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| Juarez, Mexico |  Review on July 6, 2011: |
nikolacolada
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
We arrived on Sunday July 3rd to Ciudad Juarez, did the medical exam on Monday July 4th, the ASC appointment on Tuesday July 5th and had the interview on Wednesday July 6th.
THE MEDICAL:
My fiance went to the medical at 6:30 am, I can't remember which one he went to, but both of them are right next to each other. He brought his passport, invitation letter and the appointment confirmation letter with him. He said that they took his picture and asked him some easy health related questions. After that they took his blood and did an eye test. Once in with the Doctor, he had to take his clothes off, but he could leave his underwear on. The doctor asked him if he had any problems with the police in the US or Mexico, if he did drugs or if he had tattoos. He checked him with the stethoscope, and then did ask him to take his underwear off. He said it was quick though and the doctor only looked, nothing else. He also asked about different birth marks and scars on his body, how he got them and how long he had them for. After the exam they do the chest x ray. He said that the only people they were asking to do a drug test were the people with tattoos. After all of the exams and tests are done, he paid the fee and they told him to come back at 2:00pm for the results. He also said that you can go a little bit earlier to pick up the results because they let people into the clinic to stand in line earlier than 2:00pm. They gave him a black envelope, as well as a piece of paper with a DVD of his chest x-rays stapled to it. They told him not to open up the black envelope and to bring it to the interview with him. The paper with the DVD stapled to it, is for you to keep.
THE ASC APPOINTMENT:
His appointment was at 3:20pm, and it's located in the same plaza that the Sala De Espera is in. He went 40 minutes early and he said it was too early. He said that they have a sign announcing what appointment time they are seeing, and when they put your appointment time on the sign they let you into the building so if you show up 15 minutes early that's better than 40 minutes. Once inside they checked his passport, DS-260 confirmation page, invitation letter and appointment confirmation. They put all of those papers in an envelope, and then a security guard told him where to sit and wait for your turn. Once you get called up they asked him some basic questions, like his name and where he was born, then they took his picture and his fingerprints. Once done they put a sticker on his DS-260 confirming his appointment and the DHL location we chose to have the visa sent and then he was done. This took him less than an hour.
THE APPOINTMENT:
His appointment was at 7:15 am, and he got there at 6:30 am. He said that going an hour early is best so that they can check all your papers and you can get processed sooner. At 6:30 am he went to the Sala de Espera and got in line. Someone checked his passport, DS-260, invitation letter and appointment confirmation, they stamp one of the papers but he can't remember which one it was. He said that without that stamped paper they won't let you into the consulate for the interview.
So after you get the stamp then you walk to a different area of the consulate to stand in a different line (they tell you where to go). In the second line security checks your papers again and makes sure you have the stamped paper. He said that his papers were checked by 2 or 3 different people, and after all the checks he was finally let into the building.
Once he got into the building you go through security similar to airport security, and then someone took his DS-260, appointment confirmation and invitation letter and gave him a number which will be the number that they use to call you up to the window each time they want to see you. He said that after you get your number they tell you where to go, and he was told to go to a huge waiting room, with a TV screen displaying the numbers and which window they should go to once the number was called. He waited about 30 mins to be called up to the window the first time, where they asked him to give them his passport, the financial information, the copies of the birth certificates, his passport pictures and the DS-156 and 156k and the black envelope from the medical He said it's really important to make sure you have the TWO COPIES of the DS-156k and DS-156, UNSIGNED. He said they also asked him his name and his birthdate as well.
To be called up the second time he waited an hour, and when he got to the window they gave him his interview. They asked him to raise his right hand and swear to tell the truth and the questions they asked him were:
1. Who was petitioning the visa for him and then clarified that I was his fiance when he told them my name
2. How we met
3. How long have we been living together
4. If he ever had any problems with the police in Mexico
5. If he had ever been to the US before
6. If either of us had ever been married before
7. If I worked in Mexico
and that was it, he was told his visa was approved. They never asked him for any of the proof of our relationship or engagement, but we brought any kind of proof we could think of just to be sure. Obviously you should bring as much proof as possible because every case is different and it's better to be safe than sorry.
He said that when you go to any of the appointments its best to only take the papers you need and your wallet, no cell phones or anything else.
CIUDAD JAUREZ IN GENERAL AND HOTEL:
We chose to stay at the Holiday Inn for 2 reasons
1. it's close proximity to the consulate, mall and restaurants
2. The wifi in the rooms.
I'm not sure if IBIS has wifi in the rooms, but my fiance met someone who was staying there who said they liked it a lot. It's also a little bit cheaper, and it's right next to the Holiday Inn. We really liked being so close to the consulate because he could walk to all the appointments, and having the mall right across the street gave us some options for food, and it was nice to be able to get out and do something since sitting in a hotel room gets really boring really fast.
We have not felt unsafe in this area at all. The hotel staff told us that it's not as bad as people make it out to be, and just to use common sense like you would in any other city. Don't go out late at night, and don't do anything to attract unwanted attention to yourself.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7873