Transit Visa

Hello friends,

I have my appointment in Nogales on Jan 14th. Does anyone know when the consulate is returning passports recently? I hope the PIMS issue isn't there here as in Canada where its taking 4 business day to get the passports back.

Hi there,
I'm going to Nogales on Jan 14th 2008 for my H1B stamping. I'm flying to Tuscan AZ, and will drive down to Nogales. If any one is interested in joining me, and have appointment the same day, you may contact me.

Thank you.

Hi i am going for stamping on 28th jan in nogales,mexico. i have flight to phonix and dont know after that. let me know if some one interested who want to join me.
my name is dharmesh patel.
contact me on my email add : [email protected]

Hi,

Anyone has appointment for the same day ..?

Thanks
Aj

HI,

We have an appointment on Jan 14th for h1 extension for both myself and my husband. Is anyone going on Jan 14th. Please let us know and we can share any information related to the stamping.
Also any ideas about applying for a visitor visa/transit visa?


Thanks

I went for my stamping to Nogales on Dec 19th. I stayed in the Best Western in Nogales on 18th night. On 19th morning, I parked my car at the border and took a cab to the consulate. I got to the consulate by 7 am and was 5th in line. At 7:30 , 2 girls came and verified our forms. All forms DS 156,157 and 158 need to be filled out by both boys and girls. Then they let us enter the consulate where our forms were reverified and they attached the photos to the ds 156. Bring atleast one photo to the consulate although they take their own photo which will show on the visa. I finished biometrics before 8. Then you have to wait for the visa officer to interview you. I was going for my H1 extension and I had not changed companies. VO asked me about my education and when I said I had a US degree he wanted my degree certificate. I showed him the degree certificate and he said your visa is approved. You can come back tmrw at 3pm to collect your passport but you can try today itself. In most cases it will be ready by 3pm today and gave me a slip. Did some TP in Walmart and the Nogales mall and went back to consulate by 2:30. We have to wait again inside for 15-20 mins. I was fortunate my passport was ready the same day. As soon as I got the passport, I took a cab to the border.But I was delayed for over 2 hours to get a new I-94.

Hi,
I am adding up my experience on this issue, we were leaving USA for good and were flying back to Hyderabad via frankfurt stopping there only for 4 hrs - the ticketing agent, consulate gen people everyone said you need a transit visa to be in the airport (why why why ???) i am not going out- why - becos i didnt have a valid re entry permit to USA (what knucle heads - why the hell are they worried abt me going back to usa - i am flying out of usa and secondly i am going to INdia , what the hell is their problem ??? so after lots of deliberations we just thought why not get one for good, German consulate was bad, staff were training on job, no one to give proper advice, 6 people were attended in 4 hrs of time - added to that they were investigating why and L2 permit holder didnt have a seperate petition (L1 petition covers the entire family ) i had a L2 plus a valid work permit in US (why the hell are they doing USCIS job, plus i am not applying for a job in German consulate or germany ?? plus all the more reason - i am going out of USA anyways no connection to their country or visa- they took one week to give us the visa, called a hundred times asking what is L2 ? god save the country
all in all we paid 80 dollars odd plus taxi fares from NJ to NY plus extras plus our valuable time when we didnt have any while quitting from US
Guess what - At frankfurt the people letting us board into the lufthansa flight didnt even bother to check our passports , forget the visa ... can you beat it ??
all in all it shows that the visa story is a big humbug to milk dollars out of you - i dont have any hassles paying the money but why trouble us with a personal appearance make it by post ---
One more highlight to the story - Toilets in Frankfurt airport are worse than public toilets in India - small, dirty and only one person can use it at one time - imagine a plane load of people coming in at 5 am and when everyone is in a hurry to utilise the facilities - less said the better. Germany - I had a big opinion abt that country but now I guess my country with less infrastructure, education and money is still miles ahead when it comes to basics
Mera Bharat mahaan

One important thing for people going in for stamping. Make sure you get the Banamex Draft before going to Nogales if you dont want to spend two days there. Earlier you could do both the stamping and Banamex Draft on the same day as they would allow u to enter even at 11am, but now they would not allow you to enter if you are not in the line by 8am with your draft and all other docs. Mind you the Banamex branch does not open till 9am.

Hola

Things todo
Fly to Tucson airport not Pheonix trust me distance matter.

Plan for Two days , I was stuck for two days. Be relaxed .. I wasnt :D , u cant do anything if they dont give the passport same day.

Dont Take Appointment on Thrus and Friday .. since they say .. it mite take three days to give ur passport ready ...

Forms
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/forms/forms_1342.html u will find all the forms here DS 156 / 157 /158
Please fill it properly .. if not give me a call @4802870050 i will help u

Passport (Valid at least 6 months)
I-94
Visa Appointment Letter
DS-156, DS-157 (Application Forms for H-1B visa)
Banamex Bank recipt ( Contact Mexico Assistant) will be cheep if more than 2 ppl
All I-797 Document (H-1B Approval)
Pay Stubs
Copy of certified LCA
Copy of I-129 (4 pages)
Copy of G-28
Employment Verification Letter
H supplemental forms
OPT card
SSN card
Updated Resume
Masters certificate and transcripts
Bachelor certificate and transcripts
6 months bank statements
Proof of residential address (like entergy, landline or lease documents)
W-2 forms if any (Tax returns forms if filed)
All I-20’s including OPT I-20
Company Brochures, Annual reports, Prospectus
First offer letter

Reach Nogales , AZ at 10 pm max .. sleep well get up at 4am .. leave the room by 5:30 am
reach border by 5:45 am leave the car at the parking lot / please leave a note .. if noone is there ... tht u will comeback and pay ... otherwise u will c ur car in mexico

Cross Check everything .. before crossing the border ... all documnets and everything ...

Cross border, u will find cab and go directly to the US consulate .. stand in line and hope it doesnt rain.

U can Carry ur gadgets .. There will me a makeshift hotel on bus across the consulate he will take $2 ... dont worry he wont steal nething .. its his business ..

If u miss ne field to fill up in form .. dont worry go u cat write it with pen ...

Consular will ask u all sort of question and will give u visa ... :) just answer to the point ...

Things todo after visa
There is a mall rite next to the consulate .. do TP there ... Its so big tht you will cover it in 10 min but u have no option ...

Second option goto WalMart .. buy diff kinds of Tequlia / Ciggi is dam cheap ... (:D)

Other Option go on a long walk ... please have some mile marker in ur brain

Now imp thing

If ur stuck for another day .. u didnt recieve ur passport ( For me it was ... Consular did fwd bunch of H1b applicants passport for visa printing :( ...

So not a worry .. u will get it .. nextday .. they will hand over a slip to saying u will get the visa ...

In tht case there is a motel three blocks from the consulate $40 .. some ppl stayed in Crown Plaza $50-60 i guess ...

In the mall here is a movie hall Ask for ENGLISH movie watch it .. it opens in evening only ...

Eat good ... do shopping .. its not cheap though ..

Next day go get the visa ... and just rush to the border and try to be the first one in line ...

Dont worry ..Bottom line u will get it ...

Gracias
Amigos

Landed at Phoenix airport rented a car drove all the way to nogales AZ. Note all rental cars lot is 2 km away from pheonix airport .Free shuttles run every 2 mins from airport to rental car lot.So your map should be from rental car lot to nogales AZ. By evening 10:00 I was at nogales AZ.

One week before I contacted Manu #5202874671 (Siesta Best western owner in nogales) to take my DD from banamex bank. No need to pay him before . Went to Best western paid 150 and collected DD($40 commision). Gave another $50 Hard cash and he let me stay for one night; actual(legal) price $80.

He woke me up at 5:00am ; early you go ...u get u r passport the same day. there were 2 along with me who came aroung 10:00 and one of them has to wait for next day. line start at 6:00 am..

came to international border there were men waiwing flags for parking in front of MCdonalds.. dont give 4$ before tell him u will give in the evening..In the evening no one was there to collect...
walk to the border there are sighn 'TO MEXICO' get into mexico thru revolving gates.check u r docs before getting into mexico..no need of mexican permit....

Cab drivers will be waiting like in INDIA..tell them U.S consulate..$6 before only.. 10 mins drive ..he will drop u in front of Consulate..Hope line is already there all Indians..there is a small food shop on wheels and few chairs around (chat center) u can give u r baggade with keys and cellphones and they charge 2$....

2 girls came and cecked ds156,157& 158...all 3 r compulsory even thou site says 158 is optional..take 156,157 & 158..

We were in the consulate around 7:30 in the morning...wat ever may be your interview time get there by 6:30 am...you will get u r visa same day..

took biometrics at one counter...and at another counter VO will take u r interivew...
Take all your previous I-797 even though it is expired.. here is the checklist:

Resume current
passport
One potograph. 2X2
I-94
Banamex DD
DS-156
Ds-157
Ds-158
All I-797
All I-129
All LCA
W-2
Employement Continuation Letter from u r employer -not more than 1 month old.
Employer offer letter
pay slips
All previous emplyemnet documents
Educational docs..

Better take copies of all the above...

Intervies was simple like wat u do in ur comp? where do u work?

I was out of consulate by 10:00 am and will get my pasport at 3:00pm...so killed time at walmart ..there is nogales mall opposite to walmart...chairs and TV are there..so roam til 3:00pm and be at consulate by 2:45 pm...by the time u get u r passpor it will be 3:30pm...

My return flight was at 7:45pm pheonix..so rushed to border in a cab...got my I-194 at border 2nd floor..by the time i aam into U.S it is 4:30pm..so drove back to pheonix ..and got my flight 5 mins before time...It was a pleasent trip ...Any doubts call me 518 445 5723
Pradeep