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| Juarez, Mexico |  Review on February 1, 2015: |
tm81663
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My wife and I were pleasantly surprised by Ciudad Juarez and the US Consulate there.
Our interview was on Friday 12/19. We flew from Michigan on Tuesday to El Paso, and had a friend pick us up at the airport and drive us across the border. The trip was short and fast, maybe 15-20 minutes max from airport to Hotel.
We stayed at the Quality Inn. I won't go into a long detail review of this hotel as there are plenty already on Visa Journey. The rates were good for what you get. Rooms were OK, nothing spectacular, but fine for the price. They offer shuttles to all your appointments, but we didn't use them as everything was close. The consulate, medical, AOS, and the mall are all within walking distance.
Wednesday we had our medical appointment at Servicios Medico de la Frontera. It was super smooth. My wife went inside while I stayed in the waiting room with many others. She was out in about 1.5 hours. She said it was very professional, efficient, and not difficult. She did have to get 4 vaccination shots that cost around $200 in addition to the exam cost. This seemed pretty standard as others had to pay a similar cost for vaccinations.
Thursday we had our AOS appointment, first thing in the morning. That took less than 15 minutes. Very simple/efficient process already described in other reviews.
Friday we had our interview at 9am. We went to the building near AOS, and I waited in the back area while my wife was moved along from chair to chair, until it was her turn to be walked to the consulate along the sidewalk outside. I followed, and joined the group of people waiting outside. As I expected the process would take several hours, I went for a coffee at starbucks and then came back to the hotel. It was only 2 hours later when my wife was knocking on the hotel door, with a smile on her face. Approval!
We went to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate, and talk about the experience. She said it was well organized, efficient, and professional. Everyone was courteous. The interviewer had all of our past submitted paperwork, and reviewed our proof of marriage docs. (mostly timelines of our relationship and pictures from various trips back and forth to our homes, with family).
They asked her for her AOS fingerprint forms, pictures and passport.
The interview asked:
When did you get married?
Where did you meet?
What was your longest visit in the States?
Where does your husband work?
What does he do?
Where does he live?
After he took her visitor visa's away, and said congratulations. She was approved. Next step was getting the documents and her passport DHL shipped to the DHL office in Juarez.
This is where things got a little ugly. First, I made the mistake of booking our return flight from El Paso for Sunday, assuming DHL would ship overnight to arrive in Juarez on Saturday. That was a mistake. I lost the cost of the return tickets.
Saturday while we waited for the DHL, we were checking the website for a tracking #. Nothing. Sunday, DHL was closed. Nothing. Sunday we checked out of Quality Inn and checked into the Fiesta Inn. (I have lots of points and we wanted a change of scenery anyway). It was much nicer hotel, but it is far from the consulate so I don't recommend staying there until you are past the interview.
Monday morning, even though we didn't have a tracking #, we took a taxi to the DHL office we selected, Zaragoza. My wife spoke to the person there, but said without a #, they couldn't help us. In fact, they said they doubt it would be there until AFTER Christmas (another week away!). Also, they said that we should have chosen the other DHL office in Juarez as that's the main one to pick up Immigration DHL docs. we were upset and concerned, returning to the hotel empty handed. Around 3pm or so, we got our tracking # once we arrived at the hotel.
We refreshed our browser every 5 minutes to see the progress, but nothing. It simply says that DHL package was picked up, and that status stayed that way until 9am, when we decided we had to go back to the Zaragoza to try again.
The guy there was of no help again. We were deflated, and he said since Christmas was on Thursday, offices would be closed early on Wednesday, and so we don't have much of a chance to get the docs until Friday.
At that point, I was working to figure out where we can go as it felt we'd be stuck in Juarez. All flights were booked within Mexico or overpriced on such short notice. My wife went back inside working with another lady to figure out next steps. My wife works in part shipping logitistics, so she knows it was unreasonable for there not to be an update of shipment progress, especially for a destination (DHL) only 15 minute drive from the origin (embassy).
While talking, the original unhelpful guy came through the door and said they found the shipment, and it was at the other office. We took a taxi and arrived quickly. There was a long line, and it took about 45 minutes to finally get the paperwork in hand. We waited for our ride across the border, and went through the POE process. It was very simple and easy. We stayed overnight in El Paso after I booked our travel plans. Christmas Eve we flew from El Paso to Chicago through Las Vegas. Then Christmas day we took a train from Chicago to Detroit to finally be home.
Some final tips:
1) do not book any return flights ahead of time assuming you'll get paperwork. This is explained in several places on Visa Journey but I was cocky and didn't listen. Lesson learned.
2) set up your medical and AOS a couple days before the interview in case of an issue.
3) Be prepared for a LOT of downtime. Most frustrating was the waiting. Bring movies on your computer to watch, read books, go see movies at the mall, stay occupied.
4) If picking a Juarez DHL location, don't pick Zaragoza. Pick the other option.
5) Eat at a restaurant called Diana (next to the Quality Inn). Especially for breakfast. AMAZING breakfast for $10 USD each. very worth it.
6) Take Southwest airlines if you can. Even if they are a little more expensive, their flexibility in rescheduling flights without a penalty is worth it. And free checked luggage.
7) Juarez is pretty safe. We walked back and forth from hotel to mall over and over without issue, and were never nervous or worried. Avoid anyone trying to talk to you, and just keep walking. No issues.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #16076