Hello,
I am an ex-Fulbrighter. When I was in the 4th year of doing phd on engineering in my home country, I accepted a fulbright program to spend a year in the USA on a J1 student nondegree status.
I then stayed in my home country for about 20 months, and moved back to USA for my postdoc in March 2020, this time as a J1 research scholar without any government funding.
I made a significant change in my career for the postdoc, switching my field from robotics to experimental neuroscience.
The experimental neuroscience is such a field that requires a lot of hand-on training., and projects take 4-5 years to finish. Unlucky me, I couldn't get any training for about 1.5 years due to covid lockdowns.
This has delayed all my projects.
With next year, I'll be entering my 5th and final year as a postdoc on J1 research scholar status. However, I need to work at least 2-3 more years to finish my projects. This brings me to the waiver of fulbright home residency requirement, for which I completed almost 20 months but still need 4 months to spend in my home country.
My professors won't wait for me that much, and if I have to leave, they might look for someone else to keep working and take the projects to a finish line.
If I return to my home country without finishing the projects on which I worked for years, this will be devastating for my career.
There is also zero chance that I could continue this work in home country due to lack of equipment.
What are my chances to get a favorable recommendation for a home residency requirement waiver if I explain my situation and support it with letters from my professors?
I am an ex-Fulbrighter. When I was in the 4th year of doing phd on engineering in my home country, I accepted a fulbright program to spend a year in the USA on a J1 student nondegree status.
I then stayed in my home country for about 20 months, and moved back to USA for my postdoc in March 2020, this time as a J1 research scholar without any government funding.
I made a significant change in my career for the postdoc, switching my field from robotics to experimental neuroscience.
The experimental neuroscience is such a field that requires a lot of hand-on training., and projects take 4-5 years to finish. Unlucky me, I couldn't get any training for about 1.5 years due to covid lockdowns.
This has delayed all my projects.
With next year, I'll be entering my 5th and final year as a postdoc on J1 research scholar status. However, I need to work at least 2-3 more years to finish my projects. This brings me to the waiver of fulbright home residency requirement, for which I completed almost 20 months but still need 4 months to spend in my home country.
My professors won't wait for me that much, and if I have to leave, they might look for someone else to keep working and take the projects to a finish line.
If I return to my home country without finishing the projects on which I worked for years, this will be devastating for my career.
There is also zero chance that I could continue this work in home country due to lack of equipment.
What are my chances to get a favorable recommendation for a home residency requirement waiver if I explain my situation and support it with letters from my professors?