.
Since my passport/visa was stamped that I am not subject to HRR, me and my college assumed that I dont need to get a waiver.The unpleasant enlightenment was in when my attorney was filing for H1B : that indeed i do need the waiver and the stamp on my visa does not mean anything.
I didn't waste a day after that. I searched / and still do / the internet (esp. murthy and khanna forums) for all the info i could get on j1 waiver.
1.I took the maximum allowed extension on my J1 (total 3 and half yr) which meant that I had exactly one year to get my waiver.
2.got a new passport from chicago as my passport was due to expire.
3. sent all the forms to india : my parents pursued my case in india and i got all three NO OBJ within 2 months. (BTW Iam from Hyd/Secbad, AP)
3. Meanwhile, I applied for the case no with DOS: got it within 2 weeks. (BTW, you dont need any NO OBJ / or waiver letter from Indian embassy to apply for case no)
4. With the 3 no obj lett and case no, applied for a waiver with indian embassy : took 2 weeks to get the letter from chicago.
5. Within next 10 days I got the waiver from Indian embassy, washington DC.
6. By then, I sent the statement (reasons for not fulfilling HRR) to DOS.
7. DOS received all my documents incl waiver form indian embassy by dec 3 week, as their waiver update indicated.
8. At this time, i was expecting to hear from DOS within 2-3 weeks, as most of my colleagues did. After the 8 week time which DOS anticipates for No Obj waiver, I started enquiring the status of my case every few days on phone/fax/mail. All the info i could get from them was already on their web-site !
9. After three months wait, my college cummunicated with DOS through their liaison to speed things up.
10. Beleive it or not : I even contacted the local senator's office for help.
11. Eventually, I got my waiver today exactly after four months of excruciating wait and i am still five months away from my J1 expiry plus a month of grace time.
Most advised that i sit back and wait. I know things take time and more time for some than others; but I believe do what you can in your capacity for things to happen. It helps. I am not sure whether it helped in my case.
I thank all for the info posted on this forum and elsewhere. Its invaluable.
streddy