|
|
| Juarez, Mexico |  Review on June 4, 2019: |
denniam
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Overall, the process wasn't too bad. My fiancee's interview was scheduled for a Thursday morning, we arrived around 2 pm the Tuesday before, he had Medical Wednesday morning, and Biometrics Wednesday afternoon, and our flight out was Thursday afternoon.
1) Medical: We did the medical exam first thing the day before his interview (8 am) which was pretty smooth. I say the earlier the better. He finished in about an hour, they told him to come back and pick it up around 3 pm. His biometrics appointment was around 3. He accidentally forgot to pick up his passport and other documents after the exam so we had to go back and do that. So if you pay online and you don't have to go to the register, be sure to go to the register to pick up your documents. My fiancee chose not to get the vaccines they recommended (boosters only) but in hindsight, that was a mistake. If given the option to do vaccinations in country just do it, they are cheaper and quicker.
2) Biometrics: really easy but contrary to what I had read, they wouldn't take him any sooner than his appointment, just arrive about 5 min before the scheduled appointment. His was at 3 or 3:15, there was basically nobody else in line.
3) Interview: I should preface this with saying a lot of this is second hand from my now husband so details may be sketchy. His appointment was at 9:00 am. We woke up at 7, ate breakfast across the street at the pancake place, then we walked to the consulate at 8. There were already plenty of people gathered outside waiting on loved ones to leave. There are many places outside in which he had to stop for someone to check his paperwork, he didn't really tell me which ones were asking for what, but I waited until he passed all of them and was inside until I left. He couldn't take a phone with him so we made a plan to meet at starbucks across the street (there's a pedestrian bridge right on the corner) when he was done. I waited a nervous 3 hours for him to finish. He mentioned there are basically two waiting areas and that you can overhear all of the other interviews. He said a lot of people were denied because they had previously overstayed their tourist visas (Thank God I made him go back before that happened!) and had to ask for "Perdon" or forgiveness. He said his interviewer was really nice, made some jokes with him asked him a few questions (how we met and when, where we were going to live, and were we were going to get married). My fiance actually kind of made a mistake when he answered when we met, then the interviewer kind of gave him a look and he was able to correct himself (he said 2017 instead of 2015, lol). The interviewer did ask where I was or when was the last time my fiancee saw me, not sure which but I think he was more or less fishing for whether or not I had come with him. I had heard it's easier if they know the petitioner is with the beneficiary even though the petitioner can't accompany the beneficiary into the interview. In my opinion, even though it was somewhat costly, I don't regret accompanying my fiancee at all!The interviewer said "approved" stamped something, gave him a green piece of paper that said that his passport and visa would arrive within 2 weeks and he left.
Getting to Cd. Juarez and getting out are also pretty seamless. We took a taxi from the airport which was 400 pesos or so and an Uber back which was about $5 USD with a tip. If you are willing to leave the airport and wait on the road for an Uber, you could save some money but it's not a very waitable area on the main road, 400 pesos isn't bad. We stayed at a hotel 1 right next to medical centers which are next to each other, close to the consulate and across the street from the mall. It was cheap and a decent place to sleep, I would recommend it for anyone going through this process. There's a restaurant in the hotel, kinda pricey but kinda worth not having to leave the hotel at dark. Time that wasn't spent going through documents was mainly spent at the mall, they have all sorts of things there, even a movie theater, it's ok to kill time. Really, I feel like that was most of the time.
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #26351