Hints About Processing Thru US Consulate at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

[errol1014 5]

Hopefully I can help some of you who are getting ready to go through the Interview process at the Ciudad Juarez location. Our process took 8 days from arrival to departure, so please plan accordingly if taking time off work, arranging child care, etc.

My wife's interview was scheduled for a Tuesday. In prep for the trip, she had scheduled her Medical Exam at Servicios Medicos de la Frontera for the previous Friday and her Biometrics for Saturday. So right off the bat, we had two empty days to add to the calendar.

Day 1:

Medical Processing: Wife arrived Friday morning at the Juarez airport via Monterrey, Mexico. I drove to Juarez from the U.S. side. A taxi driver from the medical clinic met her at the airport and drove her straight to her appointment at the clinic. We met up at the clinic. Processing through the clinic took almost seven hours. Family members are NOT ALLOWED in the clinic. They have a very uncomfortable waiting room outside the clinic, but I would recommend waiting at your hotel room or other location. Warning: I would advise you NOT to use this clinic. My wife paid for all her vaccines in Nuevo Laredo, brought her shot record with her, but was told at the clinic that the vaccines in Mexico were "different" from the U.S vaccines, gave her an additional three shots that she had already received and charged us an additional $200. Total bill: $391.00, so be prepared. There is a larger, newer, more state-of-the-art clinic next door which seemed to be a lot more efficient and definitely more comfortable. It's the Clinica Medica Internacional and since the rates are set by the U.S. government, your prices are the same as elsewhere.

Hotel Accommodations: I booked online. The Microtel Inn was right next to the Embassy and Medical Clinics, the rates seemed reasonable, and since we were planning on 7 to 8 days, I chose them. Big mistake. Do not stay there! I will post a review online and come back here to add the link. It was a nightmare.

Day 2:

Biometrics at the plaza next to the Embassy. They give you an appointment time. Do not arrive more than 30 minute prior or you will be standing around outside for nothing. Just make sure you bring your appointment letter AND the DS-260 confirmation receipt available online at CEAC after you completed the DS-260. Otherwise, uneventful, appointments don't take very long.

Day 5:

Interview: Again, there is no point in arriving more than 30 minutes prior, otherwise you will just stand outside. The government appointments are not first-come, first-serve. They are actual group appointments (meaning you may share the time with a dozen or so other applicants). Processing times vary and there is no rhyme or reason. Some applicants get interviewed and are our the door within an hour. Others, like my wife, took more than three hours. Again, no one is allowed to accompany the applicant into the embassy unless they have special needs. Family members will wait outside, next door on the plaza patio if they choose to do so.

Hint: Applicants exiting the embassy with a Green Slip have passed the interview and visa is approved.

Receiving your visa (READ CAREFULLY!):

Now, here is where you can avoid a nightmare: How long does it take to receive your visa? Hopefully, when you selected the address to receive your visa from DHL, you selected one of the 3 DHL Express locations in Juarez. This way, if you can wait for 2 or 3 days, you can get your visa and cross immediately. However, you need to read this carefully! When the official approved my wife's visa, he told her it should be ready within 3 days. That fit our schedule so we were excited and ready to go. The instructions you receive are to check your profile at https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-mx/iv (the one you created to schedule your appointments with the Consulate). At your profile (they tell you), look for the DHL tracking number next to your case status. When the DHL tracking number appears (they tell you), you can go to the DHL location you selected and check the status of your packet. Newsflash: If you follow those instructions, be prepared to wait at least a week. When we had not received a DHL number by our 3rd day (Friday), we were really upset. I had to be back to work Monday; we had not made arrangements for my wife to travel back to her home in Nuevo Laredo... it was getting tense.

To make matters worse, when we went to the Information window at the Consulate to inquire about our status, the nice lady there told us: "It takes a week-and-a-half to two weeks." "To get our tracking number?!," I asked. "Yes, that's right." At that point, we decided to drive to our DHL office to see what we could find out. There were about 60 people in line inside to get their visa packets, and about 80 family members waiting outside. So we asked one lady, "How long did you wait to receive your tracking number?," we asked. She told us, 7 days. We asked another lady, she told us , 5 days.

But, what we didn't realize at the moment, was that the second lady was in reality, an angel sent from heaven. I told my wife, "Ask her what type of visa she was receiving." But amazingly, the lady then offered up this bit of information: If you call the Consulate help line, they will give you your tracking number over the phone! She gave us the number, and 15 minutes later, we had our tracking number. Another hour in line, and my wife had her visa packet in hand by about 12:30 pm. After a nice lunch to celebrate, we headed for the Yselta-Zarazoga Bridge and by 4:30 we were in the U.S. You can find the number to the Consulate help line here: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-mx/niv/information/contact_us .

Good luck to all going through Juarez, I hope this is helpful to you.

[JFH 12,189]

*~*~*moved from "CR-1 spouse visa process and procedures" to "Mexico, Latin and South America regional discussion" as thread pertains to experiences at the Juarez consulate*~*~*

[afortunada 182]

Thank you very much for the information!! Our interview will hopefully be sometime in December or January. When did you start your process?

Congratulations on your approval!!

[errol1014 5]

Hi jacklynriquelme - Thank you and good luck to you! We filed our I-130 at the end of May last year (2015). But, the important filing is the I-184 Affidavit of Support & the DS-260. Once those are complete and accepted by NVC, they schedule your interview and forward your packet to the Consulate. That all happened very quickly for us. We completed filing those two items on the 23rd of April, and by the end of May we had our interview appointment: July 26! So we only had about 60 days to make reservations, plan the trip, etc.

[americaYluis 5]

So my husband is scheduled for 9/27 (Tuesday), my employer had been nice enough to work with me on time off, since I don't think I could stay here and work while he is in Juarez for interview. My husbands appointment is also scheduled for a Tuesday, but we should be in Juarez, hopefully the Thursday before his appointment so he can do his medical and biometrics, my question is, how long do they take to give the visa once they have approved? I don't want to take more days off of work than necessary. Also, we were planning on staying of Microtel, but after reading the post about the nightmare they had, I'm not quit sure, can anyone that has already gone to Juarez recommend a hotel, thanks guys, and good luck to all!!!!

[errol1014 5]

Hi americaYluis,

Please read my initial post; the paragraph starting with "Now, here is where you can avoid a nightmare: How long does it take to receive your visa?" should answer your question. Best of luck. (and if you haven't done so yet, I would recommend making your Medical and Biometrics as soon as possible)..

So my husband is scheduled for 9/27 (Tuesday), my employer had been nice enough to work with me on time off, since I don't think I could stay here and work while he is in Juarez for interview. My husbands appointment is also scheduled for a Tuesday, but we should be in Juarez, hopefully the Thursday before his appointment so he can do his medical and biometrics, my question is, how long do they take to give the visa once they have approved? I don't want to take more days off of work than necessary. Also, we were planning on staying of Microtel, but after reading the post about the nightmare they had, I'm not quit sure, can anyone that has already gone to Juarez recommend a hotel, thanks guys, and good luck to all!!!!

[americaYluis 5]

Thanks for your response. We are also thinking of staying at Microtel, like you said the price is reasonable. You mentioned you were going to post a link, but haven't seen that. Should I book somewhere else? Please advise.

[errol1014 5]

With regard to the link, my review is pending approval but the text is below. Unfortunately, if you are walking or relying on taxis to get back and forth to the embassy are, there aren't a whole lot of choices. The Ibis is the closest. If you are driving, there are many other hotels within 20 minutes of the embassy. On our last night, we stayed at the Hotel Plaza Juarez. It was a 15 minute drive and a few dollars more, but very comfortable. Besides the fact that Microtel rooms have no amentities (Microwave, fridge, coffee pot), here are the problems we experienced:

...Rooms are Tiny (as in "Micro"); There is ONLY ONE ELEVATOR for the entire hotel. Actually, there are two elevators in the hotel but they keep one turned off, and no service elevator. Plan on sharing elevator rides with several guests and often with housekeepers and their service carts. There is one washer and dryer for the entire hotel and they are operated by tokens that you purchase from the front desk. But, hotel staff lied to me several times about the availability of laundry tokens. When I went to purchase tokens, was told several times that there were none available but to check back in one hour, or 45 minutes, etc. Finally the desk did have one token available but said more would be available in one hour. So I purchased that and we put our load in the washer. I kept checking the front desk. They next told me 30 minutes, then after that, two hours (They said it was because only the manager could retrieve coins from the machine and he was never there). In the meantime another couple came along with their tokens, moved our clothes out of the washer and proceeded with two loads of their own. I was livid. I went to the front desk and let them know how upset I was and demanded (loudly) to know why they can't just send someone else to retrieve tokens. At that point, the clerk went to the back, came out with the key, handed it to the concierge, and within 5 minutes, they had a handful of coins. They could have done that at any point during the 7 hours in which we trying to buy tokens.

[americaYluis 5]

Thanks for your advise, my husband and I have decided to go with a different hotel besides the Microtel, we won't have any transportation, since we will be flying in from Reno, NV, so I'll be looking for one close to the consulate, thanks again.

[Liza0421 2]

Thanks for the post this helps out Alot, and it's nice to know how some things work out. I'm new to the Site and all this is new and good advice. I didn't know you could have your biometrics and medical exam befor hand. We thought they maybe scheduled that for you at the consulate or gave you the instructions to do it after something. I know I maybe sound dumb but I really don't know what all the expect. We should have our (My husbands ) appointment soon, our I601a was Approved on the 27 of July, and we are know just on stand by for the that they told us that he should take 3 to 4 months, At least I hope. My husband was thinking of staton at the Micro Hotel since his brother stayed there a couple years back.

[americaYluis 5]

We will be going for my husbands appointment on 9/27 but will get there on the 22nd, so he can have his medical exam that Friday, and hopefully get his fingerprints done on Saturday. I booked my stay at Micortel, I did alot of research, and read alot of reviews on line, I would recommend you do the same and then make a decision on where to stay. And yes, you do need to have the medical exam and fingerprints done before your appointment, or they won't see you. Good luck.....it sounds like you are almost at the end also. I am so anxious for it to be over!!!

[errol1014 5]

Oh! It sounds like you have not yet scheduled the Medical and Biometrics appointments? If you have not, please do so quickly. Also if you have not done so, you need to create a profile at ais.usvisa-info.com/en-mx/iv. Once you set up your profile, you will see your husband's interview appointment, and from there will be instructions to set up your medical and biometrics. It is very easy and quick to do.

We will be going for my husbands appointment on 9/27 but will get there on the 22nd, so he can have his medical exam that Friday, and hopefully get his fingerprints done on Saturday. I booked my stay at Micortel, I did alot of research, and read alot of reviews on line, I would recommend you do the same and then make a decision on where to stay. And yes, you do need to have the medical exam and fingerprints done before your appointment, or they won't see you. Good luck.....it sounds like you are almost at the end also. I am so anxious for it to be over!!!

[errol1014 5]

Hi. The Microtel certainly is not the worst hotel I've been in. The reason I give it low marks, is because 90% of their clientele are there for a week or more. Yet they do not approach their business in that way and customer service sucks. It's not so bad if you have to be cramped, uncomfortable or inconvenienced for a day or two, but for 7 to 10 days it's your temporary home. For us it's a matter of comfort and service - but if you don't mind sacrificing that, it's tolerable. All is not bad though, the free breakfast is really good and the housekeeping staff was very attentative. Which reminds me, the front desk staff will not tell you, but there is a second breakfast area on the 4th floor. And since they don't inform the guests at check-in, the people on the 3rd floor and below aren't aware of it. So the 4th floor dining area is usually empty or with a few guests while everyone else is trying to crowd into the downstairs room. Anyway, good luck to you guys. Let me know if you have any toher questions.

Thanks for the post this helps out Alot, and it's nice to know how some things work out. I'm new to the Site and all this is new and good advice. I didn't know you could have your biometrics and medical exam befor hand. We thought they maybe scheduled that for you at the consulate or gave you the instructions to do it after something. I know I maybe sound dumb but I really don't know what all the expect. We should have our (My husbands ) appointment soon, our I601a was Approved on the 27 of July, and we are know just on stand by for the that they told us that he should take 3 to 4 months, At least I hope. My husband was thinking of staton at the Micro Hotel since his brother stayed there a couple years back.

[americaYluis 5]

Thanks...no we haven't scheduled that yet. We have an appointment with our lawyer next week, and I was going to ask then, but I think I will take your advise now and get that done.

[errol1014 5]

I didn't realize you were working with an attorney, but it's good that you are. Best wishes. I hope we'll see good news from you in September!

Thanks...no we haven't scheduled that yet. We have an appointment with our lawyer next week, and I was going to ask then, but I think I will take your advise now and get that done.