Successful Visa Stamping at Tijuana

[indiagrad]

My ASC appointment was on the 29th of Aug & Consular appointment on the 30th. I am on post-6 year extension, direct employee at university.

Drove from LA to SD. Parked car on the US side, took a taxi to the ASC location ($7.00) The process was easy.

Planned to check into Hotel Del Rio, luckily taxi guy recommended a place closer to the consular office, which was a great suggestion. My appointment on 30th was at 10 am. If I hadn't stayed near consular office, I may have missed the appointment time because of traffic. Taxi ride was $15.00.

Anyway, I stayed at City Junior Hotel which is at walking distance to consular office. Hotel is better version of Super 8 Motel. Rate is $60.00/night. There is also a Fiesta Inn for $110.00. on the 30th,I arrived at the consulate at 9:30 and they sent me in. After a short wait, I was interviewed by a lady who checked my papers, followed by finger print check and was asked to wait for VO interview. The VO was thorough. Asked me questions about my grad school in the US and how it relates to my work, duration of work, details of work, future of my project and career, pay stubs etc. VO was checking for authenticity and consistency. I had my stuff straight, so it wasn't a problem. Visa was issued, passport pick up next day at 2:30pm! The whole process took about 3 hours. I had to stay for one more night. Next day, picked up passport, took taxi to border, cleared customs and walked into the US.

Important points:

If you have a morning visa interview, stay near consulate. There is a mall close by that you can walk to, for food etc. This helps especially if you have to stay for an additional day.

I don't work in IT or engineering, and my educational background and work are directly related, this may have been an added benefit.

Just keep cool and have a good conversation with the VO.

If you have additional questions, send me a message through the forum. Good luck with your visa stamping.

[kvenumanohar]

Hi,

First of all thankyou for sharing your experience.This is so invaluable information

Have few questions to talk to you. I'm local to LA as well...

Pls let me know ur availabilty and contact info

Thanks in Advance!

-Venu

[indiagrad]

Hello Venu,please post your question on the forum,so that everyone can learn from your question, or you can post your contact infor, and I will contact you.

Thanks,

[tusharvk]

did you see a lot of applicants getting 221g slips?

[sagrock]

Hey IndiaGrad,

Congrats, thanks for the sharing info;

Please help me out for the below questions;

1. I'm planning to goto tijuana stamping...But I had 3 months gap after my first visa stamp. I got visa sep 2007 and I landed in US Jan 2008. Does that make any problem while stamping in Tijuana?

2. While try to make an appointment its only shows consular appointment section, unable to see ASC appointment. Can you navigate me for the same?

-Sagar