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| Juarez, Mexico |  Review on April 17, 2012: |
BesosforMexico
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
We arrived in Juarez on Sunday, April 15th. Our consulate interview was scheduled for Tuesday April 17th. Some people on visajourney had expressed that they didnt think one day was enough time to complete the medical and get the results. For someone having all of their documents together one day early is more than enough time. We however, did not receive the appointment letter and had to get a copy of it from the consulate information center. We were having a hard time monday morning because there are a lot of people in the streets who will try to get you to go with them. They will ask you what you are looking for or which visa you have applied fpr.... if you can avoid getting into a conversation with these people, do it. They are trying to \"consult\" you and in turn expect you to pay them. They have no information that you need, they just want to talk and try to get you into their offices. I had a hard time getting my fiance to ignore them because he thought they were just trying to be nice and helpful, but theu reallg werebt. After he finally realized the only people we shpuld talk to are located at the consulate the process went very easily. The information cebter took him some time in order to get the appointment letter. We got there arpund 7am (thry dont open until about 7:30). He got the appointment letter and was back to the hotel room around 10 am. There are two medical locations and they were both located right outside our hotel. I highly recommend staying at the Ibis! Most people there for visas were just aitting by the consulate or medical facilities all day instead of paying for a taxi back to their hotels. We were literally a 1 minute walk from either of the medical facilities and about a 3 minute walk from the consulate.
The medical was very smooth. As i said, Adolfo didnt even get the appointment letter and get back to the room until 10am.... the medical facilities stop seeing people at 11am. I was worried but he was back to the room by 11 with the medical completed. No one told us not to have him eat the morning of the medical and it wasnt on any of his forms so make sure you dont eat that morning. After the medical was completed he was told the results would start being handed out around 2pm. We returned to the medical facility around 1:30 hoping they would return his results sooner. This is not the case. Beginning at 2 pm they call peoples names to gwt their results in the odder that they got their medical exams. After we waited until 2:30, we had to leave to go get his fingerprints (his appointment was 2:40). They were still calling people to get their results that had been at the medical facility at 6am so we knew we had some time. The fingerprinting appointment was not at the consulate where we expected it to be. It was further down the road in a building in a little strip mall like building. The window for this building had the visa website written on it in large letters and also had the time of the appointments for which they were taking. Do not bother getting to this appointment more than 5-10minutes early. This process onyl took about 20 minutes start to finish. We then went back to the medical facility and about 20 minutes after we got back they called his name to get his results. This was around 3:30. So start to finish if we had waited for the results it took about and hpur and a half, but he got his exam very close to the time they stopped them.
His interview was scheduled for 7:15am. We went to get in line around 6:30. They had told us to go directly to the consulate. However you actually had to go to a different place on the corner just past the consulate. They did a brief check to make sure you had the main documents needed. Then they stamped the papers and told us to head down to the consulate. He had to wait for almost 2 hours. My recommendation for juarez is to go to the document check area an hour to hour and a half earlier so that you are further up in the line.
The actual interview took only about 7 minutes. They asked him where amd when we met, how many times i had been to visit him, if i was in juarez with him, if he had a job lined up in the states, where i work, and how we communicate. They didnt look at any of the relationship evidence i prepared other than our photos together. I am very glad we were over prepared however.
There are 2 medical facilities in juarez and they are right beside each other. There is the clinica and the servico (i think thats what it was called). They are literally across the street from each other. The clinica was always packed with long lines. The servico was very managable and had a waiting area for family members.
Quick tips, bring spare copies of ds260 confirmation page and your appointment letter if you received it, as well as your confirmation email for your appointment times. Every where we went they needed those documents. The best advice i can give though, is to politely refuse the help of the men on the street who will try to stop you. Like i said several times they conviced my fiance to follow them into an office and asked him for copies of papers and tried to charge him money. There is one guy in specific who was even wearing a lanyard around his neck that looked official. He told us we had to follow him to see which medicial facility we needed to attend. This is NOT TRUE. At the place the lady freakec out my fiance, told him he needed his completed ds260 for the medical, and a bunch of other documents that werent needed at that step. Anyone who has done a little bit of research on this site does not need to follow these people to their offices or waste your time talking with them about it. We almost missed our medical because of the extra time we wasted with these people.
(updated on April 17, 2012)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9482