H1B Renewal Stamping @ Juarez, Mexico Aprill-2007

Successfully got my H1B visa stamped. This is a renewal of expired H1B stamping. I took the services of Victor Garcia. He is a very polite and humble guy and gives ahead most of the required information. Altogether we were 10 in the group that used Garcia service. All of them were issued visa.

We were allowed inside the consulate @ 8:05. Need to pass through 3 counters before reaching the VO. The process at the three counters was done by 8:45 but had to wait till 1:30 for the VO call. The current procedure is to issue the visa the next day however a request can be made for genuine reasons. Garcia gave an example of a lady who requested citing her new born baby which I think is pretty genuine and hope people don't abuse the policy which will affect people with genuine reasons.

Counter1: they will take your ds156, DS157 and rearrange it as per their way and they give it back to you. (DS158 is not required for H1B's. However one of the guys in this forum mentioned that its required @ Nogales for H1B's)

Counter2: lady asked for the above documents, passport and I797. Did something on her computer, took a picture, grouped the documents and gave it back.

Counter 3: fingerprinting (as per the announcement if the fingerprint and birth dates finds a match with their suspicious database then we need to pay
$85 to request a thorough check which will take 1-2 days).

counter 4: VO

Here are the questions asked by the VO:

- who do you work for?

- what does your company do?

- what is your role/responsibility @ the company?
make sure you tell the exact position as stated in DS156 and responsibilites as stated in the employer letter

- Any other visas you have been issued previously?
showed my F1 stamp. I attended a different college than whats stated on the F1 visa stamp and I gave this info without her asking about it.

- show me your degree cerificate?

- show me your paystubs?
gave her the bunch of last 6-months paystub. she only looked at the most recent one


The Juarez city is very comparable to a mid size indian city. Garcia suggested a couple of restaurants which were pretty good. Make sure you carry a light jacket as it gets chilly @ night and it was very windy while our whole stay there. Best advise would be to check ElPaso weather and prepare accordingly. Apart from the food experience I did'nt find anything worth mentioning here.

By the time we were on the US side it was 3:45 on Day2. Make sure you book your return ticket 5:30 onwards even if it requires booking the next day if no available flights are available after 5:30. Some people in our group had to reschedule their flight to next day.

I did'nt apply for a mexican visa however many people in this forum had advised to. Firstly there is no checking at the mexican side for a permit to enter. I remember we cruised at 45mph past the check point as there was no one to check you and thats the case everyday as per Garcia. One of the guys in the group who had a permit mentioned that as per the mexican consulate you can stay in mexico for 72hrs without a permit. However residents of some countries like Pakistan need to pre-register their passport (Garcia can provide more info on this front).

Here is a list of the documents I carried:
- Employment letters (current and all previous employers)
- SSN card
- OPT Card (Optional practical training permit)
- last year company performance evaluation stating in good standing
- company photos (cubicle, building)
- paychecks 1 year
- w-2's last 3 years and 1040's
- current and all previous I-129 and LCA
- current and all previous original I797
- all I-20's from F1 visa
- original degree certificates (masters, bachelors) (are u taking any other certificates?)
- greencard labor approval
- company brochure and company contact page from website
- bank statements (last 6 months)
- India property documents (they say not needed to prove native country attachment for H1B's but just taking incase)
- proof of address (apartment lease document, last month utility bill)
- filled DS 156 online at this url: http://evisaforms.state.gov/ and generated a barcoded PDF
- printed DS 157 and handfilled
- Passport
- Appointment letter (I haven't yet received it yet from the consulate. I will probably take a print out from online)
- Current resume
- company offer letter
- Resume submitted when applying for current job
- job posting of current job
- Extra photos