attestation of forms for J1 visa waiver

[memory]

I returned to India this year because I am subject to the two-year home requirement rule.
I still want to go to The United States due to personal reasons and wanted to apply for a J1 visa waiver based on No-Objection. For this, I have to fill out a NOC form and get it attested by the Indian Embassy in the US.

My questions -
1. does anyone know whether the attestation is mandatory if i am already in India.

2. If it is, how safe is it for me to mail my passport to them? I have seen the embassy in NYC and I am petrified that I will lose my passport in the entire process..
3. Can I fedex my passport + forms to a friend who can get them attested in third person? Is that permissible?

Has any one here applied / is in process of applying for a J1 waiver after returning to India?

[parag4best]

Hi I too is in the same situation...

I had sent the forms for initial attestation (after notarizing) to Indian Embassy in Washington DC. They replied they cant process the docs and I need to send it to NY OR at Ministry of external affairs (MEA).

Then I sent the documents to NY, in the format of NY Indian consulate, (I dont know why they have different formats at each consulate). However, I have not heard back for last one month.
If I stay longer in India then I might loose my job, just because Indian Embassy was not able to attest my documents.

Have you found any solution. I will be very grateful to you for your help and info.

[anushreeringne]

hey do you have any suggestions step by step what to do if we want to apply from india?