Friday, December 26, 2008

No change of Status in Tijuana, Mexico

Tijuana, Mexico and most other US Visa consulates no longer process Visa Status Changes. For example, if you are in F1 and now have an approved H1 visa and need stamping on your passport, you will have to go back to your native country for stamping. Even H4 to H1 is no longer processed. So no change of visa status stampings are processed.

It is just not Tijuana, Mexico. Most other consulates don't process change of status anymore.
Tijuana, Mexico only accepts extensions or renewals. Also when you go there it is better to go before your I94/stamping expires so that if something goes wrong, you can come back based on your valid I94/stamping. Keep checking updates.

If you need more details check this Murthy Bulletin Link.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

My wife and I had successful visa stamping in Tijuana. Also, my first visa stamping was NOT done in India which is my home country. Still they accepted my application.

Here are the details.

1) Draft in Minutes!
Appointment was at 9-30am. Reached Banamex bank at 8am. There was a long Q. However, the bank opened at 9 but all the 30 people waiting for the draft were cleared in 15 min. Bank staff are quick!!

2) Long wait times for Interview!
We entered into the consulate at 9-30am and interview started at 1-30pm. There are no dedicated consulate officer for H1B. No preference given to H1B. You will be treated like a mexican applicant and your token will be called along with the locals.

3) PIMS Needed
Tijuana Consulate is no longer giving the conformation of the PIMS verification. But YOU NEED TO SEND the email with appointment details and I797 details atleast 2-3 days prior to the appointment

4) Interview is not easy!!
Interview is not easy. Having said that, if you have all the documents to face it, you should not worry at all. Staff including the consular officers are friendly.

I already had H1B stamping in same consulate earlier. Mine is extension with the same company. I work full time and have almost all the docs to handle the interview.

Officer asked the marriage certificate. Asked few questions on our wedding.

Then Officer asked my employer letter, last year W2, last payslips. I get paid weekly and the employer letter stated the weekly salary. Surprisingly she calculated the annual salary using calculator based on the weekly salary mentioned in the employer letter. Then Officer compared it with the W2 Gross. It matched.

Then Officer checked something in the system for 3 min. Then asked if I did my master from US. I did if from other country. So finally said the golden words we need-'Your visa has been Approved'. Yeaaah!!

Then comes the disappointment- 'You need to collect the passport tomorrow at 3pm'. Since the interview was done at 1-30pm, they have
no time to stamp it at 3pm.

Tried to see if we can get the passport at 3pm on the same day when applicants on friday were in the queue to collect their passports. No Luck.

We were in the hotel near to the consulate.We collected the passport with visa next day:)

Normally the I-94 issuing office near the border in Tijuana has a long queue and you need to wait for 2 hrs to get I-94. This time there is NO queue!! :) Got I-94 in 10 min. We were in USA by 3-40pm

Interviews for the consultants are seems to be touch. Client letter, Contract between the employer and the client are MUST MUST!! Make sure you have right annual income on your W2 and no gap in your employment.

I love this consulate. Staff seems friendly. I hope this gives enough idea for those who want to go to Tijuana.

Good Luck!!

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