Ciudad Juarez

karakmitchell · August 11, 2006

I just got back from Ciudad Juarez and wanted to share our experience with others who might be headed there in the future. We got our visa!!!! I'm VERY happy, to say the least! Here's a bit about our experience:

I'm the US citizen and my fiance is Mexican. I wanted to go with him to the Consulate for moral support at the very least, and I'm glad I did. If you are an American citizen and are contemplating going to Ciudad Juarez for a K1 or a K3 interview with your fiance/spouse, I would highly recommend going if at all possible. There were other Americans hanging out waiting for their fiances/spouses. Some of their Mexican significant others were sent out of the Consulate to get the US citizen and to head in together for more questioning. I don't know what they would have done if the US citizen wasn't there (my guess is a denial). Luckily it didn't happen to us, but I talked to another K1 applicant that was sent out for his fiance and a US citizen waiting for his wife's K3 results and the two had to go back to the Consulate the following day for more questioning.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Lincoln (very close to Consulate) and walked where we needed to go. Monday we went for Enrique's (my fiance's) medical exam. We got to the clinic next to the Consulate at about 6:45. There were tons of people there and although Enrique was checked in relatively quickly, the whole process ended up taking 3.5 hours. I just hung out and waited for him. He said most of the time he was just there waiting. They did take chest X rays, drew blood, asked him about his medical history, and asked him to undress. Apparently they just looked at him and said that was enough. We went back to the clinic at 2:00 pm the same day to pick up the results. (There was a huge line again- we could have gone at 2:!5 and avoided the line). The results were sealed, which made me, the hypochondriac, nervous, but it turns out everything was fine. We also went to Banamex to pay the fee for the interview (take your Mexican passport with you!)

Tuesday we went to the Consulate. We got there at 7:45 and again, there was a huge line, but he got in pretty quickly. (He told me it didn't seem that once inside they processed people in the order they came, so you don't really need to get up and get in line at like 5:00am like some people do). The whole day at the Consulate took 7.5 hours, so US citizens, take reading material! I sat in a restaurant across from the Consulate with a lot of other anxious people. Enrique said once he was inside he went through security and then handed his papers to a person behind a little window. At 11:00 they sent him back outside because his pictures weren't acceptable, so he got new ones taken and headed back in. He said he sat in a huge room with all kinds of visa applicants and they just called (at what seemed at random) people to windows for their interviews. He said some of the consulate officers seemed to be more strict than others; he said his was a young guy who was pretty relaxed. This is what the CO asked Enrique:

Why he wanted to go to the US- his answer to marry me

Did he plan to work in the US- yes, upon approval from USCIS

Did he know that he had to get married within 90 days of entering- yes

How did we meet?

How many times have we seen each other?

Then Enrique starting showing him some of the things we prepared (the CO didn't ask for them, but Enrique just started chatting and showing them to him)

-pictures

-I-134 and documents (mine and cosponsor)

-letters

-boarding passes and travel itineraries

Then the CO said congratulations, you're approved. He then had to sit through the office's lunch break for them to print the visa in his passport.

All in all, I think I was more nervous waiting than Enrique was during the whole process. He said the guy he spoke with was relaxed and joked with him. I, on the other hand, sat anxiously watching people either come out of the Consulate either smiling or crying!

I hope this information helps you if you're headed to Juarez in the future. Make sure you are well prepared with a variety of information/proof of your relationship and you should be fine! Buena suerte! If you have more detailed questions, feel free to ask away!