My stamping experience in Tijuana

[kishankakarla]

I went for stamping on Apr 2, 2012. This forum was very helpful for me in many previous occasions and I thought posting my experience will probably help someone just like me. So, here it goes.

I filled out the required forms and booked my date two weeks in advance. When you book your date online, please be very careful while paying the amount using credit card. Your credit card could be denied at the first attempt. In such case, don’t try again. I did the same mistake. I entered my credit card info again and it got declined again. I entered a different credit card this time but with the same result. So, I called up the helpdesk and paid the amount (150 dollars) over the phone. To my surprise, they charged me 4 times and later informed me that there was some problem with the website and they were, infact, charging me every time my card got denied. Till this day, they did not refund me.

When booking your date, you will have to book two dates for Tijuana unlike consulates in Canada. The first date is for submitting your paperwork and the second day for the actual interview. Note that these two places are different physical locations. I booked my first date at ASC application center on a Monday and the second date on the Tuesday. You will then receive your passport back on Wednesday.

I was traveling from Los angeles to San diego in my car for this trip. After reaching San Diego, I parked my car near the border. The address where I parked is 579 Camino De La Plaza. You need not park the car at the same address. There are several parking garages near this location. I paid 7 dollars per day for parking. Withdraw enough money before you start to avoid unnecessary hiccups. Once you park your car, you can just cross the border by walk. I did not take visa for entering Mexico as I was only staying for 3 days. There was nobody to check documents whatsoever near this border. As soon as you cross the border, everything changes. Reminded me of India. Several taxicabs will be available for you. I directly went to the ASC application center from here. Cab charge is around 7 US dollars. If you are planning to reach the ASC center well before your appointment time, then I would advise to go to your hotel, drop all your luggage and come back as they don’t allow to you carry any luggage or let you enter if your appointment is not within next 30 mins.

I stayed at Real Del Rio which is around 2 km from this place. Cab charge 5 dollars. The hotel was reasonably priced, close to ASC center and downtown. It has a good restaurant and cabs are readily available outside.

At the ASC center, you might have to wait for nearly an hour in the line for your turn. Not that bad. I submitted my appointment confirmation, my passport and visa documents here. They will take a picture and ask you to appear at the consulate for the interview.

On the next day, I took a cab for the consulate. The consulate is a little far from the hotel. Cab guy took 11 dollars for the ride. Make sure you don’t carry cellphones or any electronic devices to the location. After waiting in the line for nearly one hour, my turn for the interview came. Here’s how my interview went:

V.O: How long you worked for your employer?

V.O: What are your day to day activities at your job?

V.O: Is your supervisor also present at your client location?

The interview hardly took 5 minutes for me. The V.O asked me to come back next day at 11:00 am. I got a little excited and went to the consulate at 9:00 am itself hoping to collect the passport early and going back to the border. But they did not allow me until my allotted time. So, I waited for 2 hours outside and once the time came there was a big line which took almost 2 hours to cross. So, be prepared to wait.

After taking my passport, I took a cab and went back to the border in a cab. Cab charge 15 dollars. Here comes the worst part. The line at the border was looooooooooong. I waited for around 2 and half hours and when I finally came to the immigration officer he told me that I was waiting in the wrong line. We are supposed to get the I-94 in a different building before we go into this line. The building was nearby and there was a separate line for it. So, make sure you enter the correct line. The line for I-94 did not seem that long but it moved at a snail pace. I waited more than 5 hours in this line and once you get your I-94 here you need to go back to the earlier line for the immigration. By this time, it was almost 7 or 8 pm and the line for immigration did not even take 10 mins.

The immigration officer asked some basic questions on the purpose of the trip and let me go. On the way out, I crossed a bridge to enter US and took my car out from the parking garage. Be careful with the exit you take once you take your car out as one of the exits will take you back to Mexico.

In the evenings, I went to the Tijuana beach and strolled in downtown for some shopping. Take the tourist map in the Real del rio hotel. It was very helpful.

I hope this was helpful and all the best.

[toobrown]

awesome share. Thanks for sharing your visa stamping experience. I liked the details, good luck

[luck2u]

Thanks for your detailed experience Kishan!

Can you please tell in what model are you @ client i.e., E-C or EVC? Also any idea about howz the crowd in Tijuana Consulate for attending H1B. I heard that many of them are not going there recently but not sure the reason.

[kishankakarla]

@luck2u:

I am working on EC model. There was a big crowd at the consulate but it is true that there are no Indians showing up. I did not even see one desi guy/girl at the consulate. I was lucky to find another guy from the murthy forums. So, we went together to the consulate. I dont know the reason for this though.

[sany]

hi.. how did you handle the below question?

V.O: Is your supervisor also present at your client location?

Thanks,

JK

[sany]

how did you handle the below question?

V.O: Is your supervisor also present at your client location?

[INDNewYork]

I went for stamping on Apr 2, 2012. This forum was very helpful for me in many previous occasions and I thought posting my experience will probably help someone just like me. So, here it goes.

I filled out the required forms and booked my date two weeks in advance. When you book your date online, please be very careful while paying the amount using credit card. Your credit card could be denied at the first attempt. In such case, don’t try again. I did the same mistake. I entered my credit card info again and it got declined again. I entered a different credit card this time but with the same result. So, I called up the helpdesk and paid the amount (150 dollars) over the phone. To my surprise, they charged me 4 times and later informed me that there was some problem with the website and they were, infact, charging me every time my card got denied. Till this day, they did not refund me.

When booking your date, you will have to book two dates for Tijuana unlike consulates in Canada. The first date is for submitting your paperwork and the second day for the actual interview. Note that these two places are different physical locations. I booked my first date at ASC application center on a Monday and the second date on the Tuesday. You will then receive your passport back on Wednesday.

I was traveling from Los angeles to San diego in my car for this trip. After reaching San Diego, I parked my car near the border. The address where I parked is 579 Camino De La Plaza. You need not park the car at the same address. There are several parking garages near this location. I paid 7 dollars per day for parking. Withdraw enough money before you start to avoid unnecessary hiccups. Once you park your car, you can just cross the border by walk. I did not take visa for entering Mexico as I was only staying for 3 days. There was nobody to check documents whatsoever near this border. As soon as you cross the border, everything changes. Reminded me of India. Several taxicabs will be available for you. I directly went to the ASC application center from here. Cab charge is around 7 US dollars. If you are planning to reach the ASC center well before your appointment time, then I would advise to go to your hotel, drop all your luggage and come back as they don’t allow to you carry any luggage or let you enter if your appointment is not within next 30 mins.

I stayed at Real Del Rio which is around 2 km from this place. Cab charge 5 dollars. The hotel was reasonably priced, close to ASC center and downtown. It has a good restaurant and cabs are readily available outside.

At the ASC center, you might have to wait for nearly an hour in the line for your turn. Not that bad. I submitted my appointment confirmation, my passport and visa documents here. They will take a picture and ask you to appear at the consulate for the interview.

On the next day, I took a cab for the consulate. The consulate is a little far from the hotel. Cab guy took 11 dollars for the ride. Make sure you don’t carry cellphones or any electronic devices to the location. After waiting in the line for nearly one hour, my turn for the interview came. Here’s how my interview went:

V.O: How long you worked for your employer?

V.O: What are your day to day activities at your job?

V.O: Is your supervisor also present at your client location?

The interview hardly took 5 minutes for me. The V.O asked me to come back next day at 11:00 am. I got a little excited and went to the consulate at 9:00 am itself hoping to collect the passport early and going back to the border. But they did not allow me until my allotted time. So, I waited for 2 hours outside and once the time came there was a big line which took almost 2 hours to cross. So, be prepared to wait.

After taking my passport, I took a cab and went back to the border in a cab. Cab charge 15 dollars. Here comes the worst part. The line at the border was looooooooooong. I waited for around 2 and half hours and when I finally came to the immigration officer he told me that I was waiting in the wrong line. We are supposed to get the I-94 in a different building before we go into this line. The building was nearby and there was a separate line for it. So, make sure you enter the correct line. The line for I-94 did not seem that long but it moved at a snail pace. I waited more than 5 hours in this line and once you get your I-94 here you need to go back to the earlier line for the immigration. By this time, it was almost 7 or 8 pm and the line for immigration did not even take 10 mins.

The immigration officer asked some basic questions on the purpose of the trip and let me go. On the way out, I crossed a bridge to enter US and took my car out from the parking garage. Be careful with the exit you take once you take your car out as one of the exits will take you back to Mexico.

In the evenings, I went to the Tijuana beach and strolled in downtown for some shopping. Take the tourist map in the Real del rio hotel. It was very helpful.

I hope this was helpful and all the best.

Your experience sounds like you went to a city of un-certainites and risks and came back safely. God bless h1b's.

[adi84sh]

Which DHL center you picked ?? why did u picked your visa from embassy ??

[nipukumar]

Looks the whole process has changed...Earlier it was a two days affair at Tijuana, docs, application and interview the same day and get your passport 2nd day. Now loooks like docs and application one day, interview one day and get your passport another day. A 3 Day stay or 2 Day at Best.

Could some one please update the website of US Consulate where to book the appointment. I am planning my appointment in June.

Thanks.

[luck2u]

Below is the link to book visa appointment in US Consulates located in Mexico.

https://mexico.usvisa-info.com/en-MX/selfservice/login

[nipukumar]

Thanks luck2u for the response.

In terms of fees do we still need to make payment at Bennamex Bank in Mexico? There is a fee of $150 to book appointment through US govt website. So in all, fees weill be paid two times?

[nipukumar]

Hello kishankakarla,

I am planning to do my VISA stamping on Tijuana, Mexico in June/July. I have already once did my stamping at Tijuana in 2010. But things got changed since then. I have searched the web for most recent stamping experience and found none to be accurate or info i need. As you did your stamping recently, could you please kindly point out the process? I am not sure where to start from.

What is the 1st step ? DS-160?? Which place to book appointment? Also, do we still need to pay Banamex bank at Tijuana? It will be great if you could mention the work flow of the stamping process.

Thanks,

Niranjan

[luck2u]

To Niranjan:

Yes, first submit form DS 160 and have that confirmation #. After that goto https://mexico.usvisa-info.com/en-MX/selfservice/login website to create an account with your passport info. It prompts you to fill petition details such as EAC#, validity, employer details, etc after these details it asks you to pay the visa fee which usually accepts all major credit/debit cards. And then you will be navigated to visa appointment dates (which are available) and lastly you will be navigated to ASC appointment available dates. It's pretty straight forward, no more Banamex DD's. Hope this info helps you.