C1 Transit visa for relatives.

[bdglen 31]

If this post is in the wrong forum please accept my apologies in advance, but after searching the forums I really could not find an appropriate forum to help get answers to my questions.

 

My husband and I are taking a two week vacation in Puerto Vallarta this year and we wanted to have my husbands uncle and cousin join us there.  but we've identified a couple of problem areas.  My husbands relatives are Colombian and would be flying from Cali Colombia to Puerto Vallarta. 

 

1.  The flights are ridiculously expensive and long with multiple layovers and flight changes. 

 

2.  Additionally, Single unaccompanied Afro-Colombian men  arriving in Mexico are immediately suspected of trying to get into the US illegally and are hassled at the airports and sometimes not even allowed to exit immigration.  I know this to be a fact from first hand experience because I was travelling with one of my husbands cousins two years ago and while in Guadalajara I left to go to the restroom, when I came back his cousin was surrounded and being questioned by two Mexican immigration officials. It wasn't until I showed up with my American passport that they stopped hassling him and let us proceed with our trip.

 

So, we started to look into the idea of meeting them outside the US and flying into Mexico as a group and this is what we discovered.  It would actually be less expensive and faster if my husbands  relatives flew from Cali Colombia to San Francisco and then to Puerto Vallarta.  Hence the idea of obtaining a C1 transit visa.  

 

Does anyone have any experience obtaining and travelling using a C1? is there an absolute timeline validation for them based on trip details or are they somewhat open ended? I've read that they are valid for a maximum of 29 days and only valid for layovers before the final destination. What is the layover is a couple of days, is that possible or does the layover need to be immediate?  any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Edited January 15 by bdglen
grammar

[Boiler 45,466]

Why not apply for a B2, then you do not have issues with layovers etc.

[bdglen 31]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Why not apply for a B2, then you do not have issues with layovers etc.

They have, but their interviews are not until next summer 😒

It's been a while since we've seen them and thought this would be a nice vacation for them as well as helping when their B vu=isa interview occur.

Edited January 15 by bdglen

[Boiler 45,466]

They can certainly apply, now I am a suspicious so and so and my thought was that they might be tempted to use it as a B, but I am not the person interviewing them.

[bdglen 31]

9 minutes ago, Boiler said:

They can certainly apply, now I am a suspicious so and so and my thought was that they might be tempted to use it as a B, but I am not the person interviewing them.

Well one of the requirements for the visa is a travel itinerary showing validated return to country of origin.. They also require proof of intent to return, like a property deed, etc. obviously the travel itinerary would show return flights to Colombia. But being able to show the embassy that you were in the US for 24-48 hours previously and returned to Colonbia can't hurt when it comes to the B2 visa interview, no?

[Boiler 45,466]

C and a B use the same process, file the DS 160 and interview.

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from Bringing Family of USC forum to Tourist Visas forum, as transit visa application has similar process and requirements as tourist visa ***

 

[bdglen 31]

17 minutes ago, Boiler said:

C and a B use the same process, file the DS 160 and interview.

Yes, I am aware. I was hoping to get some insight from people with experience in the C1 process

[Boiler 45,466]

Just now, bdglen said:

Yes, I am aware. I was hoping to get some insight from people with experience in the C1 process

It is the same as the B

[bdglen 31]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

It is the same as the B

except they can get a C1 visa interview in less than two weeks, so obviously the process isn't entirely the same. i appreciate your willingness to respond, truly, but it doesn't appear that you have any first hand experience with a transit visa.

[Boiler 45,466]

I have been to a B Interview, which is the same. I had quite a long wait to be called up so did earwig a bit. And have read no end of others experiences.

 

And of course wait time vary by Consulate as well as by variant.

[MaxP22 186]

48 minutes ago, bdglen said:

except they can get a C1 visa interview in less than two weeks, so obviously the process isn't entirely the same. i appreciate your willingness to respond, truly, but it doesn't appear that you have any first hand experience with a transit visa.

Sounds like you don't understand what Boiler is trying to say.

 

B2 or C1, the need to overcome assumed immigrant intent is the same, there is no difference. At the interview they will treat someone applying for a B2 exactly the same as they will someone applying for a C1.

[bdglen 31]

32 minutes ago, MaxP22 said:

Sounds like you don't understand what Boiler is trying to say.

 

B2 or C1, the need to overcome assumed immigrant intent is the same, there is no difference. At the interview they will treat someone applying for a B2 exactly the same as they will someone applying for a C1.

No, actually i understand perfectly what he is saying. He's not telling me anything i don't already know.  but that doesn't address the issues and questions I have asked, therefore i am looking for advice from someone who has actually applied for a C1 visa.  If you don't understand the issue I am having, do a google flights search for yourself. From Cali Colombia (CLO) to Panama City Panama (PTY) to Puerto Vallarta (PVR) anytime in May 2024,  Try to find a flight that isn't outrageously expensive and/or doesn't connect through a US layover.  

 

Additionally, the approval rates for a C1  (85%) and B2 (59%) visa are vastly different, so again, the process is not entirely the same.

 

You'll see the only option if  i want to make this happen is a C1 transit visa. So I am really looking to talk to someone who has had a C1 transit visa

Edited January 16 by bdglen

[Boiler 45,466]

The cheap flights seem to go through Bogota.

 

[bdglen 31]

11 minutes ago, Boiler said:

The cheap flights seem to go through Bogota.

 

And then to Mexico City, wherein we encounter the first problem. Single Afro-Colombian men. I'm telling you, I've been a first hand witness to the problems with Mexican immigration as i explained in my first post and that is why we were thinking about meeting them outside the US, to avoid those problems.  The alternative is to layover in Panama City (PTY) and then travel to Puerto Vallarta. except virtually all those flights go though Houston or Miami or Dallas etc.....

 

Seeing as how the approval rates for C1 vs B2 are vastly different and the appointment/interview times are also vastly different, there is obviously some major differences in the process, hence my seeking out someone who has actually been through the C1 process.