meadow

When I translated my husband's Mexican birth certificate and had trouble with the formatting using Microsoft word, I did a google search for "Mexican birth certificate template" or something like that, and found a template like his certificate that I could easily use in Word. For circular stamps, I just wrote - Official seal - and then any text above or below it. We didn't have any issues or RFEs with that. I'd keep the template as similar as possible, but it doesn't need to be identical, and then have the signed statement of translation on a separate sheet paper-clipped to it.

He will have on pants and no one will even see it or know the tattoo exists. He is not required to get another medical if his K-1 medical was done within a year of filing for AOS. He will not be asked about tattoos on any of the forms, so I think this is a non-issue, even if I understand your concerns(and I do because my husband got hassled a bit at his medical in Juarez).

Thank you so much for your reassuring words! AbroadABROAD, good luck with the process!

Hey All,

I know this is an old question, but just wanted to give an update. My fiance was able to complete the ASC appointment in DF without any problems! We never received the invitation letter, but wanted to minimize the number of days in Cd Juarez, so I took a chance and just went ahead and scheduled the appointment in DF. Afterward, I started to worry so I called the consulate and asked if it would be a problem without the letter and they said no.

Long story short: We arrived to the Mexico City ASC 30 minutes early, as suggested (which put us about 10th in line, and ahead of about 40 other people) and just before his 7am appointment they started telling everyone to have your appointment confirmation page, passport and barcode page in hand. This turned out to be the DS - 260 confirmation page, which they mark as having had the ASC appointment. Overall, it was pretty quick and painless, my fiance was in and out in less than 15 min!

So if anyone else is already in Mexico City, go ahead and schedule the ASC appointment for the location in the Zona Rosa.

My fiancee heads to Cd Juarez for his interview this coming week, so wish us luck!

I'm so glad it worked out for you! We ended up changing the appt. and going to ASC in Juarez just to be safe, but it's good to know that the letter's not mandatory in the DF. Good luck with the interview!

Not sure what's funnier, the question or the response.

(Lots of gang tatts have flowers on them?)

Thanks so much for the responses HeatDeath and Eric-Pris! The question may sound a bit paranoid, but everyone in Juarez with a tattoo was sent for an extra psychological consultation, and there have been several cases of (greencard holding, no criminal history bearing) Mexicans leaving the US to visit family in Mexico after being approved and not being allowed back into the US because their tattoos may or may not resemble some abstract form of a gang sign. Just want to prevent any terrible future incidents from happening!

My Mexican fiancé was approved for the visa at the end of June and we'll be getting married in the US in September. My fiancé would like to get a tattoo of flowers on his leg before he leaves Mexico. Would it cause a problem in the AOS process if he gets a tattoo after the interview/visa approval and before the greencard application? He's waited this long because we knew that there's a stigma around tattoos at the Ciudad Juarez consulate, and I wouldn't want this to cause any issues now that we've made it this far...

Thank you in advance for your advice!

how did you know about the invitation letter?

After getting the notification that the petition was being forwarded, I called to confirm when it had arrived to the NVC and then to the Consulate and got all of the necessary ID numbers to schedule the interview. We scheduled it far enough in advance to make sure that there would be time for them to process the petition in Juarez and mail out the letter, and then waited 8 weeks, but it never came. Since we were able to schedule the interview and everything, we knew that they must have processed his case and sent the letter.

My fiance and I were just in Ciudad Juarez two weeks ago for his interview and we got the invitation letter at the info window without any trouble. You can check my review of our experience at the Consulate for more details, but you can definitely get the letter there. Good luck!

For my fiance's interview in Juarez last week, we just copied every page of my U.S. passport, including the covers, as proof of my citizenship. We didn't provide my birth certificate in any form. He was approved, so it seems like it worked! Good luck!

As long as your paperwork is in order and your husband answers everything calmly and politely he should be fine, there's no reason he should be denied because of the tattoos, it just might make the questions more intense. My fiance just had his medical exam and interview this week in Juarez. What he said is that in the medical exam the doctor asks everyone a lot of questions, including if they have a history of violence or drug use. My fiance said "no" and the question was repeated a few times before the doctor told him that the urine test would prove if he were telling the truth about drugs. Basically it seems like she was just trying to intimidate everyone, so it was just a matter of staying calm and not acting nervous. He said that everyone with tattoos was sent to talk to the clinic psychologist after the medical exam and before paying, but I think they mostly just repeated the same questions. In the interview, my fiance was asked if he'd ever had problems with police and if he had tattoos. My fiance doesn't, but if your husband says yes, and then pulls out the printed explanations you found about what each tattoo means and gives it to the interviewer, it shouldn't be a big deal. Good luck!

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!

My fiancé has the interview scheduled in Juarez for June 26th (yay!), and we scheduled his ASC appt. in Mexico City for June 20th. The letter of invitation still hasn't arrived, and while there's still time, I'm worried that the unreliable Mexican mail system means that it won't get here before the ASC appt. I saw in this post from last year that someone was able to go to ASC in Merida without the letter and still get everything done. Is that true in Mexico City?? Should we try to change the ASC appt. for the following week in Juarez before the interview to make sure we can get a copy of the letter? Thanks so much for any advice!

Great, thanks again! Hope everything goes well for you two with the interview!

My NOA2 had that as well. If I understand correctly, the noa2 is good for 4 months, which shouldn't be a problem if you continue with the process and schedule the interview within that time. I think that after four months, it expires and you'd have to apply to extend it to be able to continue.

On all forms you should put your permanent address in the United States. If you are on a tourist visa you are not permanently living in Mexico. a good rule of thumb is if you have a contract, or receive bills and taxes, etc. where you're staying, however this isn't usually the case for tourist visas. I'm assuming you got the Notice of approval from USCIS or you wouldn't be doing the DS 260 form. Therefore, I'd still put your permanent address in the US, and your Fiancé/Spouse can always explain the situation if it comes up as a question in his/her interview. But if you put the Mexican address they may ask why you are requesting a visa if you're (USC) permanently living in Mexico. I'm on a tourist visa as well, waiting in Mexico with my Fiancé till his interview in may. I put my US address as recommended by my attorney. Since you are the USC you should put your permanent address in the states and if that is the address where the beneficiary will be residing as well, the same address should be put in as the beneficiary's address within the U.S. For the beneficiary's current address, you must put the one in Mexico. Hope this helps.

Good luck!

Thank you so much! Yes, we got our NOA2 and heard that it's on the way to Juarez now. I've been living in Mexico for a couple years (volunteering and doing freelance work on a tourist visa) and initially put down my address in Mexico thinking that it would be added proof of the relationship to show that I live here with my fiancé. I now realize that it complicated things a bit. Thanks again!

Thank you for moving it to the correct location! If anybody has a suggestion, I would LOVE to submit the form this morning and would really appreciate your help!

I'm the petitioner and I'm filling out the DS 260 and don't know what to put for my address! I'm living in Mexico on a tourist visa and on the I129F forms I listed my Mexican address. I want to be consistent and put the same address on the DS 260, but not if it will screw things over later if they'll need proof of my US address or something. Should I just put my permanent residence in the US (which is our first destination in the US) even if it's inconsistent with the original forms?? Thanks!!

I (the USC) live with my fiance in Mexico City. Since sending in the I-129f we've moved apartments, so our physical address has changed, but I used a different mailing address in the city (that of an NGO where I used to volunteer that has more reliable mail delivery) that has not changed. Because the mailing address hasn't changed, and we're actually going to have to move apartments again soon, I never notified about a change of physical address.

We just got the NOA2, and as we're getting everything ready for the next round, I was wondering what to do about the physical address? I don't want to cause problems by having discrepancies between the physical address in the I-129f and the DS-260, but I'm not sure if there's a point notifying of a change of address now that we're moving again before the interview (and we're not sure where we'll live next). How important is the physical address when it's different from the mailing address? When the time comes to fill out the DS-260, should we just use the address where we lived when we began the application process?

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated!

Thank you for the feedback! My doubt about using my US address is that while my permanent residence is in the US, I have been living in Mexico for the past two years, and with my fiance for the last 6 months. In terms of evidence of relationship and writing down addresses for the past 5 years on the g-325a, it seemed to make more sense to put Mexico. Can I write down a mailing address in Mexico on the I-129f (it's an established organization with slightly more reliable mail)and put down my physical address in Mexico on the g-325a (And for both of them put "please see attached" in the blank and have a supplemental sheet with the full address, explaining that the address format is different in Mexico)? Thanks again for the help!

Unless someone here corrects me, which is possible, yes, I would use a seperate sheet and put "see attached for address" on the petition. Then on the seperate piece of paper PRINT out the entire address with NO abreviations.

Ok, thanks! Sorry for another question but i really don't want to mess up again... Should I write "Mexico City" or "Ciudad de Mexico" as the city??

Thank you, Bumbero, for the fast response! I actually got the rejection notice in the same package with my whole petition (including the returned check) but without further explanation. I´m also now wondering if the address was rejected because Mexico City addresses have a different format than US addresses.

My address here is Street Name 111, Colony Name, Mexico City. I had put the Street name and number as well as the colony name in the street line. If I write "see attached supplement" in the street line, can I leave the city and country names blank and put all of the information on a different sheet?

I had looked into doing the DCF, but I've been living in Mexico on a tourist visa (I came down here as a long-term volunteer,and am now working as a long-distance consultant for a US organization)so I'm ineligible for that.

Thanks again!

Please help! I just got the I-797c notice that my I-129f was rejected. It says that ¨The application/petition has not been fully completed. One or more of the following field(s) were not completed: - Your Address¨.

I have 3 possible guesses as to why it was rejected:

1. I am the USC but am currently living in Mexico City with my fiance. However, mail here is unreliable so I included a supplemental sheet in which I clarified that I had put down my current address, but would like to receive mail at my permanent residence in the US. Maybe this was too confusing?

2. In my address on the I-129f where it says ¨state or country¨I put `DF`, instead of ´Distrito Federal`or ´Mexico´. I also handwrote the street address, although I wrote it very neatly.

3. Because my physical address is unreliable for mail, I put down an organization where I worked as mailing address on the I-129f, but put down my physical address in Mexico on the G-325a.

I`m planning to eliminate the letter and just receive mail in Mexico to avoid that confusion, and to write Mexico instead of DF on all of the forms. Should I just put my mailing address as my physical address too even though I don't live there?? If they took my passport photos and evidence photos and put them in their own bags before mailing it back, can I just leave them as is or should I put them in plastic bags again? Is there anything else I can do guarantee that it's accepted this time??

Thank you!

Through the mail tracking number, I know that my K-1 petition arrived to the TX lockbox 2 weeks ago, but I have yet to receive an email or hard copy notification and the check hasn't been deposited. Everything I've read in the forums says that it should arrive within 2 weeks. Just so I stop worrying, is this normal? Can I assume that they're just overloaded and haven't gotten to mine yet? Is there something I should do?

Thanks for clearing all that up! My next question: as you probably know, the mail system in Mexico can be incredibly unreliable. I'm not confident that mail would actually arrive to my current apt (they just dump it in the doorway of the building). If I put down my current address in the forms, in my cover letter could I request that mail is sent to me at a more stable address (of the established organization where I previously volunteered) or would that complicate matters more?

I'm just starting the visa process, but from what I can tell everything, including emails and chatlogs, needs to be translated but it's not necessary for it to be an officially certified/notarized translation. My emails and chatlogs with my Mexican partner are in Spanish as well, so I'm translating them myself and having a friend who works as a translator sign off on them .

Hi,

I'm preparing the materials to start the K-1 visa process, but I'm not sure what to do about my living situation... I work freelance for a U.S. based NGO, so I've been living in Mexico City with my Mexican fiance on a tourist visa for the last year (and I was living here on a tourist visa as a volunteer in a local organization for the year before that, when we met). Because I'm not a legal resident in Mexico, should I list my U.S. address as my primary address for the last 2 years instead of my Mexico City addresses? Should I avoid including emails or messages with my SO discussing apartment hunting and related topics as proof of an ongoing relationship? I don't have copies of boarding passes, but can I use the stamps in my passport as proof that I've been in Mexico with my SO in the last two years?

Thanks so much for your help!