no objection waiver

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J_1_Holder

Registered Users (C)
I'm about to start the no objection process and I have two questions:

1. My academic training starts Jan 1. I will graduate now in December. Is it ok for me to start the waiver process now?

2. When is sponsor views requested? Is it always requested or only when they provided money for your program?

Thanks so much.
 
Hi, I'm afraid you will have to be a little more specific. What kind of training will start in January? Is this training an extension of the same program that you are on now? If your training in January is part of your current J-1 program, and you plan to ever extend your J-1 status, you may not be able to extend your status once you have started your waiver process. How long is the academic training going to be? And do you plan to stay in the US afterwards? One rule of the J-1 waiver is "do not apply too early".

Sponsor views are requested when a US government agency provides funds for your research or exchange function in the US. This could apply if you are a graduate student in a lab funded by the NIH, although not necessarily. Please give a more detailed description of what kind of program you are on. Also, some US government sponsors have specific policies on issuing a favorable view back to the DOS. If you are funded by a US government agency, make sure you have determined 1- if the DOS usually asks for their views and if so, 2-what their policy on waivers is, *before* you start the process.
 
Thanks for the response jk0274.

Here's more details.

I'm about to graduate with a PhD, and I'm funded by my home government. The home government will issue a no objection statement, no sweat. I also have a tuition waiver that is awarded to all incoming PhD students in my school. I checked, and this does not constitute US government funding.

My DS-2019 only lists "funds from own goverment" and "funds from the University of bla bla"

I will work for a company on academic training as of Jan 1. The AT was issued as part of the current program and is valid for 1 year. I do not plan to extend it in case I don't get the waiver.

The company already asked me to apply for H1b, but I need the waiver first.
 
My understanding is that you have one more year of academic training on a J-1, after which you will apply for an H-1B. If that is the case, *assuming you already have in hand a DS-2019 valid until the end of 2007*, you should start your waiver very soon. The reason for this (unless I'm misunderstanding you) is that you will work for a company, which is a for-profit institution. If so, you will have a small window of opportunity to apply for a Fiscal Year '08 H-1B visa (starting April 1 and ending a few weeks afterwards) before the cap is reached. You must have a waiver in hand before you can apply for your H-1B, i.e. before April 1. So get that process started (including having your company get the necessary labor certification).

If I am mistaken, and your company is a not-for-profit organization, they you can start the process any time during '07 as their is no H1-B cap, but don't wait until the end of the year because, while waiver processing is pretty fast these days, there is no guarantee that it will continue to stay that way through next year.
 
the AT has been approved, but as yet I have not received the new DS-2019. Can start the waiver process in this case? I want to do is asap.

Also, given the funding listed in my DS-2019, would the DoS request sponsor's view?

I'm under the impression that sponsor's view is only requested in the case where the is USG funding.
 
If you are certain that getting the new DS-2019 is only a matter of the international office printing it for you, then maybe you are safe. But just to be sure, I would wait for it if it's only a matter of a couple of weeks. There is always a chance that the international office at your institution may withhold it if you initiate the waiver before they have issued you a new DS-2019 even if it is approved. It depends on your institution: it may matter or it may not. So try to stick to the safest route possible (and ask others at your university who have been in the same situation).

Next, I forgot to ask about your embassy: Are you confident that they will send a no objection statement ASAP? Some countries (e.g. India) can take up to a year just to get the necessary clearance from Indian authorities. Italy is very quick. Make sure you have that info from your own embassy.

As for sponsor views, it appears that the DoS will not request sponsor views in your case since you have not been paid by the US government. You will be asked when you fill out your application form online whether you received US govt or home govt funds. They will be able to verify this info by looking at the program number listed on your DS-2019 form. So in this aspect, you are okay.
 
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Thanks for the reply. My embassy is pretty quick, one friend of mine got his waiver via no objection in about 6 weeks.

But I am uncertain about sponsor views. I checked, my program number is P-3-006. According to this web site

http://www.schulzlaw.com/mschulz_jprogram.php

the DoS may consult my program sponsor to determine if there is USG funds.

Is this similar to requesting sponsor views?

I actually already checked with my visa sponsor and they assured me that there is no USG funding (I never got a penny that didn't come from my home country).
 
I do not know if this is the same thing as sponsor views. When the DOS requests sponsor views, it sends both a form and instruction sheet to the international office at the sponsoring institution requesting favorable or unfavorable views. Whether an "inquiry of funding" is the same form as "request for views" is something I don't know. But I don't see why it is something to worry about. The DOS will request sponsor views *after* it has received the no objection statement from your embassy. This information will appear online. If the DOS does request sponsor views, it will indicate this in your online case status page ("Sponsor Views... Requested"). If you see this on your case status page (which, if it occurs, will be after the DOS receives the letter from the embassy), immediately contact your international office and tell them that there is a DOS inquiry coming their way. Just follow up to make sure that they respond in a timely manner. The DOS may or may not request such information, because it will ask you on your application form whether you received US or home government funding (Question 6 on form DS-3035, check 'yes' and write "home government only" in the space). The online procedure may be a bit different but you will still be asked to print out a barcoded DS-3035 and you can write the info there by hand after printing it if need be. As long as you follow up on it, and you'll know if you need to by checking your online status, you should be fine. There is no reason to dread the DOS asking your sponsor for its views, except perhaps a little more time to process your application.
 
Simple

Here are the definite answers to your questions:

You can start the waiver process any time you want, even one day after entering the US. By the way you chose a good time.

The sponsor view is requested only if you are using the No Objection from home country and your money came from a US agenecy (like Fulbright, USAID, etc...).

If you only got money from your country, then there will be no sponsor view to request, it is the letter of No Objection.


Make sure your country (Embassy ) gives you the green light to pursue this first, the will send the No Obj Letter on your behalf.




J_1_Holder said:
I'm about to start the no objection process and I have two questions:

1. My academic training starts Jan 1. I will graduate now in December. Is it ok for me to start the waiver process now?

2. When is sponsor views requested? Is it always requested or only when they provided money for your program?

Thanks so much.
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