DS-260 Form as of March 1st 2011

[thaiv 15]

One other clue is that they mentioned something to Robe about maybe trying to call Washington on Monday if the fingerprints didn't show up. As if they were waiting for them to be ran through a system and returned... So in that case it wouldn't matter where you did them but maybe giving them more time to process them would help. We just can't know!

Interesting...now we have Washington directly involved in this because they can't handle their own new and broken system.

[thaiv 15]

Sorry guys for the negativity. Its just really frustrating to hear what some of you are going through. I hope you all the best during this process.

[Matt :) 1]

Update... OK, just got off phone with CDJ. This ASC appt is NOT making things easier on applicants, *sigh.

The agent said to allow up to 48 hrs btw ASC appointment and the visa interview. If you do it at an ASC facility at another state, like Mexico City then you have to allow more time b/c they send fingerprints & photo via DHL to CDJ. Also, since they still dont guarantee it will be ready in a week I'm hesitant to go that route.

I think what we will do is ASC appt on Monday, medical exam on Tuesday & visa interview on Wed.

what do y'all think?

[Matt :) 1]

PS, agent said you cant schedule ASC & visa interview more than a week apart.

[thaiv 15]

[quote name=Matt ' timestamp='1301327813' post='4570129]

Update... OK, just got off phone with CDJ. This ASC appt is NOT making things easier on applicants, *sigh.

The agent said to allow up to 48 hrs btw ASC appointment and the visa interview. If you do it at an ASC facility at another state, like Mexico City then you have to allow more time b/c they send fingerprints & photo via DHL to CDJ. Also, since they still dont guarantee it will be ready in a week I'm hesitant to go that route.

I think what we will do is ASC appt on Monday, medical exam on Tuesday & visa interview on Wed.

what do y'all think?

This is a hard call. Scheduling the way you stated is not a bad idea...just more time in the beautiful city of Juarez.

Also is the invitation letter necessary for the ASC appointment?

[Danilu 11]

Your plan sounds good ,Matt. I think it would be the most practical , after all the cirscumstances. You would only switch the order of the procedures, that's all.

Edited March 28, 2011 by Danilu

[C_María 6]

[quote name=Matt ' timestamp='1301327813' post='4570129]

Update... OK, just got off phone with CDJ. This ASC appt is NOT making things easier on applicants, *sigh.

The agent said to allow up to 48 hrs btw ASC appointment and the visa interview. If you do it at an ASC facility at another state, like Mexico City then you have to allow more time b/c they send fingerprints & photo via DHL to CDJ. Also, since they still dont guarantee it will be ready in a week I'm hesitant to go that route.

I think what we will do is ASC appt on Monday, medical exam on Tuesday & visa interview on Wed.

what do y'all think?

I think it's a great plan. I hope it works, something HAS to!

[thaiv 15]

A response from the CDJ public inquiry form that I received in my email today:

The instructions letter for your fiancé will be sent to your address in the U.S. and to her address in Mexico. Please wait to receive the notice to start the process of your fiance's visa.

This just confirms what we have been saying.

[Matt :) 1]

Those of you who filled out the DS-260:

There is a question "have you taken the medical exam yet?". I assume all of you are checking off "no"? They want us to schedule ASC appt before and medical exam a day or two before the visa interview, so wouldnt this question be "no" for most people? I didnt see any requirement for medical exam has to be done prior to ASC appt or printing DS-260 confirmation pg. Just being paranoid so want to make sure. Thanks!

[thaiv 15]

[quote name=Matt ' timestamp='1301466423' post='4574094]

Those of you who filled out the DS-260:

There is a question "have you taken the medical exam yet?". I assume all of you are checking off "no"? They want us to schedule ASC appt before and medical exam a day or two before the visa interview, so wouldnt this question be "no" for most people? I didnt see any requirement for medical exam has to be done prior to ASC appt or printing DS-260 confirmation pg. Just being paranoid so want to make sure. Thanks!

I do not recall seeing anything that stated the medical exam is required before the ASC appt. The fact that it can be done in another city also shows that its independent of the medical exam.

[Matt :) 1]

ok, thanks, my lawyer asked me that in an email so I thought it was that since they were filling out DS-260.

[C_María 6]

[quote name=Matt ' timestamp='1301466423' post='4574094]

Those of you who filled out the DS-260:

There is a question "have you taken the medical exam yet?". I assume all of you are checking off "no"? They want us to schedule ASC appt before and medical exam a day or two before the visa interview, so wouldnt this question be "no" for most people? I didnt see any requirement for medical exam has to be done prior to ASC appt or printing DS-260 confirmation pg. Just being paranoid so want to make sure. Thanks!

I don't recall seeing that question on our version, either. The one that stumped us was the drop down box that asked what the relationship was between beneficiary and petitioner and the only choices were family members or spouse so we put spouse.

It's not unreasonable to be paranoid! You never know what miniscule thing will throw off the whole operation and what isn't a big deal. But if we all do the best we can that's all we can do. I wish we got extra points for trying so hard.

[loveacanuck 0]

We made it!!!! Wow what an "experience" this was! We are back Stateside now, thank god! I thought I would break down the whole experience for you all in a nutshell so maybe it will help. We arrived in Juarez on a Thursday night. We did medicals on Friday (had a child, children must be there 72 hours in advance so that the TB skin test can be read. NOT 4 business days as the website says.) We got in the door with our appointment printout and a copy of the letter that was sent to our US address. Had our ASC appointment on Saturday. Again, got in the door with just the appointment printout and the DS-260 confirmation page. 10 minutes, fast and efficient, as long as you have already completed your DS-260! Picked up Medicals Monday afternoon. Interview was scheduled at 8:00 am, we were not seen until 4PM. Asked only for our financial information. Never asked for anything else (including the Police Certificates that we killed ourselves to get). The officer said, you're approved...for now and pretty much shut the window in our face. Kept checking the website for our DHL waybill number, called the 703# and they didn't even have a record that we had been to an interview yet. Went back to the consulate Thursday to the information line and the peroson there (who was really nice and helpful) said the visa was approved and on its way to DHL. He informed us that the system is so screwed up now that they aren't even issuing DHL waybill numbers anymore, so the only way to find out about it was to go to DHL and have them look for it in the back. He told us the delivery times from consulate to DHL was 7am, 11am and 4:30pm and that the 4:30pm delivery was usually always about 30 minutes late. We went straight to DHL, it was there however our names were not even in their system. We asked the clerk to please please go look for it in the back and low and behold, there it was. They didn't even know what they had there.

The Crossing:

Wow, was this a mess. They shuffled us into a line where we waited. We asked them how long this process took, they said about 3 hours. Yikes. 2 hours later, they called us up and told us we were in the wrong place. They had us in the line with all of the waiver people and the immigrant visas, which takes 3 hours. We were a simple K-1. We switched lines and were done in 15 minutes. The line you want is labeled "permits" and says non-immigrant visas. The one time they actually consider the K1 a non-immigrant visa. Do not wait in the 3 hour line! Last but not least, and I never saw this anywhere on the web, you must have $6 USD cash on you to pay a fee ($6 for each visa, including kids if you have them coming in). It must be exact change and in US dollars only. We, of coarse, did not have this and spent time outside begging people to exchange pesos. Also, while we were waiting for the unnecessary 3 hours, I had to go to the bathroom. I left my fiance with the papers and the officer led me out a door to a bathroom. Well, the bathroom is technically in Mexico, and I didn't take my passport with me. I, the american citizen, was detained for not having a passport. After about an hour, they let my fiance come out of the glass room and pass my passport to me. Moral of the story, if you have to pee, take your passport with you.

Thats about it, in a nutshell. If anyone has any questions, please ask and I will try my best them according to our visa "journey". Wow, I totally understand the "journey" part now!

[Katwood 0]

Thank you very much Loveacanuk! Your story is very helpful and will help us plan our trip to Juarez. I'm looking forward to being in your shoes - sharing our story instead of waiting and worrying.

CONGRATULATIONS!

[Danilu 11]

CONGRATULATIONS Loveacanuck!!!