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.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
H1B Stamping Experience by a recent visitor
I got this update from Chirag on Oct 2nd, 2008 who emailed me his recent experience in Tijuana about H1B Stamping. Thanks Chirag for your update and helping others. Here is his experience in his own words.
First of all I would like to thank for your wonderful post. Its really helpful.
The Banamex bank is moved and now it is just 2 blocks from the consulate. The best way to confirm the bank location is the person should be able to see the Abram Lincoln’s statue from the bank's entrance. Also, the fees is US $135.00. (I paid US $270 for my h1 and my wife's h4).
Once done at Banamex, go on the road (Lincoln’s Right Hand side and right side of the road). The consulate is at the end of the road. (You will see few photo and copy shops before consulate). At consulate their are few guards, ask them can you go inside, because sometimes they allows entering even half an hour before you appointment.
There were about 9 h1b (8 indian, 1 chinese) peoples on the same day. There is no any separate line for H1b persons, all are called in sequence, and the day we go there (wednesday) it looks like busy. It almost took 1:30 hour. Everybody's interview goes smooth except mine. The consular who took my interview looks like strict. He take almost 45 minutes for the every person's who go to his window, while other consular just take like 5 or 10 minutes. During my interview he told me to seat and wait until he call me back, and he return after 45 - 50 minutes, then he told me to come back at 3:00 to get my passports with visa. (during that 45 minutes he called my company to verify its existence. he also told the accountant who picked up the phone, that they will not issue me the visa if my company doesn't give the financial documents immediately, but no body had sent those documents - I didn;t even know about this things until next day when I go back to my work, so I think they just call my company to confirm the company's existence and my position).
Also, usually they returns passport early even they tell us to come at 3:00. I get my passport at 2:30.
At the border, as soon as you pass the rotating door you will see a building (Border Security) on right hand side, go there for new I-94, and pay US $6.00 (They issue me I-94 with the same exact information which I had on I-797 bottom part, I don’t think that I is required but I looks like the officer which check my documents are under training so they process them again and issue me i-94 (white card)). and then go ahead there you will see lots of people in queues, and join them. Here officer will just verify information again.
Pretty much it was a good experience except that 45 minutes waiting time at consulate. The information you give such as directions, parting lot, crossing border, taking taxi to banamex, banamex to consulate, consulate to border, and processing at border, are really worderful help.
One more thing is PIMS.
They don't verify the details when you email them, it is better to call the consulate between 3:00 PM and 4:00PM (if you call any other time they will tell you to call at this time) and they will ask for you I-797 petition number. I called about 3 times and it was verified before 3 days of my appointment. I suggest starting calling them before 2 weeks. (The guy which also was there for H1B told me that he just called them once before 2 days of interview and his PIMS was verified, so I think consulate does this for all the petitions, but all want us to call them and verify this before going for interview, so its better to call them before 3 days)
Thanks again for this post.
Chirag
I hope this post helps everyone.
First of all I would like to thank for your wonderful post. Its really helpful.
The Banamex bank is moved and now it is just 2 blocks from the consulate. The best way to confirm the bank location is the person should be able to see the Abram Lincoln’s statue from the bank's entrance. Also, the fees is US $135.00. (I paid US $270 for my h1 and my wife's h4).
Once done at Banamex, go on the road (Lincoln’s Right Hand side and right side of the road). The consulate is at the end of the road. (You will see few photo and copy shops before consulate). At consulate their are few guards, ask them can you go inside, because sometimes they allows entering even half an hour before you appointment.
There were about 9 h1b (8 indian, 1 chinese) peoples on the same day. There is no any separate line for H1b persons, all are called in sequence, and the day we go there (wednesday) it looks like busy. It almost took 1:30 hour. Everybody's interview goes smooth except mine. The consular who took my interview looks like strict. He take almost 45 minutes for the every person's who go to his window, while other consular just take like 5 or 10 minutes. During my interview he told me to seat and wait until he call me back, and he return after 45 - 50 minutes, then he told me to come back at 3:00 to get my passports with visa. (during that 45 minutes he called my company to verify its existence. he also told the accountant who picked up the phone, that they will not issue me the visa if my company doesn't give the financial documents immediately, but no body had sent those documents - I didn;t even know about this things until next day when I go back to my work, so I think they just call my company to confirm the company's existence and my position).
Also, usually they returns passport early even they tell us to come at 3:00. I get my passport at 2:30.
At the border, as soon as you pass the rotating door you will see a building (Border Security) on right hand side, go there for new I-94, and pay US $6.00 (They issue me I-94 with the same exact information which I had on I-797 bottom part, I don’t think that I is required but I looks like the officer which check my documents are under training so they process them again and issue me i-94 (white card)). and then go ahead there you will see lots of people in queues, and join them. Here officer will just verify information again.
Pretty much it was a good experience except that 45 minutes waiting time at consulate. The information you give such as directions, parting lot, crossing border, taking taxi to banamex, banamex to consulate, consulate to border, and processing at border, are really worderful help.
One more thing is PIMS.
They don't verify the details when you email them, it is better to call the consulate between 3:00 PM and 4:00PM (if you call any other time they will tell you to call at this time) and they will ask for you I-797 petition number. I called about 3 times and it was verified before 3 days of my appointment. I suggest starting calling them before 2 weeks. (The guy which also was there for H1B told me that he just called them once before 2 days of interview and his PIMS was verified, so I think consulate does this for all the petitions, but all want us to call them and verify this before going for interview, so its better to call them before 3 days)
Thanks again for this post.
Chirag
I hope this post helps everyone.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
PIMS in Tijuana
Update: Looks like the consulate at Tijuana has stopped replying about PIMS verification. But you are still required to fax them them prior to your appointment.
PIMS verification has been officially commenced for a while now. It is very crucial to verify PIMS before you go to the consulate otherwise you could get stuck for three days. Though I have not experienced PIMS myself, this is the collective information about PIMS in Tijuana. (Source: http://tijuana.usconsulate.gov/petition_based_visas.html and http://tijuana.usconsulate.gov/niv.html )
You might ask, what is PIMS?
Consular officers may no longer accept Form I-797 as sufficient evidence for visa adjudication. Petition approval and visa eligibility must be confirmed in the Department of State's Petition Information Management Service (PIMS) database.
How Long does it take?
PIMS verification takes on average 24-48 hours to complete. A visa will not be authorized in the interim.
What should I do?
If you scheduled an appointment at the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana previously, we recommend that you fax a copy of your approved I-797 to the NIV section at least 72 hours prior to your interview date (fax: +52-664-634-3069). Please include the date and time of your appointment, as well as the confirmation number given to you by the appointment call center. Consular staff will determine whether your petition is registered in PIMS, and if it is not, will request that the petition be verified and added to the database. Please note that we are able to verify petitions in PIMS only for individuals applying at the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana. If you have scheduled an appointment at a different U.S. consulate or embassy, please contact NIV staff there directly with any questions you have regarding processing your petition-based visa.
Also from some other sources I have found that you could verify PIMS using the contacts below.
E-Mail ID of Consulate : tijuanainfo@state.gov
Tijuana U.S. Consulate Fax Number's:
+52-664-634-3069 - Mexico Number
Tijuana U.S. Consulate Phone Number's:
+52 664-634-3045
Following is the Generic email format for PIMS verification.
Dear Consulate Officer,
I am XXXXXXX (Your Name), working as a XXXXX (Your Designation) on H1B with XXXXXX (Your Company). I scheduled an appointment at Tijuana Consulate, Mexico for getting my H1-B visa stamped on XXXXX(Appointment Date) and my confirmation number is below:
Confirmation Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I would like to know if my PIMS check is already cleared for my I-129 petitions. I am attaching scanned copy of approval of I-797 and appointment letter as PDF file to this mail.
Attachments:
1. I-797A.pdf
2. Visa Appointment letter. PDF
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards, XXXXXXXX (Your Name)
You would get an email confirmation from the consulate and your PIMS verification.
After you have done this, you are all set to go for Stamping.
Hope this post helps. If you experience anything different please let me know and I will update here. Thanks.
PIMS verification has been officially commenced for a while now. It is very crucial to verify PIMS before you go to the consulate otherwise you could get stuck for three days. Though I have not experienced PIMS myself, this is the collective information about PIMS in Tijuana. (Source: http://tijuana.usconsulate.gov/petition_based_visas.html and http://tijuana.usconsulate.gov/niv.html )
You might ask, what is PIMS?
Consular officers may no longer accept Form I-797 as sufficient evidence for visa adjudication. Petition approval and visa eligibility must be confirmed in the Department of State's Petition Information Management Service (PIMS) database.
How Long does it take?
PIMS verification takes on average 24-48 hours to complete. A visa will not be authorized in the interim.
What should I do?
If you scheduled an appointment at the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana previously, we recommend that you fax a copy of your approved I-797 to the NIV section at least 72 hours prior to your interview date (fax: +52-664-634-3069). Please include the date and time of your appointment, as well as the confirmation number given to you by the appointment call center. Consular staff will determine whether your petition is registered in PIMS, and if it is not, will request that the petition be verified and added to the database. Please note that we are able to verify petitions in PIMS only for individuals applying at the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana. If you have scheduled an appointment at a different U.S. consulate or embassy, please contact NIV staff there directly with any questions you have regarding processing your petition-based visa.
Also from some other sources I have found that you could verify PIMS using the contacts below.
E-Mail ID of Consulate : tijuanainfo@state.gov
Tijuana U.S. Consulate Fax Number's:
+52-664-634-3069 - Mexico Number
Tijuana U.S. Consulate Phone Number's:
+52 664-634-3045
Following is the Generic email format for PIMS verification.
Dear Consulate Officer,
I am XXXXXXX (Your Name), working as a XXXXX (Your Designation) on H1B with XXXXXX (Your Company). I scheduled an appointment at Tijuana Consulate, Mexico for getting my H1-B visa stamped on XXXXX(Appointment Date) and my confirmation number is below:
Confirmation Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I would like to know if my PIMS check is already cleared for my I-129 petitions. I am attaching scanned copy of approval of I-797 and appointment letter as PDF file to this mail.
Attachments:
1. I-797A.pdf
2. Visa Appointment letter. PDF
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards, XXXXXXXX (Your Name)
You would get an email confirmation from the consulate and your PIMS verification.
After you have done this, you are all set to go for Stamping.
Hope this post helps. If you experience anything different please let me know and I will update here. Thanks.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Tijuana - H1B Stamping Experience
I had a pleasant experience with my second H1B visa stamping in Tijuana , Baja California , Mexico Los Angeles , CA to the US 402 W SAN YSIDRO BLVD, San Ysidro, CA, 92173 721 E SAN YSIDRO BLVD, San Ysidro, CA, 92173 Ph: 619-428-4679
We walked from there to the border using the bridge. If you are not able to spot the entry to the bridge ask some officers for guidance. Visa is not mandatory as n
When you enter TJ, there will be a bunch of cab drivers waiting and they know you are there for your Visa. So depending upon where you want to go, either to Banamex or to the Consulate just let them know and they charge will $5 to take you there. Banamex is no more next to consulate like before in
Now you can walk to the consulate. When you arrive at the consulate you will see a whole lot of people standing in the queue. Talk to the security guards and let them know that you are for your H1B visa stamping and then depending on your appointment time they might either let you in or will make you wait in the line.
They let me inside right away which was pretty cool. Just as soon as you enter the building there is a small window where they ask you for your appointment letter and passport. Here they will there give you a token number. So next is security check. They don’t allow any electronic items or big bags inside the consulate. So if you have stuff with you, just put those things in one bag and there are stores next to the consulate that hold your bags for $3.
After you pass the security, there was a man who asked me if I was for an H1B visa. I said yes. So he told me to ignore the token number as they are having some special line for H1B people, which was some real good news. He directed me to that special line where one Mexican lady checks the documents. She will make sure all information is correct. The bar code you print should be very clear otherwise she will have to re-enter it all over again. Check my FAQ on bar code information. Click here for list of documents you have to carry.
After this I was asked to go to a line for interview which was specifically meant for H1B applicants. Then the visa interview began. I gave him my Passport, DS-156 and DS-157. Then I was requested to provide I-797, I-129, LCA, pay stubs and work confirmation letter. Then he started to shoot some questions.
- What do u do in the company?
- What does that software do?
- How many employees does the company have?
- How long are you planning to stay in
- How many programming languages do you know?
- How many languages do you speak?
- Where are you from in
For question number, 4 make sure you tell him the year mentioned on your I-797 expiry date. After these questions he told me that the visa is approved and should come back at 3PM same day to get the visa. He gave me a token which I need to show when I collect my passport.
I was out of the consulate by 10:15AM. So now we had to kill some time. I had researched before as to what places I should go and visit in
Came back to collect my passport at 2:45 PM and found that they have already started to issue the visas. But I found out that my passport is not ready yet and they have some trouble with their computer and I will have to wait inside.
So we waited inside with few other people for around 45 minutes and one lady announced that the computer problem is not resolved yet and we might have to wait till 4:45PM and if that is still not resolved by then, we will have to come again the next day after 12 Noon. This worried me because it was not safe to leave my car at some parking lot at the border and moreover we didn’t know what to do that evening and where to stay. So I advise people to be prepared to stay till the next day as a worst situation and also if you go on Friday, you may get stuck there for the whole weekend.
Then I got lucky at 4:15 PM when our passports came ready with the visa. I verified my name and other details and left thanking them.
We came out of the consulate and took a cab back to the border for $6. He dropped us to the border and we saw a big line of people standing to go to the
Overall it was a pleasant experience. I recommend
Good Luck to you all for your visa and have safe trip.
Banamex to Consulate Directions
Banamex to Consulate Directions. Approximate time of walk is 10 minutes.
Banamex is in Del Los Huroes.
Update: Thanks to Ajay for sending us the updated map about BanAmex. BanAmex has moved. See the map below and for its exact location. After you come out of the bank walk towards the right hand of Abraham Lincoln Statue. If anyone finds that the map below is wrong please email me. Thanks.
Banamex is in Del Los Huroes.
Update: Thanks to Ajay for sending us the updated map about BanAmex. BanAmex has moved. See the map below and for its exact location. After you come out of the bank walk towards the right hand of Abraham Lincoln Statue. If anyone finds that the map below is wrong please email me. Thanks.
Sample DS-156
You need to print an electroic copy of DS-156. You cant fill it out by hand. Fill up the form and submit it to should generate a bar code. Instructions to fill out the form at http://evisaforms.state.gov . Fill out the DS-156 from at http://www.visa-usa.com.mx/VisaForms.aspx . Fill up the blank spaces as either None or NA. I have attached the sample DS-156. Use it at your own risk.
Update: The new website for accessing this information is http://www.usvisa-mexico.com Thanks for the user who informed me. In this website you may have to change the language to English by clicking on the top icon.
Update: On the top RHS corner of DS-156 you will find Expiration date. Make sure this date is after your appointment date. If not resubmit DS-156.
Update: The new website for accessing this information is http://www.usvisa-mexico.com Thanks for the user who informed me. In this website you may have to change the language to English by clicking on the top icon.
Update: On the top RHS corner of DS-156 you will find Expiration date. Make sure this date is after your appointment date. If not resubmit DS-156.
Documents to Carry
Below are the documents I carried for H1B Stamping. I have compiled this list to the best of my knowledge and use at your own risk.
1. Passport*
2.$108 $135 fees for each applicant.*
3. Photographs 2x2 inches. Check photograph requirement here. *
4. Appointment letter from consulate.*
5. Filled out ORIGINAL DS156 and 157 application form (electronic copy).*
6. I-797 (H-1 approval from INS) - top and bottom part in ORIGINAL.*
7. Employment verification letter from your employer.*
8. Offer Letter.*
9. Pay stubs last few months.*
10. Copy of I-129 (petition filed by your lawyer on your behalf).*
11. Copy of LCA (Labor Condition Approval).*
12.Latest Resume.*
13. ORIGINAL master’s degrees' certificates/transcripts.*
14. ORIGINAL bachelor's certificates.*
15. Copies of tax returns.*
16. Social Security Card.
17. Driving License.
18. Business Cards.
19. W2s.
20. I20.
21. Latest bank statement showing enough money to survive.*
22. OPT - EAD Card.
23. Marriage Certificate.
24. Marriage Invitation Card.
25. pictures of workplace.
Some of the documents listed above came straight from the Mexico consulate website.
Apart from this list check my FAQ for more information that I might have to provide you.
1. Passport*
2.
3. Photographs 2x2 inches. Check photograph requirement here. *
4. Appointment letter from consulate.*
5. Filled out ORIGINAL DS156 and 157 application form (electronic copy).*
6. I-797 (H-1 approval from INS) - top and bottom part in ORIGINAL.*
7. Employment verification letter from your employer.*
8. Offer Letter.*
9. Pay stubs last few months.*
10. Copy of I-129 (petition filed by your lawyer on your behalf).*
11. Copy of LCA (Labor Condition Approval).*
12.Latest Resume.*
13. ORIGINAL master’s degrees' certificates/transcripts.*
14. ORIGINAL bachelor's certificates.*
15. Copies of tax returns.*
16. Social Security Card.
17. Driving License.
18. Business Cards.
19. W2s.
20. I20.
21. Latest bank statement showing enough money to survive.*
22. OPT - EAD Card.
23. Marriage Certificate.
24. Marriage Invitation Card.
25. pictures of workplace.
Some of the documents listed above came straight from the Mexico consulate website.
Apart from this list check my FAQ for more information that I might have to provide you.
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