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| Juarez, Mexico |  Review on December 3, 2013: |
Lamex2013
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Here is our experience and I will try to give as much info as possible. I apologize for my grammar ahead of time.
We received NOA2 on June 19, 2013 and about a week later I started calling the consulate call center as per what others had advised on Visajourney. I was told that my initial appointment letter was mailed on June 26, 2013 and to wait about 10 days to see if I would receive it. I was also told that it would be sent to both of the petitioner and applicant. I am the petitioner. I called back 10 days later, which was July 8 and this time I received another story by the call center representative. I was told that I had to wait another 5 days but that I could call the NVC and get the case, invoice and beneficiary numbers to start the DS-260 online application. I called the NVC and was waiting for about 35 minutes to finally get through. I did receive the information without any issues. We proceeded to complete the application online and setup the DHL information, ASC and consulate Interview date and time. All that went through without any issues. The following day, I called the call center once again and this time they told me it takes about 6 weeks to receive the letter and they also mentioned that if I didn’t have the appointment letter, they would not allow us in to the medical, ASC or consulate. So, we planned our trip to be there a few days before since many folks on Visajourney had mentioned that they can go to the consulate office information window and they would print out the appointment letter there for you. We took a chance! We booked our flights and hotel for Ciudad Juarez. Our appointment was set for August 2, 2013 and I was taking a trip to Mexico to see my fiancée on July 22 and returning on July 28th, which was planned months before. Now I had to fly back July 28th to the US and then get on a flight to Ciudad Juarez on July 29th. Luckily, when I returned from my trip back to the US on Sunday night, the letter was in my mailbox, I was sooo relief. Apparently, it was post marked on July 22nd and I was the only one that received the letter. My fiancée never received the letter in Mexico. It took about one month for them to mail out the appointment letter to me, the petitioner.
Where we stayed:
We decided to stay at the IBIS since it was the hotel nearest the consulate and medical clinics. It was a good choice, not to costly but clean. I would recommend this hotel. It is walking distance to the mall and there you can grab a bite to eat or go to the movies. In late July early August, it was reaching 100 degrees in Ciudad Juarez, it was very warm.
You definitely need that appointment letter for the following. It was the first thing they would ask for before entering any premises. Every place regarding the consulate is very secure.
Medical Exam (Tuesday):
I had read many reviews to arrive very early to the medical exams and to choose one over the other. Since we had an extra day, we decided to sleep in and not worry about anything. The next morning we got out of bed around 9:00am. From our hotel room, we could see the medical clinics and noticed that there was no line or a lot folks waiting around. We decided to go check it out and see if we could get in since they say you can get there until 11:00am to have your medical done. We decided to the SERVICIOS MEDICOS clinic since that one seem to have air conditioning for the people waiting. We arrived around 9:30am and my fiancée was out by 10:15am. There was no waiting whatsoever. I would recommend you go around that time but that is what worked for us.
ASC (Thursday):
This was very quick. They go by appointment time and all you need to do is get there 15 to 20 minutes prior to your appointment. They will call out appointment times and they you go in with the appointment letter and DS-260 confirmation letter. You are in and out in 10 minutes. I would recommend you do this later 8:00am, if possible. We had scheduled the appointment at 7:00am and there was a huge line when we got there. The line was unnecessary since you have an appointment time. It seems a lot people try to do everything early in the mornings but it creates chaos and that is when you have huge crowds or the last minute folks trying to get their stuff done.
Interview (Friday):
The big day had approached. The appointment was at 7:15am and apparently about 100 over people had the same time appointment. We arrived at 6:30am and you have to go to the waiting room which is adjacent to the consulate located in a shopping center. There they check that you have all the necessary paper work. Once that is okay, you are then sent to the actual consulate office. When we arrived at the consulate office, only the applicant could enter and everyone has to wait outside just standing there for hours.
Although, it was not listed on the list of documents they required, they asked for the I-134 form and her criminal records. Luckily, we had both but thanks for everyone else that has shared their story on VisaJourney.
Once she was in the consulate office, they checked the paper work again and this time they kept them and get her a number. After that she said she waited about about 2.5 hours before being called for the interview. The interview is conducted over a glass window and you are both standing speaking to each other. She said that the consulate office had all the original paper work we initially submitted. They did keep all paper work including her and mine birth certificates. She was in the consulate for 4 hours. She finally came out at 11:00am and had a big smile on her face and immediately knew we were approved.
They do sell snacks in the consulate office so make sure that your fiancé(e) does take some cash to be able to get something to eat because it is a long process.(
She said the Interview questions were:
When did we meet?
How did we meet?
What did I do for a living?
What did she do for a living?
If our families have met in person?
If she was married before?
If her or I have been married before?
If I had kids?
If I was divorced, which I am and they asked her if she knew why?
Where was she going to live in the US?
What did she intent on doing in the US?
Hope all this is helpful and good luck.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #13374