Juarez Consulate

[CGOlivas 9]

1. The K-1 person can not work until the work authorization is approved. But, (this is a BIG but) I think the person can work as an independent contractor. From what I have seen from other people, the work authorization gets approved within a couple of months (less than a year).

2. You can get a social security number with your K-1 visa, the only thing is that, it will have a little note, stating that the recipient can not work until work authorization is approved.

Just an FYI on this subject. If you happen to use JFK airport in NYC as your first point of entry into the US, they will issue you a temporary work authorization stamp in your passport that is good for 90 days. This is typically enough time to receive your permanent EAD. Unfortunately, this is the only POE into the US that does this and it's not very convenient for immigrants from Mexico to use that point of entry. Because Aldo was coming out of Cancun, he flew to Salt Lake City on JetBlue Airlines. They use JFK airport as a layover city, so he was able to get the temporary work stamp. Something to think about...it may not be possible for everyone to do this, but it was a big plus for us. Good luck!

Thanks CGOlivas, I'll see if I can research that independent contractor stuff if not well we will just have to wait. My fiance was kind of hoping that he could work right away, he doesn't like just being around doing nothing. I know it probably takes like 3-6 months for the work authorization to be approved. He is just going to have to deal with.

To get the SSN do we need to take another form or just taking our passport and showing them the k-1 visa stamped on it would work?

Thanks Amy&Aldo. I had read something like that, problem is ...... lol my fiance is living in juarez and I'm living in el paso. We don't need to use an airplane, which totally sucks because he is going to have to wait to be able to work. But on the other hand its good because we can see each other more often now. I guess we will have to wait. Thanks for everything!

Here is a thread about social security card with K-1 visa.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=68438

This link gives a "Step-by-Step" information:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...om&page=ssn

Edited April 20, 2009 by CGOlivas

[limejello 0]

2nd update from today:

Marcos went into the medical clinic at 8:20 this morning, and I was planning on it taking about 2.5 hours, as the guard had said, so I left the hotel and waited outside the clinic for Marcos to come out around 10:45. Finally he came around the corner around 12:00, not out the front door as I expected.

This is what happened:

When he entered the building they immediately took his passport and his invitation letter, they wrote K-1 on a little piece of paper and clipped it inside his passport, and clipped everything together, and they kept it. He waited about 5-10 minutes when they called his name and had him get on a bus with other people. They gave him back his passport and attached papers. It took about 30 minutes on the bus to get from the new clinic to the old clinic by the old consulate. They did this because they couldn't handle the number of people that they had to attend to. Walking into the old clinic, he handed over his passport and attached papers again. He was sitting for about 20 more minutes, and they called him into a room with 4 other men and 2 women, where they drew blood. He said the other people they took blood from were already there, they weren't on the bus with him. They said that the men were to go to the 2nd floor and the women stayed on the first floor. He went upstairs and waited with other guys like 10 or 20 minutes more. Then they told the guys that they needed to take their shirts off and they took chest X-Rays. They went into another room and took blood pressure readings, weight and height. They then called him into a private room and checked his vision (he had to read some letters while covering one eye, then the other), then they made him take ALL of his clothes off. A nurse entered, and she asked him:

Have you had problems with the police in Mexico? The US?

Do you have an illness which requires that you take pills every day?

How many tattoos do you have?

Do you drink?

Do you smoke?

Do you use drugs?

Have you ever had an STD?

They checked his heart and felt his abdomen, and that was it. She told him to get dressed, and if he needed/wanted any vaccines to go downstairs and they'll vaccinate him, and if not, he just needs to pay the fee and he can go. So he got dressed and went outside and the bus wasn't there, and he waited a bit longer and the bus came and took him back to the new medical clinic. The exam cost $142 US.

We got photos taken at the mall across the street for $65 pesos (for 2 photos) and paid the visa fee at Banamex $171 dollars U.S. (no, I'm not kidding). They make copies in the same place they take photos for 1 peso per page. I copied the Banamex receipt because we only get one, and it was so expensive that I think it's worth having a copy. We're going to take a taxi to Office Max (it's close by but not within walking distance) to buy an accordian folder. The taxi to and from Office Max is $100 pesos round-trip.

Just as a side note: just because you have a tattoo or pierced ears doesn't mean they'll automatically have you see a psychologist. Marcos has a tattoo (it's a tasteful one, not huge or anything) and both his ears are pierced, and he didn't have to take a drug test or see a psychologist. That being said, he did talk to a guy who had quite a number of tattoos and while Marcos was there, the guy was having his second medical exam (guess they didn't believe his original drug test results). Marcos said he didn't look really crazy or anything but his arms and his back were tattooed so maybe that was a red flag, but who knows.

[vivamex 0]

2nd update from today:

Marcos went into the medical clinic at 8:20 this morning, and I was planning on it taking about 2.5 hours, as the guard had said, so I left the hotel and waited outside the clinic for Marcos to come out around 10:45. Finally he came around the corner around 12:00, not out the front door as I expected.

This is what happened:

When he entered the building they immediately took his passport and his invitation letter, they wrote K-1 on a little piece of paper and clipped it inside his passport, and clipped everything together, and they kept it. He waited about 5-10 minutes when they called his name and had him get on a bus with other people. They gave him back his passport and attached papers. It took about 30 minutes on the bus to get from the new clinic to the old clinic by the old consulate. They did this because they couldn't handle the number of people that they had to attend to. Walking into the old clinic, he handed over his passport and attached papers again. He was sitting for about 20 more minutes, and they called him into a room with 4 other men and 2 women, where they drew blood. He said the other people they took blood from were already there, they weren't on the bus with him. They said that the men were to go to the 2nd floor and the women stayed on the first floor. He went upstairs and waited with other guys like 10 or 20 minutes more. Then they told the guys that they needed to take their shirts off and they took chest X-Rays. They went into another room and took blood pressure readings, weight and height. They then called him into a private room and checked his vision (he had to read some letters while covering one eye, then the other), then they made him take ALL of his clothes off. A nurse entered, and she asked him:

Have you had problems with the police in Mexico? The US?

Do you have an illness which requires that you take pills every day?

How many tattoos do you have?

Do you drink?

Do you smoke?

Do you use drugs?

Have you ever had an STD?

They checked his heart and felt his abdomen, and that was it. She told him to get dressed, and if he needed/wanted any vaccines to go downstairs and they'll vaccinate him, and if not, he just needs to pay the fee and he can go. So he got dressed and went outside and the bus wasn't there, and he waited a bit longer and the bus came and took him back to the new medical clinic. The exam cost $142 US.

We got photos taken at the mall across the street for $65 pesos (for 2 photos) and paid the visa fee at Banamex $171 dollars U.S. (no, I'm not kidding). They make copies in the same place they take photos for 1 peso per page. I copied the Banamex receipt because we only get one, and it was so expensive that I think it's worth having a copy. We're going to take a taxi to Office Max (it's close by but not within walking distance) to buy an accordian folder. The taxi to and from Office Max is $100 pesos round-trip.

Just as a side note: just because you have a tattoo or pierced ears doesn't mean they'll automatically have you see a psychologist. Marcos has a tattoo (it's a tasteful one, not huge or anything) and both his ears are pierced, and he didn't have to take a drug test or see a psychologist. That being said, he did talk to a guy who had quite a number of tattoos and while Marcos was there, the guy was having his second medical exam (guess they didn't believe his original drug test results). Marcos said he didn't look really crazy or anything but his arms and his back were tattooed so maybe that was a red flag, but who knows.

Hey there, good luck to you and Marcos. Looks like you are well on your way!! I'm sure you are a nervous wreck right about now. Tomorrow will be worse when he is in the consulate, but it will all be over soon. We got out of there much quicker than expected, so we couldn't do the happy hour with you guys today. Good luck and hopefully we are telling you Congratulations tomorrow!!

[cici_ortiz 0]

Congrads and best wishes to everyone!! and thank you for the support!

I am now in the US! Plus I am no loner a Miss. but a Mrs.!!! Everything went great!! I so happy to be here with my hubby!

Next step AOS

[GueraKristina 1]

Congrads and best wishes to everyone!! and thank you for the support!

I am now in the US! Plus I am no loner a Miss. but a Mrs.!!! Everything went great!! I so happy to be here with my hubby!

Next step AOS

FELICIDADES!!!!! How does it feel to be a Mrs.?? Did you age a bit?? hahaha. I know that no1 actually addresses me as Mrs. they all still think im a miss, but im glad everything went perfectly for you guys.

Welcome to the AOS process now,"......please keep all extremities like hands, arms, feet and legs inside the vehicle while it is in motion. Thank you and enjoy the ride."

[limejello 0]

Hi everyone! Marcos's visa was APPROVED!!! He said it was "a piece of cake"! He was back at the hotel at 9:45 AM (record time, I think!).

[GueraKristina 1]

Hi everyone! Marcos's visa was APPROVED!!! He said it was "a piece of cake"! He was back at the hotel at 9:45 AM (record time, I think!).

congrats limejello.. on the AOS experience

[epifreak 0]

Hi everyone! Marcos's visa was APPROVED!!! He said it was "a piece of cake"! He was back at the hotel at 9:45 AM (record time, I think!).

Wow!!!!

That is amazing! Congratulations

Very unbelievable that your fiance came out so early but I'm very happy for you. Hope that DHL doesn't take that long and that you can go home soon!

:dancing:

[limejello 0]

Hi everyone! Marcos's visa was APPROVED!!! He said it was "a piece of cake"! He was back at the hotel at 9:45 AM (record time, I think!).

Wow!!!!

That is amazing! Congratulations

Very unbelievable that your fiance came out so early but I'm very happy for you. Hope that DHL doesn't take that long and that you can go home soon!

:dancing:

We just got back from DHL, we now have the visa in hand! We kept checking online and finally at 5:40 we saw that it had been received at the DHL office, we called to find out which one, then hauled a%$ to get there before it closed.

The guy at DHL was a total jerk, he was like "you HAVE to cross at a border crossing, you can't fly", and I said "no" so he practically threw the packet at us and said "well, YOU KNOW what you're doing!!!". I proudly said "Yes, we do!" then turned around and walked out.

Ok, one question to those who have done this before. I THINK I read somewhere in this thread that people have on their visas under "annotations" the following: 212(G)(2)(A) BLANKET WAIVER. Does everyone have this, because it's on our visa. What does it mean?

[tglea 0]

Hi everyone! Marcos's visa was APPROVED!!! He said it was "a piece of cake"! He was back at the hotel at 9:45 AM (record time, I think!).

Wow!!!!

That is amazing! Congratulations

Very unbelievable that your fiance came out so early but I'm very happy for you. Hope that DHL doesn't take that long and that you can go home soon!

:dancing:

We just got back from DHL, we now have the visa in hand! We kept checking online and finally at 5:40 we saw that it had been received at the DHL office, we called to find out which one, then hauled a%$ to get there before it closed.

The guy at DHL was a total jerk, he was like "you HAVE to cross at a border crossing, you can't fly", and I said "no" so he practically threw the packet at us and said "well, YOU KNOW what you're doing!!!". I proudly said "Yes, we do!" then turned around and walked out.

Ok, one question to those who have done this before. I THINK I read somewhere in this thread that people have on their visas under "annotations" the following: 212(G)(2)(A) BLANKET WAIVER. Does everyone have this, because it's on our visa. What does it mean?

Congratulations!!!!

I've been offline for about a week due to moving to another house. I'm glad to hear that everything went well for you!!! Both our K1 and K2 visas say the same thing. I don't know what it means but I don't think it's something to worry about since they must put that on all of them.

[tglea 0]

Question for some of you that have gone thru this process..... My Fiance will be bringing her son with her (obviously for medical) and then if approved he will be coming with across the border. Question I have is, should she bring him in for the interview, or can he stay with me while she goes thru the process??? Thanks!

AND........... Congrats to vivamex!!!!

Don't forget that if her son is 14 or under that the medical results will take 72 hours.

[Amy&Aldo 2]

Hi everyone! Marcos's visa was APPROVED!!! He said it was "a piece of cake"! He was back at the hotel at 9:45 AM (record time, I think!).

That is amazing! Congratulations

Very unbelievable that your fiance came out so early but I'm very happy for you. Hope that DHL doesn't take that long and that you can go home soon!

:dancing:

We just got back from DHL, we now have the visa in hand! We kept checking online and finally at 5:40 we saw that it had been received at the DHL office, we called to find out which one, then hauled a%$ to get there before it closed.

The guy at DHL was a total jerk, he was like "you HAVE to cross at a border crossing, you can't fly", and I said "no" so he practically threw the packet at us and said "well, YOU KNOW what you're doing!!!". I proudly said "Yes, we do!" then turned around and walked out.

Ok, one question to those who have done this before. I THINK I read somewhere in this thread that people have on their visas under "annotations" the following: 212(G)(2)(A) BLANKET WAIVER. Does everyone have this, because it's on our visa. What does it mean?

Congrats Limejello!!! I'm so happy for you both! I was just looking in Aldo's passport and his visa has the same exact annotation, so I don't think you'll have a problem. I have no idea what it means though!

Congrats to you too, Cici!! I, too, am in wedded bliss! We got married over the weekend and just got back from our honeymoon in the mountains last night. I'm still pinching myself because it doesn't seem real yet!

[vivamex 0]

Hi everyone! Marcos's visa was APPROVED!!! He said it was "a piece of cake"! He was back at the hotel at 9:45 AM (record time, I think!).

Wow!!!!

That is amazing! Congratulations

Very unbelievable that your fiance came out so early but I'm very happy for you. Hope that DHL doesn't take that long and that you can go home soon!

:dancing:

We just got back from DHL, we now have the visa in hand! We kept checking online and finally at 5:40 we saw that it had been received at the DHL office, we called to find out which one, then hauled a%$ to get there before it closed.

The guy at DHL was a total jerk, he was like "you HAVE to cross at a border crossing, you can't fly", and I said "no" so he practically threw the packet at us and said "well, YOU KNOW what you're doing!!!". I proudly said "Yes, we do!" then turned around and walked out.

Ok, one question to those who have done this before. I THINK I read somewhere in this thread that people have on their visas under "annotations" the following: 212(G)(2)(A) BLANKET WAIVER. Does everyone have this, because it's on our visa. What does it mean?

First of all CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU AND MARCOS!!! I'm so glad it worked out well for you and you got the visa the same day. Ceci's visa had the same thing on it...."blanket waiver". Not sure what it means, but nothing to worry about. We crossed the border with no problems last Saturday. Best of luck to you going forward. I'm sure we'll be in touch about AOS next!

[CGOlivas 9]

I found the following information regarding "212(G)(2)(A) BLANKET WAIVER".

9 FAM 40.11 PN4.1 Waiver Under INA

212(g)(2)(A)

(TL:VISA-427; 06-20-2002)

INA 212(g)(2)(A) appears to have been written chiefly to accommodate

adjustment of status cases. It allows the Attorney General to grant a waiver

to any alien who subsequently has been vaccinated after having been found

ineligible at the time of adjustment of status. Since medical exams for

immigrants are conducted prior to the visa interview, most applicants will

not need an INA 212(g)(2)(A) waiver. However, during the initial phases,

some applicants will appear for their interview without the completed Form

DS-2053, Medical Examination for Immigrant or Refugee Applicant. Consular

officers must refuse these applicants under INA 212(a)(1)(A)(ii) and the

applicant must return to the panel physician to complete their medical exam.

Once they have done so, they will obtain a Form DS-2053. This form is

submitted to the consular office and the consular officer would approve a

blanket waiver under INA 212(g)(2)(A).

If everyone remembers K-1 visa applicants were not required to get vaccinated during the medical exam. We can assume to say the were "Waived". Once the K-1 visa holders crosses the border gets married and then starts the process of "Adjustment of Status" (I-130) or something, you will be asked to take the necessary vaccines.

Hope this helps!

[ChicagoMammy 0]

How long do you all wait for an interview date to be set after your case was complete at the NVC?

How long after that was the interview?

Our case was complete last week. Should I call the NVC asnd ask to speak to an operator, use the AVR, get an e-mail or just letter in the mail?

Thanks!