Visa Stamping experience in Matamoros, Mexico (Successful)-Interesting and Must Read!!

[sbalasu3]

Hello folks, this is my first stamping experience post in this forum. Prior to this, I had 2 successful stamping in Matamoros, Mexico in 2007 and 2009.

My Case:

L1-H1 conversion in 2007 from USA. Then 2007 and 2009 H1 stamping in Matamoros. Have been with the same employer since converting to H1 in 2007. Never been on bench and always paid above the LCA. I am on EC model.

Mexico Visa:

I applied for the Mexico Visa in the Philly embassy and they took 8 days to process. Basically, they send the info to DC and and wait for the approval. Once approved they call you to submit the PP and money and have the visa printed in 30 min.

Current Stamping Experience:

After much of deliberation on whether to go to Canada or Mexico, I finally choose Matamoros, Mexico due to the fact that recently that place has become normal and since I had been there before. I took the risk even though I was travelling with my wife and infant child (US citizen).

My ASC was on 16th for the finger printing and photograph (Yes, here they take the photo - so no upload option in DS-160). My USC appointment was on 17th. I had 4 other guys who came to intw on that day. I went thru the Mexico Assistance folks purely for the logistics reasons.

My intw was at 10AM, but went there at 8:30AM. Was let in and was given expedited token due to the infant baby.

So I went to the first counter where they check ur docs and check PIMS. My bad luck, PIMS wasn't available for me, so he had to manually enter and said the VO will request PIMS manually to KCC. The guy here was the same guy whom I met in 2007 and 2009. So he remembered me.

Next went directly to the VO counter for the intw. These were the q'ns asked.

Greetings from both sides.

Why did you choose this consulate when you lived in upper states? - I told I don't have dates available in Toronto in the immediate future and I plan to visit Canada for tourism+going to India only next year.

Where does your employer reside? Answered.

Where is your job located? Answered.

Do you have a contract with your employer? (I think he meant employer letter) - I said I am an employee of X and work at our client location Y. Then I gave the Employer letter. He glanced it.

Does your employer pay you well? And asked my W2 - gave it to him. Again glanced it.

Asked for my Marriage certificate - becos my last name and wife is different. Again glanced it.

Asked about my infant child.

Then said the good and bad word - Your visa is approved but the PIMS isn't available. So you have to wait for it to come thru before I can issue the Visa. The system won't let me issue with the PIMS. I said ok. He then asked do you have food and medication for the infant?. I said I bought for 2-3 days. He said he will do his best to get the PIMS done sooner. He then returned all my docs and gave back my passport. He gave back the PP due to the fact that I’m in 3rd country and it’s not a good idea to be moving around without PP especially in Matamoros.

He asked me to write down phone # on the DS-160 conf page. I was not given any 221G form. I wrote it and said thank you and came back to Hotel.

So far so good - right? Now is the interesting part.

A week back there was one more guy who was stuck with PIMS (but was given a white 221G). So I managed to get in touch with him yday and asked him how it went. He said that he managed to have USCIS contact KCC and verify the PIMS. Looks like his PIMS was updated a day after his Intw. (So basically 1 day turnaround). Unfortunately, the consulate never called him back. So he advised me to take a follow up appt by calling the usvisa-info # (He did the same - I am not going to tell the outcome of his). So I did the same yday and had an appt for today @11AM.

Went to consulate with the follow-up appt letter @10:30AM. There weren’t much people there today. The front desk CSC guys asked for the 221G. I told I never got one and all I have is the appt letter. He then called someone inside and then said the VO asked to come back at 11:30 as he is validating my docs. So went back to hotel with family and came back at 11:30AM. Went in and was asked to sit in front of the same VO counter I had intw with. I was the only person in the consulate except the security guards. And all the VO windows were shutter down. I was waiting for 45 min and no one turned up. Finally someone saw me and opened the window (I think he must be the BOSS of the consulate).

Series of events and Q'ns:

He asked my reason for being there. I told I need to check if my Visa is ready and if PIMS is verified. He then got my PP and stared looking. He said PIMS is verified and the VO working on my case is not here. But said he will take care of me right away as I am with my baby. He then checked PIMS and asked the following q'ns.

Who is your employer and where is he located.?

Do you work at Employer location? Answered No and said at client location Y.

So the child was also born in place Y? Yes.

I see some bad remarks on ur employer. I asked what is it becos i was said the same thing before. He said some petitions were revoked (I will explain the logic behind this at the end). I told I have no idea. He then asked me to say the truth (like oath) for some q'ns.

Were u benched? Answered No

Were you ever not paid or treated bad by employer? I told I was always paid and also above and beyond the LCA and never treated bad. Also told him I am with this employer since 2007 and have W2 and paystub to prove it. He said that's fine.

Do you have a GC under process? I told my employer has filed for it and it’s under processing. Gave him the approved I-140. He said "you should get ur GC done before ur H1 expires". I said "ok".

He then said the golden words -Your Visa is approved and I am putting a note to get it printed today itself. I thanked him very much and also said sorry for the trouble. He said it’s not my fault (me) and wished me good luck. He also said next time it’s better to go to home country as they will have more info and you don't have to run into this trouble. Also wished me good luck for the GC. I said I will and thanked him.

Since it’s a tradition here in Matamoros Consulate to give the PP same day or next day in the consulate itself, I went back at 3PM today. And voila, me and my wife (H4) PP were ready. Got it and came back to US before 5PM.

My thoughts, inference and advice:

Do come here only if u are a FTE or if u manage to check if PIMS is done (which is 0% chance with rare exceptions). If you are in EC or EVC, make sure your employer is clean. It may or may not work in your favor in this consulate.

Here in Matamoros ( or anywhere for that matter), the VO's sleep over the case even tough the PIMS request was successful in a day. The other guy found after a week that his PIMS was done in a day. So the embassy never called him. So would have been my case if hadn't proactively done my part. Again, this will not work everywhere and every time.

In my case even though my employer was clean it had a bad remark on their system (revocation). There is a clear case of confusion here. As per USCIS law, an employer is suppose to revoke the petition, if the employee has left the company or has got GC and moved on or has been terminated. So my employer did the same for those who have left the company back to India for other ventures and for those that have got GC. Unfortunately, this good rule following doesn't translate as good record in the Consulate system. They only see the revocation and not the reasons behind it. Until this is corrected, folks like me and my employer will have to go thru this drama. I called my employer to talk to a lawyer and work with USCIS to get this cleared.

In my case it was purely luck and prayers that played the trick and the fact that I had a special time with the VO Boss today to talk in detail. This doesn't happen to all. If I were in alone or went to India or Canada for stamping, I am not sure I would have got this done. I would either been rejected or put under 221G for a while or may be even approved (no one can predict how the turns out).

I posted this immediately the same day so that future folks can be aware of these kind of pitfalls and plan accordingly. Also i don't see much folks posting about their success (especially) story (even though they lurk here often for advice).

On the day of my original intw, of the 4 folks who attended intw, one was FTE (he got his the same day), other one was EC (got his the same day). the 3rd one was denied due the fact that he was switching between EAD and H1B (that caused the VO to think that he could have been bench or without work for sometime). But he returned to US with a temp I-94 (30 days - not sure) at the border.

Matamoros is more family friendly and the Border post is also helpful in case of issues.

Wherever you go, just be prepared to answer and be bold and confident. Bottom line - no one is going to kill you for thinking outside the box. Do so after weighing the pros and cons. Worst case, they will reply in negative.

Please post your questions, i will try to answer as much as i can.

[psmes]

Can you let me know which agency you have used and their contact information. I am planning to go there for stamping and would be very helpful.

Thanks!!