Trip Report - Ciudad Juarez - IR1 Visa - April 2025

[Josh B K 51]

Ciudad Juarez Trip Report
by ***********, Petitioner 
IR-1 US Citizen Petitioner, Mexican Citizen Applicant 
Appointment Date: Thursday April 9, 2026 @ 7:00 AM

 

Arrival and Accommodations
Antonio and I flew to Ciudad Juarez from Guadalajara on Saturday April 4 — two days before his medical exam. Taxis were easy to find outside the airport. We paid $550 pesos (~$30 USD) for the 20-minute ride to our Airbnb (link), which was conveniently located near a Walmart and Sam's Club — perfect for picking up groceries and cooking our own meals. For all other local travel, Uber worked great: fast, affordable, and hassle-free.

 

Medical Exam
We scheduled our exam at Clínica Médica Internacional (cmi-medical.com), which is directly across the street from the consulate. We arrived at 7:00 AM and were greeted in the parking lot by clinic staff, who put a bracelet on Antonio and directed us to check-in. The waiting room is enormous — think airplane hangar — with hundreds of chairs for patients and their families.

Antonio completed some brief intake forms and was seen immediately. The appointment took about 40 minutes and included a vision test, blood draw, and chest x-ray. He was then taken to a private room for a short interview with the doctor covering medical history, medications, and similar questions, followed by vaccines: MMR, Hepatitis B, and Tdap. Results were sent electronically to the consulate.

Costs: Medical exam — $6,744 pesos (~$380 USD); Vaccines — $2,574 pesos (~$145 USD). Credit cards accepted.

After the appointment, we crossed the pedestrian bridge in front of the consulate and found a lovely spot for breakfast: Pancake Paradise. 

 

Appointment Day (Document Delivery) Thursday

 

The consular appointment date and time we received from NVC was Thursday April 9 at 7:00 am. This first appointment is only for document delivery. We arrived at 6:15 am and found a line of around 100 people had already formed. Only the applicant can wait in the line. I left Antonio at 6:15 am; he was done by 8:05 am — about an hour inside.

The line began moving at 7:00 am sharp, and security guards grouped everyone by appointment time. He was told to have just his DS-260 confirmation, Passport, and Police Report in his hands. Next, my spouse passed an airport style security checkpoint. You cannot pass the security checkpoint with any electronic devices (phones, smart watches, etc) or belt buckles larger than the palm of your hand. They see you cowboys! 

 

After passing security, he was directed to a short line of other family based visa applicants. In total he was asked for: 

• DS-260 Confirmation, 
• Passport, 
• Medical Exam Receipt, 
• Birth Certificates, 
• Marriage Certificate, 
• Police Report, 
• Sponsor’s most recent Tax Transcript 

 

They did not ask for a copy of the I-864 Affidavit of support.

 

All the documents were returned to him in an organized packet with a blue entry pass for attending his actual interview scheduled for the following day, Friday, at 9:30 am. 

 

Consular Interview Day Friday

 

Antonio arrived at the consulate with his blue interview entry pass at 8:45am. The guards were organizing people into two lines - one line for people with green entry passes and one line for people with blue entry passes. We don’t know what the color system signifies, but we were team blue. 

 

Antonio was quickly led into the consulate and joined a line of about 2 to 3 hundred applicants. He waited in line for about 3 hours. His interview started at 12:15 pm and was conducted by a woman behind a glass wall - think bankteller. Antonio gave the woman the packet of documents that were organized in his document delivery appointment. She asked routine questions - Where do you and your spouse live currently? Where will you live in the US? Have either of you been married before? Do you have children? Have you ever been to the US - legally or illegally? Do you or your spouse have any tattoos?  The consular officer did not ask for any additional documents. The Affidavit of support was never requested, but we had uploaded it and all supporting documents to the CEAC system. 

 

After the short interview, the officer told Antonio he was approved and passed him a green slip with instructions. 

 

Receiving the Visa 

 

During the appointment registration process in the ais.usvisa-info system we elected to receive our visa at the ASC center in Guadalajara where we live. Using the Visa Status check link provided to us at the interview ( https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx ), we were informed that Antonio’s visa was “issued” on April 13, 2026. We received an email informing us that Antonio’s passport was ready for pickup at the ASC center on April 17, 2026 (7 days after the consular interview). We picked up the visa that day. From the DQ'd date, we waited 421 for our interview in Ciudad Juarez.  

Edited 5 hours ago by Crazy Cat
Fixing spacing

[Crazy Cat 46,469]

****OP comment edited to remove personal information***

[Josh B K 51]

This foto provides a view of the US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez from the pedestrian bridge which crosses Avenida P. de la Victoria. You can see applicants lined up along a white wall in the distance and a crowd of people standing along the corner waiting for their relatives.