H1b Stamping in Nuevo Laredo Dec 2016

[diasdreamer]

Hi All,

I just got my second H1b stamped in Nuevo Laredo. Drove from Austin to the consulate in Nuevo Laredo. Had my finger printing appointment on Saturday at 10:00 AM. Left Austin at 5:00 AM and reached Nuevo Laredo at 9:30 AM. I had obtained Mexican tourist visa(It's a straight forward process) just to be safe but you don't really need it since no one checked it. After finger printing was done i came back to Austin( you're allowed to come back because of the new automatic re-validation rule). Consular Interview was Monday at 9:15 AM. It took five mins and the visa officer just asked what i do at my company, I797, old,new passport and my employer letter(direct US employer and I've been working there for 5 years). I was informed that the passport might not be ready to be picked up at 3:30. I went to the consulate at 3:30 and it was not ready(pro tip, ask if you can come back an hour later to see if it is ready since last call for passpot pickup is at 4:30, be polite about this). I went back at 4:30 and even though my visa was printed i had left out a letter in my name in the DS160 so they could not give me my passport the same day. Went back next day at 11 to pick up the passport.

Tips:-

1) Since the city is not considered safe, you can always book your stay in Laredo,Texas because you can come back to US after finger printing. Spend the night in US and then go for interview the next day.

2)Download google maps offline, you don't  need data in Nuevo Laredo. It takes just 29MB to download the map for the whole city. Even though i had Mexican package in AT&T my phone did not switch on to the native carrier in time on the first day. I ended up getting lost and was 10 minutes late to the finger printing appointment. Memorize the route from the bridge to the consulate(it's a relatively easy route).

3)Drive a rental if you drive an expensive car in USA. Budget is the only one which you can drive to mexico. I think you need to buy Mexican Auto Liability Insurance(MALI) but since my credit card (Chase sapphire reserve) covers liability even in mexico, i did not buy one. Also, you do not need a Mexican auto permit since you're within 28 kms off the border.

4)I stayed in Fiesta Inn(Paid 1200 pesos) since i could not get back to US that night without my passport. It was 1100 pesos online for a night but i didn't want to type everything in my phone so i just paid. I recommend( there is a nicer hotel just by the consulate but it was booked) this place as it has HEB, subway(I'm a vegetarian so was delighted to see it was close by), movie theater within 0.5 miles. They do have a breakfast buffet(it's not complimentary) which costs around 80 pesos. Lots of options if you're a meat eater. Just FYI, Fiesta Inn is a mile away from the consulate.

5) While waiting to pick up my passport after interview i had like 6 hours to kill. I visited downtown and got bored. So decided to drive around the city and accidentally came across a casino(Juega Juega). I highly recommend to go here. It's a small/clean casino and it has a black jack/roulette machine(no human dealer) which was fun. They have around 50 slot machines. Spent around 2 hours here. 

Everything said and done it was a pleasant trip with only a minor hiccup of me missing a letter in my application.

[rocketboy_sf]

hey thanks for sharing your experience! 

what letter did u forget ? also for booking appointment in mexico for visa stamping, how to check available dates ? can we see dates before filling up DS 160 ?

 

Thanks again for your help 

 

[Crusader_Knight]

he missed alphabet in his name on DS 160. its not letter. :)