From mrangasw@lynx.cat.syr.edu Fri Mar 25 23:35:19 EST 1994

Hi folks,

I would like to post my personal experience with the waiver of the 
two year HRR of the J-1 visa.  
I am currently in the situation where the 
USIA has approved the waiver and sent my papers to INS for granting the 
waiver.

I received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University 
in Dec 1992. Shortly thereafter, I was awarded a psot-doctoral research 
associateship by the National Reasearch Council (National Academy of Sciences)
to work at the Rome Laboratory, Hansom Air Force Base, MA. My post-doc position 
required me to obtain a J-1 visa. Since government money was used to support 
my position, I was subject to the 2yr HRR. 

I started the process of applying for the waiver in October 1993. I spent a 
whole month trying to contact various immigration lawyers. After a lot of 
work, I decided to use Mr. Steven A. Clark as my attorney. He is the chairman 
of the Mass. Bar Immigration Committee. He is extremely knowledgable and is 
a recognized expert in his field (immigration law). I would highly recommend 
him to other people. The lawyer was extremely helpful in my case and made sure 
that the necessary documents were obtained and filed in an optimal manner. 
His assistants are extremely courteous and helpful. I am very pleased with 
his services. 

My papers were submitted to the interested U.S. Government agency in December. 
The USIA granted the waiver last week. Therefore, as a rule of the thumb, one 
can say that the processing time (from the time you submit the documents to 
the interested government agency) is 4 months (This does not include the time 
it takes to obtain the supporting documents). 

In case anyone else would like to use the services of my lawyer, he can be 
contacted as follows.

Steven A. Clark,
Flynn & Clark, P.C.,
One Main Street, P.O. Box 25, 
Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02142-0001
(617)-354-1550 (tel)
(617)-661-2576 (fax)

Regards,

Muralidhar Rangaswamy

Disclaimer: The above is entirely my personal experience and is not 
intended to provide an advisory opinion to anyone else. Success in other 
cases is not guaranteed.