I too went on aug 7th to Nogales for stamping.
My state before entering Mexico:
1) Had an expired H1B visa stamp
2) Had a new I797 approved for work till dec 2008.
3) same company before and for the new I797.
4) did not have a banamex receipt for US visa application fees.
5) had an appointment for 8:30 am on aug 7th.
6) had photos but were incompatible with the standards of us visa.
7) did not have a permit to enter mexico, or a visa to mexico.
8) company had applied a tradition labor pending at dallas bec
9) company successfully applied a parallel perm.
10) company applied for 140 based on parallel perm
11) didnt have any valid visa to reenter usa if the visa application got denied.
My main issues in Nogales:
1) I didnt have pictures.
2) I didnt have banamex receipt
3) I didnt have permit/visa to get into mexico.
travel
Fly: SLC->PHX
Car rental: AVIS
Drive: PHX->Nogales (180 miles)
Hotel: Bestwestern
At bestwestern:
Met vikar, shravan, harsh, catherine and few others. Most of the folks, except catherine were for H1B->H1B visa stamps, some with MS and some without. Catherine was for H4->F1. Most of us did not have entry-permit/visa to enter mexico, so there was company in misery
We had an uneventfull sunday and retired for the night early.
Monday
Banamex I gave shravan money and copies of my passport and appointment letter. Shravan headed to banamex near the us consulate in nogales, mexico to get the receipts for both himself and me. bank opens at 9:00 am.
Photos I meanwhile got my photos at the local walgreens in Nogales, USA.
Nogales USA to Nogales Mexico
I took the photos at walgreens, checked out of bestwestern, drove my car to a parking lot in USA right next to the mexican entry point, parked it ($4) and walked across into mexico. no checking at mexcian entry...but once you cross the turnstile into mexico you will need a valid visa to reenter into US.
In mexico I said "banco banamex" to a cab driver, he charged $7 for the 3 mile 10-15 minute trip. Didnt see shravan at banc so said "consulado americano" to another cab driver, he charged me $3 as I shared it with 3 others for the 2 minute trip.
shravan had the banamex receipt ready for me at the consulate. So finally I had receipt and photos at the right time, thanks to shravan.
US Consulate experience
Your appointment time is irrelevant. You can go there anytime before 11:00 AM. You will stand in a line outside the consulate. A lady checks your 156, 157, 158 forms and allows you to go inside. Inside, a lasy checks your 1797 , passport and receipt and then gives you a token number. There is a place to sit and wait untill your token number is called for photographing and finger printing. After that there is another place to sit and wait for your token number to be called again for actual visa interviewing.
Visa interview
interview was very short, comfortable and successfull for all the people I got in touch with. They didnt ask me anything. For some they asked resume at most. But in general it seemed a wise approach to have all the docs ready. The consulors then told us to go and pay the $50 reciprocity fees. Which all of us did.
Wait for VISA
After that we all had to wait untill 3:00 pm to collect our visas. which we all did at 3:00 pm. In the interim some of us went to a good local mexican hotel, "tracdero" i think. Good food. price same as in usa.
After VISA
After that some of us went back into USA while some just hung around and did some shopping and general roaming around. The place seemed very safe and people are very friendly.
Points to note:
-Can go to consulate anytime before 11:00 AM.
-Dont need permit to go into mexico.
-dont need visa to go into mexico.
-not having these and a visa to get back into US and the visa application getting denied could pose some complications though. I heard in such cases one can approach the mexican authorities on the border and seek help.
-can get banamex receipt on the day of visa at the banamex near consulate.
-no need to use the local consultants help.
-can get the photos done on the us side of nogales.
-keep all the documents ready.
-the guy who didnt have the resume finally wrote a resume on plain paper i think.
Nogales, mexico is friendly...most people dont know english...some know a splattering of it...some are good at it. But one should be able to get around if one wants to. In infact I recommend that one set a couple of days free to roam around the near by towns and nogales itself after the visa process. You will savour the experience. I liked the few hourse I, catheirne and harsh spent in "down-town" nogales. we bought some stuff and had some drinks at a local bar. if you go shopping make sure you bargain hard..there were certain items a shop keeper dropped the price from $60 to $5 after bargaining...though i think the shopkeeper still had a good laugh at my expense. I loved the place...but then it doesnt take much to please me so be your own judge.
Will be glad to answer any questions.
