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Visa
Visa Stamping from Canada/ Mexico
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h1b stamping at Tijuana - September 2015
My husband needed his h1b re-stamped and we decided tijuana was the easiest place to get it. I accompanied him, although I had a valid h1b on my passport - just to check out tijuana and have some good mexican food!
We parked at san diego border station parking for 7$/night and walked over. Note that Mexico has revised its immigration policy at the border and you will be interviewed by an immigration officer before you enter tijuana. This also means that you will need a mexican visa if your h1b stamp has expired (my husband got his visa at the san jose consulate, it was an easy 1 day process). The officer asked us about the purpose of our visit and gave me a 3 day immigration card and 7 days for my husband in case his passport was delayed.
At tijuana, we stayed 2 nights at hotel ticuan. They have recently renovated and have some cheap deals going on for 45$/night which includes breakfast for one. Room, dining and service were all very impressive and I would stay here again.
We checked in and walked to the ASC center on day 1 (35 minute walk each way). I read previous posts about ASC allowing you inside even if you show up 1 hour early? Well that wasn't true in our case. The security was allowing everybody in only 20 minutes before appointment time. The appointment itself was painless and my husband was out in 15 minutes.
Day 2 was similar - my husband took a taxi to the consulate and this time was allowed inside 1 hour early. Interview questions were pretty standard - what does your company do, what is your role, how much are you paid, are you treated well. They collected his passport and he was back at the hotel in 2 hours. (Note about my husbands situation - this was his 3rd renewal and his previous stamp had expired in 2013. His company was acquired in 2012 and he did not get his 2nd renewal stamped either).
Day 3 was actually the worst of all since we were supposed to pick up the passport at 3pm but it was delayed by an hour and we had to wait outside in the sun until they were ready to issue the passports. We picked it up around 4 and took a taxi to the border. There was no line (Wednesday) to enter the gate, we stayed to the right lane but there was about a 40 minute delay at the permit building to wait in line and have the I-94 issued. One interesting note was, I did not need a new I-94 permit since my h1b was valid until february and I had a valid entry stamp in my passport - they did not even re-stamp it at immigration. We were back in the USA by 5:30pm and walked over to the parking lot and drove back to the bay area.
A note on safety - tijuana was really not that bad and we did a lot of walking - to the ASC and back, to the cultural center/zona rio, revolution avenue (very close to our hotel), mercado hidalgo. People were very friendly and the areas we stuck to were well lit and never deserted. The food is out of the world and we enjoyed some really good street tacos and had some interesting fruit juices/ice creams. We took the libre taxi a couple of times and the prices were very reasonable but check with them before you get inside.
Overall it was a really good trip and I would go back in February to renew my h1b as well!
We parked at san diego border station parking for 7$/night and walked over. Note that Mexico has revised its immigration policy at the border and you will be interviewed by an immigration officer before you enter tijuana. This also means that you will need a mexican visa if your h1b stamp has expired (my husband got his visa at the san jose consulate, it was an easy 1 day process). The officer asked us about the purpose of our visit and gave me a 3 day immigration card and 7 days for my husband in case his passport was delayed.
At tijuana, we stayed 2 nights at hotel ticuan. They have recently renovated and have some cheap deals going on for 45$/night which includes breakfast for one. Room, dining and service were all very impressive and I would stay here again.
We checked in and walked to the ASC center on day 1 (35 minute walk each way). I read previous posts about ASC allowing you inside even if you show up 1 hour early? Well that wasn't true in our case. The security was allowing everybody in only 20 minutes before appointment time. The appointment itself was painless and my husband was out in 15 minutes.
Day 2 was similar - my husband took a taxi to the consulate and this time was allowed inside 1 hour early. Interview questions were pretty standard - what does your company do, what is your role, how much are you paid, are you treated well. They collected his passport and he was back at the hotel in 2 hours. (Note about my husbands situation - this was his 3rd renewal and his previous stamp had expired in 2013. His company was acquired in 2012 and he did not get his 2nd renewal stamped either).
Day 3 was actually the worst of all since we were supposed to pick up the passport at 3pm but it was delayed by an hour and we had to wait outside in the sun until they were ready to issue the passports. We picked it up around 4 and took a taxi to the border. There was no line (Wednesday) to enter the gate, we stayed to the right lane but there was about a 40 minute delay at the permit building to wait in line and have the I-94 issued. One interesting note was, I did not need a new I-94 permit since my h1b was valid until february and I had a valid entry stamp in my passport - they did not even re-stamp it at immigration. We were back in the USA by 5:30pm and walked over to the parking lot and drove back to the bay area.
A note on safety - tijuana was really not that bad and we did a lot of walking - to the ASC and back, to the cultural center/zona rio, revolution avenue (very close to our hotel), mercado hidalgo. People were very friendly and the areas we stuck to were well lit and never deserted. The food is out of the world and we enjoyed some really good street tacos and had some interesting fruit juices/ice creams. We took the libre taxi a couple of times and the prices were very reasonable but check with them before you get inside.
Overall it was a really good trip and I would go back in February to renew my h1b as well!
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