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.