Successfull 8th year H1b and H4 VISA stamping in Nogales, Mexico

S

sureshgudapuri

Registered Users (C)
Successfull 8th year H1b and H4 VISA stamping on 25th sept in Nogales, Mexico

Guys,

FIRST OF ALL LET ME THANK EACH AND EVERYONE WHO GAVE US THE INFORMATION AND THEIR EXPERIENCES IN GETTING THE VISA STAMPING.


Me and my wife had a successfull stamping on 25th at nogales,mexico.

My case details:

I am on my 8th year. labor not yet cleared.

We flew from SJC(CA) to Tucson aipport on 24th sunday. we booked a car,drove to nogales which is around 60 miles.We boked a hotel(American motor hotel in nogales(55$/day). we just went to the mexico border to check how to get into mexico. people where just going into mexico through the revolving gate.

on 25 THE DAY OF OUR STAMPING.

we got up at 5.30 got ready and went to have break fast in denny's.Around 6.45 we drove to mexico border. before hitting mexico border you will get a signal (CRAWFORD st/ave) i don't remeber the name. make a right on it and you will see MC'Ds get into the it and you will see a parking lot just park there and pay 4$ and walk to the mexico border. you have to walk to the right which is the path way to the mexico. just walk through the path you will go through the revolving gate and you enter in to mecico. just wait there you will see taxi drivers. ask them to take you to american consulate give them 8$. he drops you at the consulate. don't take any cell phone car keys ect..just your doc's and your wallet.once you stand in line. a lady comes to you and asks for your d156,157,158 and she checks your name on her list and asks you to go to the gate and enter into the consulate compound.once you enter there will be a security check. once you are done you need to stand in a line where there will be 2 ppl checking for your your D156,157,158,passport and I797 and they will paste your pic's on your d156 form and will give you a token and a small peace of paper where you have to enter your info.
you will be seated in a big room which is for boimetrics and and the other part of the room is for actual interview(VISA).once you are done with your biometrics and you will be seated again waiting for your number for the visa interview.once your number is called you will have to answer what ever the questions the VO asks. once you are done VO will ask you to pay the 50$ and asks you to colect your passport at 3pm. once you collect it you have to get back to the border as some times it will take around 3 to 4 hrs to get your I94.once you get the I94 you will back into USA.

My Interview Details:

1.Went to consulate at 7.20 am and stood in line.
2.Lady checked my name and my forms(D156.157.158)
3.went into the consulate compound,went throught security check.
4. got my pic attached to my D156 form and got my token
5. got my biomettris and waiting for my VISA interview.

Here comes the major thing

1. my number was called and i went to the window.

me: good morning maam how are you doing?
VO: good thanx

VO: can i have your D156,157,158,passport ,I797
ME: i gave the doc's which has( mine and my wife's D156,157,158,banamex receipt,passport and I797)

VO: checking some thing in the computer.
me: just waiting for her questions

vo: to my wife can you place your index finger(left and right)
vo: to me can you place your index finger(left and right)

VO: How long are you in USA
me: 7 Years

VO: do you have any prrof that your company ahs applied a GC
me: yes i have
Vo: checking some thing in the computer

Vo: show me
me: i gave her the 45 day letter which i got from BPC
Vo: checking some thing in the computer

vo: do you have I129 form
Me: yes and i gave her

VO: can i take this forms(both 45 day letter and I129 cpy)
me: yes
Vo: checking some thing in the computer

vo: do you have your employee letter
me: yes and i gave her
Vo: checking some thing in the computer

vo: when did you come to usa for the first time
me: told her the date of my first arrival

VO: sir i am issuing you the visa please pay the fees and come back at 3pm.

i was relaxed and came out of the consulte by 9am and spent untill 2.30 hanging around Mc'ds and a mall near by with some others who attended the visa interview along with me and my wife

came back at 3 got mine and my wife's passport checked everything and took a cab to border. we got our I94 and the questions asked were what's your home address and what's your job title.

we were out with in 40 min.

I think we are around 32 ppl who came for H1 and H4 revalidation. out of these 32, 30 were success and the ohter 2 ppl got some security check.

when we spoke to them one person said:

his height,DOB(date of birth) and physical apperence resembles some one else and they HAVE to do soem FBI check.

2nd person: he says that the VO thinks his experience is more then what he requires for his job and said they has to do some checking( not sure what they mean by this)

I CAME BACK TO WORK THIS MORNING AT 11.30 AND I AM WRITING THIS. SORRY IF I MADE ANY MISTAKES IN TYPING

To people going to stamping,

good luck
 
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Congrats sureshgudapuri,

Did you meet with someone hwo got thier visa stamed for 3 years based on apprvoed I140 ( aft ther inital 6 years)?

I am on my 9 th year and my I140 has approved. I am planning get my 3 years visa stamped.

Do you see any issue?

Thanks,
 
Congrats.....

Congrats sureshgudapuri-

Did you get passport on the same day? In canada they are typically give passport next day. Is it common at all Maxico consulate? I am in Phoenix and I have apt for next month (17th) at Montreal consulate. It seems like Maxico stamping is easy. Did you have to get draft from local bank or just paid in cash?

Thanks for your time.
 
Hi Suresh,

Do cell phones work at the border area.??? How about at the US consulate area??
If yes, did you get roaming??

Also where did you keep ur cell phone and car keys ???
 
:) Hi Guys, Thanks for all those posters who helped us by sharing their experiences and knowledge.

I was one in those 30 people who had a successful stamping on Sep 25th in Nogales. I drove to Nogales from LA with my family.

Although my family accompanied me to Mexico, I only required stamping as they recently had a successful stamping in INDIA.

Moreover, I and Suresh were together right from the point we crossed the USA border to Mexico until we received the stamped passports back at 4 PM.

I am in my 4th year H1B. My Interview lasted probably for 5 minutes and it was cool. My appointment time was at 8.30 but by 8.50 I was all done and out of consulate. I was inside the consulate at 7.50 AM. So I just spent one hour inside the consulate.

Interview details:

He: Show me the documents
Me: Gave him the bunch of documents, consists of DS156, DS157, DS158, I797, Employer letter
He: while looking at DS157, do you hold a degree?
Me: Yes, bachelor of engineering
He: you should write this on DS157
Me: please see the attachment (I have not furnished those details on the application instead I have enclosed an attachment stating all those details)
He: Scribbled on DS157, See attachment. (Read those details)
He: (Looking at the previous stamping on the passport and current I797), on passport your visa expired on 2005, your current 797 is valid from 2006, there is a gap.
Me: I have series of approval documents (I mean previous I797) from the date my visa was expired on the passport
He: Do you have those documents?
Me: Yes
He: Show me
Me: I have shown those documents. (Previous I797’S)
He: Is this the company who filed your first H1 (Looking at the employer letter) ?
Me: No. I have changed the company
He: What your company does?
Me: I explained about my company
He: read the employer letter
He: Your visa is approved. (He also explained me where to pay the fee and all other details)

Thanks once again for all your help and Good luck for those who are going shortly.
 
Sharing Visa Revalidation Experience in Mexico

Hey There ,

pl. see below my visa experience in Nogales , Mexico .

Labour - cleared
I140 - Cleared
I485 applied .

went for 7th year h1b extesnion .

I got H1 approved till 3 years i.e till 2009 .

Even though your h1 approved for 3 years the officer will issue the Visa only for one year and I asked why to the office and she replyed back to me saying its just the law .

Questions asked :

1) Resume - presented
2) How long you are working in the current company = XXX years
3) What does the company do = IT software developement and Consulting
4) Are you working in any semi conductor technology ? My answer was no and I said I work on Business Applications .
5) What skills you are working on ?
6) show me your LCA approval .
7) I140 approval
8) How do you any brothers / sisters in India . (I forgot to list my brothers name in D158 form and I added that ) .
9) How many times you traveled to India
10) no of times h1b stamping = xxx times
11) company letter ( letter to consulate ) = yes presented
12) ever arrested or any diseases - No
13) have you ever applied for Immigration petion - Yes .


Visa approved for one year and paid the $ 50 fee and colled the passport at 3 pm .

To get mexico permit pl visit .

www.mexicoimmigrationconsultants.com
any questions pl. email me at

solutions_sam@yahoo.com

Thanks,
Sam
 
hey RirlaborCt,

My cell phone(AT&T/cingular) worked at the border and even near the consulate in mexico.you but when i came back and cheked my bill online there was extra charge but i don't know how much it will be.

But that's nothing spending another 50$ or so. the only thing matters is VISA stmaping successfully and coming back to US.


Shah_mit,
We got our passports wiht visa stamping on the same day at 3pm.
I took the Visa FEE's banamex from Mexicon assistance services 2 weeks before

Guys if you need any other informaiton please let me know.

Suresh
 
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rirlaborCt,

You have to provide your wife/parents/siblings information and your work experience in Form 158. VO will see that form which has u'r exp. I am not sure whether this form has to be fillied by every country people.but i am sure Indian people has to fill this form for sure.

Suresh.
 
I thought DS-158 is only for F1, J1, M1 visas which is only for non_immigration and doesn't have dual intent. I guess this is required to show family ties in Home country.?
Did every one from India for H1B revalidation filled this form.
 
suresh you mentioned
I took the Visa FEE's banamex from Mexicon assistance services 2 weeks before

How do i get hold of these guys
 
DESIMARS,

Call them up or email them. you will get the response. and regarding the D156,157,158 when you book a appoinment and when u sign in again you will get the home page where you will se all u'r details like appointment date and time and consulate. on that page on the left side you will see the links to these forms.

Hope this helps

Suresh.
 
Hi Suresh,

One more question?
For H1B stamping, wages in LCA should be equal to the current salary in paystubs??
Is it ok to have more salary than the wages in LCA??
In my case my salary is about 5k greater than the wages defined in LCA.
Will this cause any issues??
Did anyone have issues with wages??
Please let me know.
 
rirlaborCT

That's not a problem at all..you know what my offer letter and in LCA my salary shows x and my paystub which i took for the interview is more then the x amount. they din't ask me anything about my paystub or LCA.so don't worry..everything will be ok..i heard from some ppl that the amount in W2's should match or can be more then LCA amount. in some cases if it is 5 or 6k less then the LCA there will be no issues as you can give some valid reason if they ask why the amount is less. but there will be no issue if the amount is more..

Suresh
 
Bombay_Rail,

Thanks for the info you shared. I think I'm in the same situation.

I'm planning to take appointment at Nogales for renewal of H1 & H4, could you please help me on the following questions:

I am from Orange County. I-94 date was Oct 2005. I got entention apporval notice (I-797) valid till Jan 2007. Now I got another approval notice which is valid till Jan 2008. I will be completing 6th year in Jan 2007.

-Can I renew my H1 & my wife's H4 at Nogales or should I have to renew it in India since I-94 was expired (But I have I-94's came along with apporval notices)?

-Anil
 
Hello All,
I have an appointment for H1 revalidation on Nov 8th @ 8 AM. Anyone else appearing on that date?

I plan to fly into Tucson and then take the Greyhound/Shuttle.

Is it possible to take the 3-day permit at the Mexico border? (I understand that we do not need a Permit/Visa to appear in the Consulate). But, if there is an easy option to get the Permit at the border while crossing...might as well take it.

Any tips/suggestions on the Draft from BANAMEX?

Thanks in advance!
 
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