J-1 Visa, HRR, and Adjustment Of Status

[tsap seui]

Good luck with the paperwork. If it ain't more paperwork for the DOS and USCIS, it's dadgum terlet paper.....wait a minute, it's all the same. Good luck, ya done good.

 

tsap seui

[Randy W]

Good job, and Thanks for reporting back!

[Nate21224]

UPDATE!

 

Huiying called the embassy today to check on the status of her NOS. They informed her that her application for NOS had been approved on November 4! They have now sent the results to the DOS. Huiying mentioned about the chinese embassy sending us a confirmation letter and they said they would not.

 

Tomorrow Huiying is going to call back and try to explain her case and and hopefully get them to send us a confirmation email at the least. I will also call the DOS and explain my situation and see if there is anything they can do to expidite the case or inform us of the status. I will keep you all updated.

[Nate21224]

Huiying called the embassy back and asked if they could send us a letter. They claimed they can only do so if the DOS gives them permission. They said to call DOS and tell them to send a letter of authorization.

 

I called DOS I explained our situation to a very rude lady in the phone. She kept cutting me off and saying things like "That is not the correct procedure. " or "You don't need to explain this to me, I am a visa expert." She said there is nothing she can send me and the Chinese embassy can send us "what ever they want."

 

I called USCIS and explained my predicament. They said that they can not extend the time frame for a RFE. He suggested making an appointment with my local USCIS office and bringing any paper work I do have related to the waiver. He said that an officer may be able to help us or guide us on any other options.

 

DOS received the waiver from the Chinese embassy on November 4. Our RFE is due December 23 (6 weeks from now). The DOS timeline for waivers is 6-8 weeks. I have doubts of the DOS being ahead of schedule.

 

I hope we didn't spend all this money and come all this way to get a waiver and then have to redo the entire AOS...

Edited November 7, 2013 by Nate21224 (see edit history)

[Nate21224]

On December 11th the DOS gave us a favorable mention for the J1 waiver. We have not recieved any mail yet. I called in and asked for an update and was informed it was a favorable mention. The status was changed on the website later that day too.

 

We have an appointment with a USCIS officer on Friday the 20th. Our RFE is due on the 23rd. We are going to gather all the info we have including printing out the status on the website and bring it with us to the meeting along with the RFE. Hopefully we get some sort of paper work from the DOS to bring to. We are going to ask for another RFE for further evidence. We are so close to being done with this mess of paper work I hope they see things like we do. I will update after our meeting. Wish us luck!

[tsap seui]

Good luck. Nothing like the feeling of being done with paperwork.

 

tsap seui

[Randy W]

Thanks for the update - best of luck. I'll bet it all comes together in the end. Nothing like putting you through the ringer in the meantime, though.

[Nate21224]

On December 20th Huiying and I went to the local USCIS via an appointment we made on infopass. We brought with us printed screenshots of the DOS J1 status website because; we had not received any paper work from the DOS or USCIS yet. I had also typed up a summary of what point we were at in the process and pleading to the USCIS officer to grant us a second RFE to buy us some time. We explained our situation and handed our paperwork to a lady at the USCIS building. We did not get to talk to a USCIS officer unfortunately.

 

 

On December 27th we received the J1 Waiver case receipt from USCIS. This states that USCIS has received all appropriate paperwork from the DOS and recognizes our case. They will now proceed to review the case and issue a waiver if they agree with the decision the DOS of state has made. I immediately called the USCIS hotline and asked what the status of our case was (using the receipt number on the letter) I was informed it was still pending and that there is no solid timeline. The lady said some cases take up to 4 months and some take much less time depending on the complexity of the case. I asked if I could expedite the case and I was read a bunch of "reasons to expedite" The one that made most sense was something like "the individual will lose other benefits" I explained that we have a pending RFE that is asking for this exact J1 Waiver and if we do not submit it as soon as possible Huiying's AOS may be denied and she will fall out of status. I was given a confirmation number and was told I would receive an answer on the request to expedite in approximately. 5 days.

 

 

On December 28th I mailed (overnight delivery) a copy of the USCIS receipt for J1 Waiver NOS case to USCIS AOS department. I included a cover letter explaining that this document is additional evidence for a RFE that was already submitted on December 20th. I also included a short explanation and that I had requested to expedite the J1 Waiver case.

 

I checked the AOS case online and it is still "Pending" So, as of now the case has not been denied. Has anyone here had any experience in receiving a second RFE for the same thing? I am hoping that the obvious attempts to fully inform and update the USCIS officer will at least put us on her good side.

 

[Huiying]

Thank you my love for sharing our journey here with everyone. And we're helping a Chinese girl who is in a similar situation too. We're so happy that we can help. Please contact us if anyone has any questions. We will do our best with our experience to help. I love you Nathan!

[Nate21224]

Thank you sweetheart! 我爱你我的老婆! We have had two separate people contact us and tell us that this information has been helpful. Its great that we know this information is helping others.

On January 2nd we received our NOS from the DOS. It stated that they sent everything to USCIS and recommend that Huiying receives a J1 Waiver. We already knew this because USCIS sent us the receipt for the J1 Waiver application. (DOS always seems to be slower than USCIS when it comes to mailing stuff)

I wrote a second letter describing exactly what this new paper is and what it means. I sent it along with a copy of the letter from DOS, and a copy of the RFE to the USCIS office that issued the RFE on January 3rd. Hopefully, all of these extra papers make it to the USCIS officer.

As of today the J1 waiver case still reads PENDING on the website and the i485 still reads as pending.

[Nate21224]

Just checked Huiying's J1 waiver status on the USCIS website and it is APPROVED! Now we will wait to get the official notification in the mail and we will forward it to USCIS (sounds dumb right) to the AOS department. Almost there!

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Just checked Huiying's J1 waiver status on the USCIS website and it is APPROVED! Now we will wait to get the official notification in the mail and we will forward it to USCIS (sounds dumb right) to the AOS department. Almost there!

Congratulations!

[Randy W]

Excellent! You should be home free there from here on (her, too)!

[Nate21224]

Recieved the official I-797 approval notice from USCIS today stating that Huiying's J1 waiver has been GRANTED! I am mailing another letter explaining the additional evidence as well as a copy of the I-797 and a copy of the original RFE tomorrow. I am not sure if this fulfills the RFE or if the officer wants to see the physical j1 waiver. If there is no determination with her AOS by the time we get the physical waiver then we will forward a copy of that too.

[Huiying]

Thank you everyone! Hooray!!!