Fulbright fellowship J1 Waiver..help if anyone knows

C

Carla1970

New Member
Hi, I am an ex-Fulbright fellow, first came to the US for a 2 year-degree program, and then continued into my PhD with another funding. Now I am thinking about getting a waiver, and would like to hear from former Fulbrighters who succeeded to get a waiver. Which would be a better way: wait until I graduate and try to find IGA within one-year Academic training, or start an application based on "extreme hardship" (I had a child while studying here)? As I understand "No Objection" is not relevant since my home government didn't contribute any funds. I have also heard some rumors about things getting a bit easier for Fulbrighters to get a waiver--is that true?

PS. I have read all the posts of previous years, so please do not refer to them. Nemu, I would love to hear from you. Can you please send me an email to darij@hotmail.com ? Thanks.
 
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My country did not contribute any funds but I received my waiver based on no-objection. I think the key in me getting the waiver was that what I do right now is synch with Fulbright goals (intercultural exchange, etc.). I managed to make a claim that to continue promote Fulbright goals I do not need to go back home cause I teach intercultural communication classes, do research on international communication, work with international students, etc.

I have a friend with a child who succeeded getting a hardship waiver. Not Fulbright, but similar program with government moneys. She collected evidence that medical care in US is much better than in her home country, so it depends on your home country.

Let's keep our discussion here in the forum - I am against private e-mailing as information gets lost. I hear the same rumors that Fulbrighters are getting waivers, but probably saw less than 10 people on the net sharing their good or bad experiences. I wish we kept all info in the same thread. It's getting hard to keep track of info.
 
Thanks Nemu

Thank you, I guess I can try doing the same because my field is close to yours. Did you apply for waiver in your final year? Or during academic training? Please, keep me posted of any other ideas you might have. Thanks again.
 
I applied when I was still in the program. I included my CV in the packet, I do not know if it made any difference. I think in my mind I combined the requirements for the IGA with the no-objection and apparently it worked. I even had support letters from my faculty, but those arrived to DoS after the material was mailed to Fulbright.
 
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Fulbright J1 waiver issues

Hi, Carla, Nemu,
I have a similar problem and I am working as a Visiting faculty in a University in the US since my Fulbright. I wish to apply for a Waiver and am looking for some answers to the problem. What is the best course?
 
Service center

Hi Nemu:
Could you please tell which USCIS service center sent you the final approval after DOS favorable recommendation. Thanks.
 
Nebraska. There are a number of threds that deal with the question how fast/slow is the final processing.
 
Nemu,
Thanks for your response. My question was I guess what is the best course to adopt in applying for a Waiver. I am a South Asian History professor.. and I am using my expertise in developing courses in Asian History in areas where they have not had Asian History before. Did you write to Fulbright and get a letter from them approving of your waiver? Did you get No objections to return to your home country? My problem is under what category should I apply for my Waiver? My lawyer said in case of Fulbright's the No objection from the home country does not work that well as the DOS does not approve as no funding is involved. So if you can please give me the steps you took and how that worked I will be very grateful. Also do you know of any IGA who would be able to sponsor my case?

Thanks.
Lopi65
 
I do not know what else I can add to what I already posted on this forum (you can do a quick search for my posts). I went the no-objection way, it worked. I agree with your lawyer - no objection should not work in this case, but I guess it is possible. I know that some countries simply do not even issue no-objection statements to Fulbrights. So you have to check on your country first.

No, I did not write directly to Fulbright, DoS requests sponsor views on their own. Although I heard of lawyer recommending getting in touch with local Fulbright to get their support for waiving the requirement.

In your case IGA is Department of Education I would think. You should be asking the university if they have any contacts. I know IGA is difficult, have not heard a single person sharing their experiences.

remember this
What is the reason most applications are denied?

A. Applications are denied because the reasons given for requesting the waiver do not outweigh the program and foreign policy considerations of the exchange visitor program. For this reason, "no objection" applications in Fulbright/USAID funded programs are generally denied.
Click to expand...

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1294.html#final
 
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I thought I would jump in and share my experience about the IGA waiver. It is indeed very difficult. Basically, you need to prove that you are working on a project that is of great interest to the IGA and the project would be severely delayed or canceled if you had to leave the country. My employer is trying to get NASA as an IGA to support my waiver request. I am currently the co-investigator for two recently approved NASA-funded research projects, but even in this case they still have not made the official waiver request for me yet. They are still thinking about it.

I was on a government scholarship (but not Fulbright) when I first came to this country 9 years ago. I already tried a waiver request based on no-objection but my home country (Cyprus) rejected to issue me the no-objection statement. So the IGA waiver is my only option at this time. I will post more about my experience as things unfold in the near future.
 
Me too, I am an ex-Fulbright fellow for my MS degree. Then, I was supported by a US University for my PhD.
Since I came to the US very late, I will be retiring as an employee of my country's government in a few month. It means that even if I go back, I will not work there.
Presently, as a postdoc working in a State University lab, I am still required to go back home (even though I will be retiring there).
How difficult would it be for me to get a waiver from the Fulbright?
 
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