Dhulipalla
New Member
Hi Friends,
This forum is so much helpful in getting the experiences of the other people and prepare ourselves for the visa interview..
Myself and my wife had interview at Nogales on 13th Dec and got the work done successfully..
Here are some of the experiences we had, might help some one in the future..
We got our Benamex bank receipt earlier from Mr Mark (http://mexico-assistance.com/). You can find his contact number and the process to get it in his Website..
We flown to Tucson one day earlier on Dec 12th evening.. It was a 1 hour drive from the airport to the Best Western hotel.. Some people stayed at other motels like Motel6 or some thing else.. The best thing I found with this was the owner is an Indian and he can understand our needs/ assistance we need. He was helpful in getting some last minute prints from his printer. This motel has a morning time breakfast starts at 7.00 AM which is very helpful to you before you start going for your interview..Motel is 1 mile from the border..
Every one of us will get the appointment at 8.00 AM only.. But they will allow until 11.00 AM into the queue.. The queue starts at 7.00 AM/ 7.30 AM.. We reached there by 7.50 AM and we were number 71..
You can park your car before the border in any parking lot. There are many parking lots available for $4/- per day.. You can park in any one of them. You can get the help from them how to goto the border.. It is 2 min walk from those places to the border.
The border crossing is a kind of experience one has to feel. There is a revolving door which only allows you to get in.. but not come out.. Once you get thru it, you are inside Mexico. If you walk little further, there will be many taxi people waiting for the people, just like Auto people in India outside the Train station/ Bus station..You can tell them US Embassy/ Consulate.. They will take you there with 7$-8$ max..(Try to have some change with you.. Otherwise, they may not return the change. I asked him to give the change in Mexican Pesos..)
Once you reach the cousulate, ente the queue and keep your DS-156 and DS-157, DS-158 forms ready with all the information filled in..Some one will come and verify your forms and then allow you to get inside.
Once you get in, one counter will verify your forms again and give you the token number(Serial Number).. You need to wait for the next counter to take your finger prints and photo..
Once you are done, you will wait for the final counter with the Visa Officiers (VO).. You need to provide all the basic documents they need like Benamex Receipt, DS-156, DS-157, DS-158 forms for the working person and for Dependent DS-156 and DS-158 forms. (Make sure you fill in each every column that you have some info to fill in)..
If your interview is successful with out any hassels, then you will be asked to take your passport either the same day/ by next day depending on the time you are finishing the interview.. Usually you will get the passport on the same day..Better always check back at the same place in the evening 3.00 PM..
Until 3.00 PM you can spend you time visiting the Nogales mall behind the Counsulate.. You Dominos pizza center next to the mall for food.. If you want to try some Mexican foods you have inside the mall.. You have Walmart for shopping..
Incase some things happens to you during the interview and you were asked to stay for a day/more, there is one nice hotel "Marques De Cirsa" (I don't know whether I spelled the name correctly but mexican people can understand when you say it..) It is just walkable from the counsulate.. You can also take the taxi to that.. They charge 42$ per day.. But a safe one I can say..
Try to be at the cousulate sharp 3.00 PM to collect your passport.. Once you get it, you get taxis at the same place back to the border. 7$-8$ max..
At the border there will be a general queue to check your passport and then for I-94 you need to get to the 1st floor.. Usually the security force person will guide you which direction to go.. Be in the queue for your I-94 and they just take your finger prints again and a photo and provide you the I-94.. You need to pay a fee of 6$ to get the I-94..Try to have this change ready..
With the I-94 you are now ready to get into the border. It will be same way that you enter in the morning but in other side..
Things to remember:
You do not need a Mexican visa to get into Nogales..
1. Always keep some change with you (around $200) in case you need..
2. Try to get the Benamex receipt before you leave for Nogales. Mark can help you to get it over night..
3. Keep some change ($1,$5) for the taxi people to and from the Counsulate..
4. Keep 6$ change each passport I-94..
5. Have all the contact numbers you can reach incase you are in trouble..If some reason you got rejected, you can not enter US and since you don't have Mexican visa, you can not leave Nogales. And you will be illegal there. So have some contact who can help you in such cases.. (Best Western motel owner told about some one who can help in such cases..)
6.Food, Liquids, Cell phones, Balms, Medicines are not allowed inside the consulate. (We had our combs, and lip blam which we had to throw in the waste)
7. Fill in all the columns in the DS-156, 157, 158 forms. The VO will verify every thing..
8. Nothing need to worry about the interview if you have every thing in order.. For us, she did not even ask for any single document. She collected all the forms and just said, come collect your passport next day evening..
But for one person from Jordan, she said to wait for 2 weeks for back ground verification.. He also crossed the border just like all of us with just the documentation. No clothes, no personal stuff or anything.. I met him after the interview and it was not a good situation..He was looking for Internet browsing center but it was hard to get the info from people. You can count people in the city who can understand basic English. So be prepared for anything..
9.List of documents, lots of people have given them in earlier experinces.. you can follow the same..
I hope this helps.. If you need anything, you can write me to dhulipalla9@yahoo.com
Thanks
Srini Dhulipalla
This forum is so much helpful in getting the experiences of the other people and prepare ourselves for the visa interview..
Myself and my wife had interview at Nogales on 13th Dec and got the work done successfully..
Here are some of the experiences we had, might help some one in the future..
We got our Benamex bank receipt earlier from Mr Mark (http://mexico-assistance.com/). You can find his contact number and the process to get it in his Website..
We flown to Tucson one day earlier on Dec 12th evening.. It was a 1 hour drive from the airport to the Best Western hotel.. Some people stayed at other motels like Motel6 or some thing else.. The best thing I found with this was the owner is an Indian and he can understand our needs/ assistance we need. He was helpful in getting some last minute prints from his printer. This motel has a morning time breakfast starts at 7.00 AM which is very helpful to you before you start going for your interview..Motel is 1 mile from the border..
Every one of us will get the appointment at 8.00 AM only.. But they will allow until 11.00 AM into the queue.. The queue starts at 7.00 AM/ 7.30 AM.. We reached there by 7.50 AM and we were number 71..
You can park your car before the border in any parking lot. There are many parking lots available for $4/- per day.. You can park in any one of them. You can get the help from them how to goto the border.. It is 2 min walk from those places to the border.
The border crossing is a kind of experience one has to feel. There is a revolving door which only allows you to get in.. but not come out.. Once you get thru it, you are inside Mexico. If you walk little further, there will be many taxi people waiting for the people, just like Auto people in India outside the Train station/ Bus station..You can tell them US Embassy/ Consulate.. They will take you there with 7$-8$ max..(Try to have some change with you.. Otherwise, they may not return the change. I asked him to give the change in Mexican Pesos..)
Once you reach the cousulate, ente the queue and keep your DS-156 and DS-157, DS-158 forms ready with all the information filled in..Some one will come and verify your forms and then allow you to get inside.
Once you get in, one counter will verify your forms again and give you the token number(Serial Number).. You need to wait for the next counter to take your finger prints and photo..
Once you are done, you will wait for the final counter with the Visa Officiers (VO).. You need to provide all the basic documents they need like Benamex Receipt, DS-156, DS-157, DS-158 forms for the working person and for Dependent DS-156 and DS-158 forms. (Make sure you fill in each every column that you have some info to fill in)..
If your interview is successful with out any hassels, then you will be asked to take your passport either the same day/ by next day depending on the time you are finishing the interview.. Usually you will get the passport on the same day..Better always check back at the same place in the evening 3.00 PM..
Until 3.00 PM you can spend you time visiting the Nogales mall behind the Counsulate.. You Dominos pizza center next to the mall for food.. If you want to try some Mexican foods you have inside the mall.. You have Walmart for shopping..
Incase some things happens to you during the interview and you were asked to stay for a day/more, there is one nice hotel "Marques De Cirsa" (I don't know whether I spelled the name correctly but mexican people can understand when you say it..) It is just walkable from the counsulate.. You can also take the taxi to that.. They charge 42$ per day.. But a safe one I can say..
Try to be at the cousulate sharp 3.00 PM to collect your passport.. Once you get it, you get taxis at the same place back to the border. 7$-8$ max..
At the border there will be a general queue to check your passport and then for I-94 you need to get to the 1st floor.. Usually the security force person will guide you which direction to go.. Be in the queue for your I-94 and they just take your finger prints again and a photo and provide you the I-94.. You need to pay a fee of 6$ to get the I-94..Try to have this change ready..
With the I-94 you are now ready to get into the border. It will be same way that you enter in the morning but in other side..
Things to remember:
You do not need a Mexican visa to get into Nogales..
1. Always keep some change with you (around $200) in case you need..
2. Try to get the Benamex receipt before you leave for Nogales. Mark can help you to get it over night..
3. Keep some change ($1,$5) for the taxi people to and from the Counsulate..
4. Keep 6$ change each passport I-94..
5. Have all the contact numbers you can reach incase you are in trouble..If some reason you got rejected, you can not enter US and since you don't have Mexican visa, you can not leave Nogales. And you will be illegal there. So have some contact who can help you in such cases.. (Best Western motel owner told about some one who can help in such cases..)
6.Food, Liquids, Cell phones, Balms, Medicines are not allowed inside the consulate. (We had our combs, and lip blam which we had to throw in the waste)
7. Fill in all the columns in the DS-156, 157, 158 forms. The VO will verify every thing..
8. Nothing need to worry about the interview if you have every thing in order.. For us, she did not even ask for any single document. She collected all the forms and just said, come collect your passport next day evening..
But for one person from Jordan, she said to wait for 2 weeks for back ground verification.. He also crossed the border just like all of us with just the documentation. No clothes, no personal stuff or anything.. I met him after the interview and it was not a good situation..He was looking for Internet browsing center but it was hard to get the info from people. You can count people in the city who can understand basic English. So be prepared for anything..
9.List of documents, lots of people have given them in earlier experinces.. you can follow the same..
I hope this helps.. If you need anything, you can write me to dhulipalla9@yahoo.com
Thanks
Srini Dhulipalla
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