This page will be useful for US Visa Renewal Stamping Interview + US Visa Application Fee payment in cash for Tijuana, Mexico location + Reading others experiences in Tijuana, Mexico.
We will provide help with US Visa Application Fee payment in cash for Tijuana, Mexico location + provide necessary guidance – Venkat & Ernesto
These are the steps :
To obtain a Mexican visa:
1) Book an appointment a
2) Download and fill the application form
Documents required:
1) Passports (H1/Dependents)
2) I-797 Approvals for H1/H4/Dependents
3 I-94 (H1/Dependents)
3) Filled Mexican Visa Application form
4) Pay Stubs (last 6 months)
5) Bank Statements (last 6 months) for each applicant NOTE: They asked bank statements for my wife who has H4 visa. I convinced them that my wife is not working and cannot have bank statements and provided the marriage certificate.
6) Marriage Certificate
7) Address proof (Drivers license or lease document or Utility bill or bank statements)
Above are the basic documents which mostly covers everything . However you might need additional documents based on your case or depending on the Mexican consulate you are applying at.
Visa Appointment/ DS-160
1) Filled Ds-160 forms for both of us (H1 and H4) and booked a visa slot
2) These days US consulate in mexico is not accepting visa fees payment online using credit/debit cards instead asking to pay the visa fees at local mexico banks (SCOTIABANK or BANAMEX). I used this website folks(Venkat & Ernesto) to pay our visa fees
Note: Unless you select the passport delivery location (DHL) while booking the visa appointment slot, it wont let you book the slot. you can just select the random delivery location and book the appointment. Also you can change the delivery location later which is not needed as you will actually collect the passport the very next day after the interview at 3:00 pm at the US consulate where you attend the visa interview.
Interview Process
Note: Generally visa stamping in Mexico is a 3 day process (Day 1 finger prints/photo, Day 2 interview, Day 3 passport pickup) but we had some passport pickup delays which is unusual.
Day 1: ASC fingerprints and photo:
Do not carry any phones/electronics to this location as they don't permit. I carried my file with all the documents however they asked for 1) Passport 2) DS-160 3) Visa interview confirmation page 4) visa fee payment receipt (which I didn't carry but wasn't a big deal).
Day 2: Visa Interview:
Questions asked:
Me: Hello, Good Morning Handed over Passports + DS-160 confirmation pages
VO: Good Morning
VO: I-129 please
ME: Provided.
VO: What does your company do?
ME: Answered
VO: Whats your role in your company?
ME Answered
VO: Whats your salary?
ME Answered
VO: Is this your direct employer or you have any vendor companies?
ME: Yes (I am an FTE)
VO: Same employer or a different employer?
ME: Different employer (I had changed employer 8 months ago)
VO: Your visa is approved. There is some delay going on in passport delivery but you may come back here and check the status tomorrow at 3:00 PM.
ME: Thank you very much. Have a good day!!
Documents I carried (H1 and H4 as applicable):
1) Passports
2) DS-160
3) I-797 approvals
3) I-94
4) I-129
5) LCA
6) I-140 approval
7) Resume
7) W2’s (Last 3 years)
8) Pay stubs (last 6 months)
9) Bank Statements (Last 6 months)
10) Client Letter (Employment verification letter) and Offer letter
11) Tax returns (last 2 years)
12) Marriage certificate
13) Educational degrees or transcripts
Note: These are the basic documents and you might need additional documents specific to your case.
Day 3, Day 4: We went back to consulate to pickup our passports at 3:00 pm on both days but they said due to worldwide technical issues in visa systems, there is a delay going on and asked to check back again tomorrow. This is very unusual but we had to face it!! Cancelled flight, booked new hotel and had to handle a weird situation which we weren't prepared for. Some of other fellow Indian and Chinese applicants had the same issue. But as I said it is very abnormal. We went last time to Tijuana for visa renewal and our process was done just in 3 days.
Day 5: Lucky day!! We got our passports at 3:00 PM.
On the same day, We came back to San Ysidro (Mexico-USA border) in uber and crossed the border with new I-94.
Additional Information:
Transportation:
Sandiego Airport to SanYsidro (Mexico Border)
Travel time: Approx: 1 hr
Download the ecompass-cloud SDMTS & NCTD app to buy ticket (Day Pass $5 per person) on the go and use the same ticket for BUS+Trolley all the way to San Yasidro (Mexican-USA Border). Yes, the same ticket works for both Bus and Trolley. Alternatively you can take UBER or LYFT which could save you some time. We had kid and no car seat so we opted for public transportation which was convenient for us.
1) Take bus right outside the airport upon exiting the door (Route 992) and get down at America Plaza (address: One America Plaza 600 W Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101) where you make a transfer to a train (Blue Line Trolley)
2) cross the road and catch the blue line trolley (train) which takes you to the last stop which is San Ysidro (Mexico-USA border).
SanYsidro (Mexico Border) to San Diego Airport
Follow the same procedure Board (Blue Line Trolley) at San Ysidro (Mexico-USA Border), get down at the last stop which is America Plaza (address: One America Plaza 600 W Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101) and board (Route 992) just beside the trolley station which takes you to the San Diego Airport.
Local Transportation in Tijuana:
We used uber and in some cases taxis. We had good experience with both.
Hotels in Tijuana:
Personally I recommend to stay in chained hotels like Marriott, Hyatt, Hampton inn by Hilton etc.
Food in Tijuana:
Most hotels provide free or at a cost breakfast buffet and lunch buffet. Please check with the hotel.
Kids to Interview:
We (H1 and H4) went to ASC fingerprints/photo appointment (day 1) and VISA appointment (day 2) along with our kid and we had no issues.
Thank you and Good Luck !!