Fulbright and J1 waiver, Mission Impossible?

IGA advice?

I just got my J1 waiver under "No Objection" basis denied (damn Fulbright!). I was wondering if anyone out there has gotten a waiver based on an IGA, prefereably under the Department of Health (HHS)? I need to decide whether my application would be strong enough to make it worth applying for and if so, make sure I don't leave anything out. Or has anyone seen a successful application in a forum/website and can give me a link?

For those concerned about the timelines for waivers, here is mine:

Recommendation Sent September 11, 2009
Sponsor Views Received September 11, 2009
Request for Sponsor Views Sent July 22, 2009
No Objection Statement Received July 14, 2009
Fee Received June 16, 2009
Form DS-3035 Received June 16, 2009
Form DS-2019 Received June 16, 2009
Passport Data Page Received June 16, 2009
Statement Of Reason Received June 16, 2009
Other Received June 16, 2009

The USCIS took 3.5 weeks to forward the official decision on the matter.

Another Fulbright friend from a different country (Brazil) submitted hers around the same time and the timeline was pretty much the same.
A word of caution: the status of my friend's waiver showed as Favorable Recommendation on the DoS website, she was all happy, only to receive a call a couple of weeks later, letting her know that it was a mistake. Before you move on with the rest of the steps in the waiver process, WAIT for the letter from the USCIS giving you the final word on a DENIED or GRANTED.
 
Hi bisoccer!

I am also a Fulbrighter. I am sorry you got the no obection denied. I still don;t understand what is this "no onbjection" based on?! Beurocratic sobjectivity?!? Anyhow, I plan to apply for academic traning and also for waiver, I hear it waiver shall be applied for after extending the J-1 to academic training, what is that true? have you heard of anything like that?
I'm from Bulgaria, want to try the no objection, I'm doing an MA in economics in NYU and I have absolutely no idea how I am going to pay my bills if I go back home.
Take care,
Ani
 
Fullybright said:
I am also a Fulbrighter. I am sorry you got the no obection denied. I still don;t understand what is this "no onbjection" based on?! Beurocratic sobjectivity?!? Anyhow, I plan to apply for academic traning and also for waiver, I hear it waiver shall be applied for after extending the J-1 to academic training, what is that true? have you heard of anything like that?
I'm from Bulgaria, want to try the no objection, I'm doing an MA in economics in NYU and I have absolutely no idea how I am going to pay my bills if I go back home.
Take care,
Ani
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Yes, you should extend your visa first, then apply for a waiver. The J1 visa requires that you have shown no interest in staying in the US, by applying to the waiver, you are expressing your intentions to reside in the US and therefore, your visa extension could be denied.

I have no idea of what they base the No Objection waiver on, all the recent cases I've heard from Fulbrighters have been rejections. In my case, I thought I had a very solid case since I have been working for a government organization from my home country in a voluntary manner for the last 2 years, helping to develop science through international collaborations. I had committed to continue to help my home country in this way and my home country had given a positive recommendation.

I now strong believe that the few cases where waivers have been granted to Fulbrighters are mistakes. As I mentioned before, a friend got a positive recommendation from Fulbright Brazil and was granted a waiver, but DoS caught on to their mistake soon enough to contact USCIS before her green card application was processed. Her waiver was revoked.
However, most of the positive outcomes I have seen in the past, have been for people from European countries, so maybe DoS treats different regions in different ways. So, if what you have to lose by not trying is worth the application, go for it and pray a lot! There is nothing worse than giving up before even trying.
 
Hi Everyone!
I'm a Fulbrighter too finishing my MS in Summer 2010 (started in Fall 08). I'm planning to apply J1-waiver under asylum category. Any thoughts, previous experience, words of advise on that? I be really grateful.

ps: Is it possible to get asylum if u have a credible fear of persecution in returning to your home country (Pakistan) based on your religious views (Atheism)?

Thanks
 
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Fullybright said:
Hi bisoccer!

I am also a Fulbrighter. I am sorry you got the no obection denied. I still don;t understand what is this "no onbjection" based on?! Beurocratic sobjectivity?!? Anyhow, I plan to apply for academic traning and also for waiver, I hear it waiver shall be applied for after extending the J-1 to academic training, what is that true? have you heard of anything like that?
I'm from Bulgaria, want to try the no objection, I'm doing an MA in economics in NYU and I have absolutely no idea how I am going to pay my bills if I go back home.
Take care,
Ani
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Hello Ani and other Fulbrighters, Nothing is impossible, please remember. I also have got my Fulbright J1 waiver (in 2012) trough IGA route. It takes about 8 months total.
 
Hi guys!
I´m planning to ask for a Fulbright 2-year rule waiver based in No Objection. I know it is pretty hard to get. I see the comments in this webpage are pretty old. Did anyone get a waiver recently (in 2014)? Could you please share your experience and say whether it is still so hard? I´m from Spain. Anyone from Spain who got it recently?

In my particular case I´ve already accumulated slightly more than one year (370 days) in my home country, and my husband lives in the US with an H1-B visa. I´ve heard it is easier if you already fulfilled part of the requirement. Do you know if that´s true? Do I have any chance?

Thanks in advance!
 
I forgot to mention: more than 1/2 of the funding came from my Government and the rest came actually from Fulbright.
 
Amelie said:
Hi guys!
I´m planning to ask for a Fulbright 2-year rule waiver based in No Objection. I know it is pretty hard to get. I see the comments in this webpage are pretty old. Did anyone get a waiver recently (in 2014)? Could you please share your experience and say whether it is still so hard? I´m from Spain. Anyone from Spain who got it recently?

In my particular case I´ve already accumulated slightly more than one year (370 days) in my home country, and my husband lives in the US with an H1-B visa. I´ve heard it is easier if you already fulfilled part of the requirement. Do you know if that´s true? Do I have any chance?

Thanks in advance!
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No Objection waiver case is practically impossible to get. You need to accumulate 730 days. Sorry to disappoint you but your chance is almost zero. If you have strong credentials perhaps you can try a waiver through IGA.
 
nemu said:
In most cases DOS goes with the sponsor views. Read this forum - nikovs story is the only example that I know where DOS ignored sponsor views. I applied for my waiver at the end of my PhD program.
Click to expand...

Help Needed
My DoS page is showing
"Request for Sponsor Views - Sent" and
"Sponsor Views - Requested".
What is the different between these two? Please help. Thanks
 
Hi guys,

Has anybody had filed a J1 waiver based on persecution? What exactly do they look for for granting a waiver for people in a situation where they will be persecuted? Any experiences? BTW, this is a waiver for US State Department-funded exchange program.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi I'm an exchange student on j1 visa with a 2 years requirement I was part of one year exchange founded by the department of state and I got married to a military usa citizen active duty and I was wondering if I can get my waiver based on a no objection statement! Does anyone know if I have a good chance specially that I can not return home with my husband being from another religion so please help!
 
Hello. I am applying for the J1 waiver. On the State Department website, the online form DS-3035 expires on February 28, 2021:
OMB No. 1405-0135
DS-3035
VERSION No. 07-2008
EXPIRATION DATE 02/28/2021

Is it acceptable for me to submit my waiver application using this DS-3035 expired form? If not, what can I do?

Thank you so much for the help!


 
I know this is an old thread but very curious to see if there are any cases of people applying for a waiver under the new Biden administration. I was advised last year when I got my non objection letter to not even try while trump was president, and now I’m getting ready to start prepping my case.

yes, this thread is extremely grim, but I do feel like I have a somewhat stronger case, seniority and arguments that some of the stuff I’ve read on here.

If anyone has any recent experience that they would be willing to share I hope someone still reads this
 
EduFonseca said:
I know this is an old thread but very curious to see if there are any cases of people applying for a waiver under the new Biden administration. I was advised last year when I got my non objection letter to not even try while trump was president, and now I’m getting ready to start prepping my case.

yes, this thread is extremely grim, but I do feel like I have a somewhat stronger case, seniority and arguments that some of the stuff I’ve read on here.

If anyone has any recent experience that they would be willing to share I hope someone still reads this
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Yeah. In a similar situation. I am doing my PhD funded by my host university but was US government funded for my MS. I want to apply for a waiver based on fear of persecution and I am wondering if there are any success stories here. I am also thinking about the IGA route but need someone to provide advice on what they did. Maybe our chances our higher under Biden but I don’t want to bet on that.
 
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