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| Juarez, Mexico |  Review on May 9, 2013: |
RomaSkirsky
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My fiancé and I arrived to Juarez on May 5 2013. His ASC (CAS) appointment was on May 6 at 7:00 am so we arrived a day earlier. His interview was May 9, 2013 at 7:15 am. We were approved! So happy!
Here was his experience.
Day 1: Arrival to Microtel in Juarez. Close to everything great hotel, and decently priced.
Safety: While there were no threatening areas around the embassy there are lots of random people with “official neck cards” asking where you’re going, to help you locate offices, etc. There was also a family asking for money to get home, they said they’d used all their money on the interview. It is important when you arrive to walk around the strip and know your surroundings so that you are not tempted to speak to these people. If anything, just tell them, no, thank you. Some will actually help you; others will try and scam you, and that is why I recommend keeping to yourself. The official security guards at each place are fine to speak with and ask questions. Most are very friendly also and will tell you upfront what documents you need.
Day 2: Today at 7:00 am the ASC fingerprinting appointment was our first destination. Do not bring anything with you other than your passport, appointment confirmation page, DS 260 confirmation page, and invitation (instructions) letter, in a folder or binder is fine. This includes only using the clothes you have on. Shoes, Shirt, Jacket and pants. No belts, jewelry or extra stuff, no purses or bags. They’ll either make you take it off and give it to someone who is with you or confiscate it. You do not need to arrive more than 10 minutes before your appointment. They put the time on the window, for example 7:00 and anyone who has their appointment at that time is either inside already or being called inside. The guard will come out and ask for all 7:0o am appointments to get in line. There is always a line of people but not everyone in that line will have the same appointment time so be sure to keep your ears open or if you arrive late you can go to the door and ask the guard. Please note only the person going through the interview process is allowed inside; anyone else has to wait outside. Also the ASC wasn’t hard to find, but it’s not in the embassy or near the interview line area. You must enter the Consulate plaza, and it is located in the back of the plaza next to the oxxo, near the sala de espera of the consulate.
While you are waiting in line to be let in they will ask to see your passport and the required documents. Once inside they go through a kind of security, which consists of taking the items off of you that you shouldn’t have entered with. They then send to you another person who reviews all your documents and puts them in an envelope. Then you sit down and wait until they tell you which window you need to go to. Once you’ve been told where to go you sit down and they take your fingerprints and photo. After they put a sticker on your DS 260 form with the date of the appointment, as well as an information sheet on how to receive your visa if you are approved. They return all your documents and passport and you are free to go. My fiancé’s appointment took 10 minutes.
Since it was 7:15 am we decided to try the doctor’s office to see if we could get everything done in one day. We went to CMS, the Medical office on the corner painted in shades of brown. My fiancé had to go inside with the invitation letter, passport, DS 260 and confirmation of interview appointment. I was sent around the corner to a tent, which is called the sala de espera. We were not allowed to go inside the building together. Also backpacks are not allowed. If you are with someone they’ll make you leve your bags if you’re alone do not bring a backpack, they will not let you in even if it only holds documents. There are lockers across the street that the guard will direct you to.
Once inside my fiancé said they asked him for all his documents and then they asked him some questions and directed him to one of the windows in front of the room. At the windows, they take all your documents and put a bracelet on you with a barcode. They also take your picture, and then send you to the doctor area where they confirm all your information. They then give you a document with all of the different processes you’ll have to go through during the appointment and they give you a little bottle where they’ll eventually put your blood once it’s been taken, for testing. Then they send you to the area for blood testing, where they take the bottle and your blood. In each area they scan the barcode on your bracelet. Then they send you to the eye doctor, where you do a typical vision test. Followed by that they separate woman and men for the medical exam. Everyone 30 minutes, 5 -6 people enter for the medical exam at a time. When it’s your turn they do a chest x-ray and put you in a room. In the room you have to take all your clothes off except underwear, and it takes about 5 minutes for the doctor to do her/his review. They ask questions such as do you have any illnesses? Have you done drugs? Do you drink alcohol? Do you smoke? All health related questions. Then they tell you to get dressed and send you to the vaccination room. In the vaccination area they review your information and what vaccinations you’ll need. In our case he was told he didn’t need any because K-1 visas don’t require vaccinations.
(Either way my fiancé went to a local doctor in his hometown at DIF, and they gave him all the vaccinations he asked for completely free, and gave him booklet as proof of the vaccinations. He didn’t need it for this process, but incase you are doing a visa that requires it. Word of advice, its much cheaper to do it at a local doctor. Keep in mind this doesn’t guarantee that the embassy doctor will not give you vaccinations. Only they can determine whether there are vaccinations missing, etc. and those vaccinations are pricy.)
After that he had to pay. With no vaccinations it was $210 USD. ($190 for the appointment plus taxes etc.) They accept cash, debit or credit cards. They said he had to return at 2pm that same day to pick up the results. He then came outside. The whole process took around 3 hours. My fiancé says that the processes are short; it’s the waiting that takes a long time.
At 2pm my fiancé went back to the doctors office. He needed the proof of payment and his passport to go inside. This part took about 20 minutes. He went inside and came out with a black sealed bag that reads do not open. They also gave him a disc with his chest x-ray and the vaccination paper from the doctor as a copy for when he changes status in the states, or CR - 1. In his case the vaccination paper just had a signature. The black sealed bag is what is needed to bring to the interview, not the secondary copies. By 2:30pm on Monday we had all the processing done.
Day 3&4 were hang around days since we finished everything by day 2.
Day5: 7:15 am the Consulate interview
We arrived to the Sala de Espera about 40 minutes before his appointment. Good thing too cause the lines got pretty long afterwards. Everyone was nice and helpful. They stamped his invitation letter and appointment letter and DS 260 confirmation and then the sent him over the to consulate. I waited in the waiting room. He said then he went inside the consulate and went through security and after that they directed him on where to get his number. He then walked to another part of the consulate, and sat and waited for his number to appear. Then once his number appeared he went to the corresponding window where a woman took all the documents. Everything from his passport to the I-134 affidavit, medical records, etc. He said she asked for his folder and she took out all the documents she needed. Then he sat and waited again until his number appeared. The next time he was called it was for the interview. He said the interviewer was a woman, very nice, said certain Spanish words she wasn\'t familiar with, but they understood each other. He said she asked him:
How we met?
Where we met?
What does he do for a living?
What do I (the petitioner) do for a living?
Has he ever been issued or applied for a US visa before?
They confirmed the address on file and asked if he would be living there or at another address?
Where we were engaged?
If he had committed any crimes?
Does he have tattoos?
How long we’ve been together?
When did we start dating?
He said the interview went pretty quickly. At the end the official told him congratulations and welcome to the United States and that his visa would arrive in a week. Also that he could apply for his green card before we get married. He then came outside to look for me and gave me the good news, which for me was great because it is also my birthday today! Best gift I could ask for. The whole process took about 2 hours.
Best of luck to everyone!
Thank you to the Juarez Embassy/Consulate. God Bless.
(updated on May 18, 2013)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #11945