Visa Process

IMPORTANT NOTICE

New Application Fees: Nonimmigrant and immigrant visa application fees will change on April 13, 2012. The fees for most nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase, while all immigrant visa application fees will decrease. All visa applicants must pay the fee amounts in effect on the day they pay, including immigrant visa applicants who pay fees to the National Visa Center (NVC).

Fees that will decrease are not refundable - If you paid a visa fee before April 13, 2012 and that fee decreased, we cannot give you a refund.

Fees that will increase (only nonimmigrant fees) - If you paid your visa fee before April 13, 2012, you do not have to pay the difference between the new and old fee amounts as long as your visa interview is on or before July 12, 2012. Starting July 13, 2012, you will be required to pay the difference between the old and new fee amounts – no exceptions.

See Nonimmigrant Visa Processing Fees detailed information on the current rates. 

 Forgot to return your I-94 travel permit? Click U.S. Customs and Border Protection site for more information.

Suggestions for keeping your personal information safe when filling out your DS-160 electronic visa application.

• Do not accept offers of assistance from strangers who approach you on the street.
• If you do not have access to a computer at your home, school or office, ask a trusted friend or colleague to help you fill out the application.  Most university students have access to computers –maybe a neighbor’s son or daughter who is a student could help you.
• If you choose to use an Internet café to fill out your application, ask trusted friends or colleagues for recommendations.  Do not choose an Internet café whose employees stop you in the street and try to pressure you into using their service. 
• If you do not know how to use a computer and want an Internet café employee to fill out the application for you, be sure that you are sitting right beside the employee as he/she types into the computer.  The employee should never write down any of your information on paper.  The employee should not print out the entire application.  The only part of the application which needs to be printed is the barcode. 
• If you fill out the application yourself using a computer at an Internet café, be sure that employees are not watching over your shoulder and copying your personal data.
• Do not give photocopies of any of your documents to employees of an Internet café. 
• Once the application is completed and submitted and the bar code is printed, your information is secure.  The internet café employees cannot return to the application once the bar code is printed.  Therefore it is important that the application be completed in one sitting while the applicant watches the person typing the data into the computer.  Do not look away until the application is complete and the bar code sheet is printed and given to you.
• Avoid using Internet cafes whose employees offer to sell you any kind of document.  The documents are false and could lead to you becoming ineligible for a U.S. visa permanently.  Don’t waste your money buying false documents. 
• None of the Internet cafes located near the U.S. Consulate or the Applicant Service Center in Monterrey have any connection to the U.S. Consulate.  Any employee who claims such a connection is lying, and applicants should avoid such businesses.