Closest US Consulate/Embassy to Playa del Carmen Mexico (for K-1 Visa)

[Jim&Aura 6]

Hello everyone. I am about to file the I-129f package for my fiance Aura, a Mexican citizen living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (Quintana Roo). In my initial search for the nearest US Consulate/Embassy that handles K-1 Visa interviews & Processing, it seemed that the location below in Merida was the closest.

United States Department of State
United States Consulate, Merida, Mexico
X 58 A Y 56 A, Calle 60 338 K

Alcala Martin, 97050 Merida

Yucatan, Mexico

However, upon further reflection, it seems a bit strange to me that there would not be one in the entire Quintana Roo. I would be very grateful if someone familiar with this area could provide some advice on this topic. Realistically, there are probably only 2 possibilities in QR... Cancun & Chetumal. Chetumal is about the same distance from Playa del Carmen as Merida is, so no real help there, but Cancun would be ideal since it is about 1/4th the travel time of going to Merdia.

Thank you in advance for any advice on this matter!

[LionessDeon 2,060]

http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Mexico&cty=Juarez

I don't think there are multiple US embassies in one country.

[A'n'L 735]

All Mexicans have to go to Ciudad Juarez for visa processing.

[Jim&Aura 6]

Wow! Seriously? This is a major blow! Mexico is a huge country (land-mass wise) so I naturally figured they would have multiple options. And if they only have 1, why make it literally as far as possible away from the vast majority of Mexican citizens? Clearly I am not an expert on this topic but this just does not make sense to me.

My fiance has never been on a plane before I had fully intended on being with her for what I hoped her first time would be... Cancun to the US. I know it's a long time off but i guess i need to start looking at flights from Cancun to Juarez... since that is obviously way to far to attempt by bus!

Thanks for the feedback!

[jan22 3,056]

Wow! Seriously? This is a major blow! Mexico is a huge country (land-mass wise) so I naturally figured they would have multiple options. And if they only have 1, why make it literally as far as possible away from the vast majority of Mexican citizens? Clearly I am not an expert on this topic but this just does not make sense to me.

My fiance has never been on a plane before I had fully intended on being with her for what I hoped her first time would be... Cancun to the US. I know it's a long time off but i guess i need to start looking at flights from Cancun to Juarez... since that is obviously way to far to attempt by bus!

Thanks for the feedback!

To provide a little background/info that might help you understand:

There is normally only one consular processing post in a country (the US Embassy). When the workload justifies it, additional facilities -- which are extemey expensive to construct, maintain, and staff and require the agreement and funds from Congress and approval of the host country government -- are opened. Mexico has the Embassy in Mexico City and nine Consulates General (Tijuana, Nogales, Hermosillo, Guadalajara, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey, Matamoros, and Merida) and that provide visa and US citizen consular services and 12-13 consular agencies that provide emergency US citizen services only (sorry -- can't name them all!)-- more than any other country in the world, including much geographical larger countries such as Russia and China.

Immigrant visa adjudication is an extremely complex process that is expensive for the applicant and the US government. Consolidating it into one or two places in a country facilitates developing a cadre of officers and local employees with a much deeper knowledge of the process and also reduces the cost for such things as panel physicians, etc. That became primarily Ciudad Juarez for a few reasons -- one was that a new consulate facility was being built there at the time the service was consolidated so it was built large enough to handle the vast numbers; another was the recognition of the fact that many of the immigrant visa applicants were already in the US and returning to Mexico only to legalize their status, so they would only have to return to the border. (Plus, the vast majority of the population resides in the northern part of the country.) Some of the immigrant visa workload was transferred to Mexico City recently, as Juarez reached saturation; but, all K-1s still are done in Juarez, as you have found out.

Hope this relieves at least a little bit of the mystery/frustration of why your fiance will have to travel so far. You could always go to her and fly with her to CJ. The good news is that Mexico has a good system of internal flights, especially from Cancun to the border area. Whatever you decide -- good luck with your process; hope all goes smoothly.

Edited July 5, 2016 by jan22

[Jim&Aura 6]

Thank you very much jan22! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this in detail. It does make sense from a logical standpoint... i was just surprised and disappointed last night but after discussing today with my fiance, I am sure we will be able to work it out... it's just going to cost quite a bit more and be more difficult to arrange and plan.

You mention that Mexico has good internal flights but I didn't find any through use of Kayak. Do you happen know the names of any of these airlines? I assume that they are probably not indexed in Kayak's engine.

[KayDeeCee 4,894]

Yes, Juarez only. My husband is from Mexico City, so it was a pain for him to have to purchase airline tickets and stay in a motel in Juarez for the process, but it is what it is. Just another added expense in the long list of expenses for immigration.

As for airlines, you can search for domestic Mexican airlines. A few are Aeromexico, Volaris and Interjet.

~ Moved from K-1 Process to Mexico, Latin & South America regional - topic about Juarez and travel within Mexico ~

[MariaR323 199]

Watch the Volaris website as they often put out promotional deals that you have to jump on within a couple days at most. Go to the site directly since those deals sometimes don't show up on a kayak or expedia search.

[jan22 3,056]

Thank you very much jan22! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this in detail. It does make sense from a logical standpoint... i was just surprised and disappointed last night but after discussing today with my fiance, I am sure we will be able to work it out... it's just going to cost quite a bit more and be more difficult to arrange and plan.

You mention that Mexico has good internal flights but I didn't find any through use of Kayak. Do you happen know the names of any of these airlines? I assume that they are probably not indexed in Kayak's engine.

You are very welcome. The process is frutrating enough without having things like this come up for what appears to be no logical reason! It always helps me to know that, even if I don't like it/agree with it, that there is a reason behind something.

Aeromexico and Volaris are the most frequently used since Mexicana shut down, I think. There's also InterJet and VivaAerobus, but I have never used them. I usually go to the airline websites rather than something like Kayak -- guess I'm a glutton for punishment! I have been able to find Mexican flights before on Travelocity. I don't believe Volaris sells through any other site, though. It is likely that she will need to make a connection in Mexico City or Monterrey. (I would choose Mexico City -- big airport, but easy to negotiate.) Warning -- at this time of year, especially, they will not be cheap...too many tourists going in and out of Cancun.

Best of luck!

Edited July 6, 2016 by jan22

[Jim&Aura 6]

Big thanks to all 3 of you for the airline suggestions. I have bookmarked all of their sites for future searching purposes.

Agree that Cancun airport not ideal right now but since I am just about to file the I-129f package, a typical 4-5 month wait could end up putting us in the Oct-Dec time-frame for flights... which is low season for Cancun so might get a bit of much needed financial relief there. Still, the fact that these tickets will have to be booked on very short notice is a bit concerning... but it's unavoidable in this case so will just have to deal with it.

Thanks again for all your help on this and my other threads! it is greatly appreciated!

[perla&austin 7]

I highly recommend bestday.com to purchase flights, I've done some research, and comparisons. When it comes to Ciudad Juarez, yes, it's up to them where it's going to be, unless there's an exception but it is very rare. Our lawyer filled out our form I-129F, and on part 2, where it says , "Information about your alien fiancee" it says : "Your fiancee will apply for a visa abroad at the American consulate at:" and gives you the option to "choose" the city or town, he wrote down "Merida". There's a note on the other side that says "NOTE: Acceptance is at the discretion of the designated embassy or consulate.

Means you could try but it might end up going to Ciudad Juarez.

I'll be staying at the City Express Hotel, is the closest one , just across the street.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Perla&Austin