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| Juarez, Mexico |  Review on June 26, 2008: |
dodger58
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My fiance and her 3 daughters flew in to Juarez on Friday, June 20 at 7:00 in the morning from Monterrey. Her cousin picked her up and dropped off the bags at his mother's house. The cousin took them to the large medical clinic across the street from the consulate at about 8:00. They completed the exams and they needed to go back to the clinic on Monday morning at 11:00 for the 2 young girls to have their TB tests to be evaluated. This was the skin test. The test was negative and they went back after 2:00 to get all of the exam documents. I drove the 5 hours from Tucson and met them at the Holiday Inn Lincoln. I had stayed there before the previous month to see Sylvia and to check on the consulate location and Sylvia quizzed the medical clinic about the 4 day requirement for the children's TB test. I have been to Juarez many times to see Sylvia because she could fly within Mexico relatively cheaply and the drive was 300 miles mostly in the US for me. The Holiday Inn is quite nice and I got a price of $59.00 USD on Hotwire.com. It is around a large block from the consulate with very secure parking and the staff was very helpful. The regular rate is $90.00 USD.The staff speaks English and the girls liked the pool. Sylvia and I double checked the documents to take to the consulate and we needed to copy my divorce documents. We found a copy place and we felt that we were set. Sylvia had talked to the consulate guard on Monday and he told her that the open appointment K-1 fiance didn't need to come before 7:30 a.m. and come to the gate and she would enter with the people with 7:45 appointments. I dropped off Sylvia and the girls @ 7:30 on Tuesday and there were hundeds of people lined up. I picked up her father at the airport at 1:30. He flew in from Queretero via Mexico City. He came to help us drive my Explorer to Tucson with the girls while I drove a rental moving truck. She hired a moving company in Monterrey to bring 36 boxes and a sofa and love seat to Juarez and meet us on Wednesday morning. I did not wait outside the consulate all day like other people who have written about Juarez. It was 100 degrees and I stayed at the hotel before I picked up her father. His plane was 1 hour late but the arrival board always said on time! Welcome to Mexico. We got back to the hotel(her father and I). She finally called from the lobby after taking a 3 minute cab ride for a few pesos. She got the visas but she and the girls had been in the consulate for 8 hours. The finger print machine was broken for much of the day and she finally finished at 3:30. Her interview involved no questions at all!They only requested the required documents. They apparently mis placed one of her pictures and told her she would need to go outside and get another one. Sylvia is a Chemistry teacher with perfect English. She told the man that she gave the woman both pictures and the pictures outside cost $15.00 USD and she would not get another picture. The staff needed to find it. He asked who she gave it to and her 11 year old pointed to the woman at window 3. The picture was found! We celebrated at Barrego's on Technological (the road from the airport). It was very good. Wednesday morning her faher, Raul, and I met the moving van (16 ft.) outside the Holiday Inn. We had to cross at the truck crossing (Cordoba Bridge). I needed him to be an interpreter between the driver and myself. I speak only simple words in Espanol and the driver spoke only a few English words. This helped me because our experience was full of twists where communication was quite important. I needed to cross the border with the cargo because I am the US citizen. Supposedly it was cheaper than holding the cargo in a warehouse at customs.Sylvia was told to cross at Ysleta which is maybe 7 miles south. She drove my Explorer with the girls and her Aunt who has a tourist visa and lives in Juarez. She left her Aunt's house @ 8:30 and crossed the Ysleta border after less than 20 minutes. She needed to stop at the secodary inspection for about 45 minutes while they processed her paper work. The guy in charge constantly yelled at people and totally intimidated the people at the inspection station. Sylvia was told multiple times that she her K-1 visa was a one time entry and she must get married within 90 days. Apparently, there are individuals who do stupid things like go to Mexico for a hair cut and can't re-enter. They also made Sylvia pay for 4 permits to go further than 20 kilometers from the border. That cost $6.00 USD each. They finally were finished and went to the Sunland Park Mall where we were to meet. The moving truck driver had neglected to get his insurance for the trip into the US so we waited until 8:00. Finally, we entered the truck line and we had an intial inspection of the passports and inquiries as to the type of cargo. The truck was x-rayed and then they made us off-load almost all of the cargo as they ran a drug dog around the cargo. We then were inspected by the Dept. of Transportation. The driver's company apparently did not do everything correctly and we stayed there until about 11:00. We drove to the Budget Rental place @ Redd Road and I-10. We backed the 2 trucks togther and exchanged the cargo. We met Sylvia at the mall and drove to my house.We ate in Deming and had Chile cheese burgers at Lota burger. We made it to Tucson at ^:00 Arizona time. We unloaded and I hope this helps someone. This site has been invaluable to me.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #3053