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US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Old Feb 6th 2015, 11:37 pm
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Default US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

I live in the US, have an O1 visa and have just renewed it for the 3rd time (6th year).
I'm planning on going to London to visit family and do the interview at the embassy, but an opportunity has come up to take a cheap trip to Nicaragua, so am wondering if I could do the interview there instead.

Does anyone have any experience in doing the interview abroad, or even in Nicaragua itself?
I've heard people do it all the time, specially by going to Canada or Puerto Rico. I'll be calling my lawyer on Monday to get his opinion, but in the meantime I figured I'd ask the question here in case anyone has had any experience.

If I turn up at the US embassy in Nicaragua with a British passport, does this raise suspicions and risk creating trouble?


To make things more complicated, I was supposed to go to London for xmas. I had submitted the DS-160 (and chose London as the embassy), and paid the interview fee on the booking site, but I had to cancel the trip due to family tragedy.

So now will I be able to change the embassy location on the DS-160 and make a new booking for Nicaragua, or am I locked into the London embassy now that I've submitted everything? Nicaragua isn't even on the list of countries on this site.

Any knowledge from fellow traveling brits?

thanks!
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Old Feb 7th 2015, 12:47 am
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

You can't do it in Puerto Rico; that's the USA.

One can always apply for a visa from a 3rd party country, but that country has the right to refuse processing and ask you to go to your home country.

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Old Feb 7th 2015, 1:00 am
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Yes absolutely right on P.R., sorry.

I'm guessing you mean they may refuse my application at the actual interview even if I successfully went through the process of booking it? Or is it something that would happen before during the booking?

Either way I'll give them a call on Monday.

Thank you
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Old Feb 9th 2015, 9:30 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

I just heard from a friend who was in the same situation as me: visa approved, but hadn't made the interview yet.

However he was allowed to travel to Mexico and back to the US, without the passport stamp, by carrying his I797-A with him. This happened 2 or 3 years ago, so not sure if things have changed since then?

My lawyer is telling me that I shouldn't do this, and that I should still get the passport stamped, even if I go to Mexico (though he says the embassy in Nicaragua is preferable over Mexico).

I keep finding pages like this which say

If you have an expired H1B, O-1 or E-3 visa stamp or if you have an expired U.S. nonimmigrant visa of any other type (e.g. B, F, J) and you have a valid I-94 card stating your current valid H1B, O-1 or E-3 status, your visa will be considered automatically revalidated when you re-enter the U.S. from Canada or Mexico as long as ALL of the following are true:

You have only been in Canada or Mexico for less than 30 days
You have with you a current I-94 card stating your valid H1B, O-1 or E-3 status
You do not apply for a visa while in Canada or Mexico
You are not from one of the countries currently considered by the U.S. to be state sponsors of terrorism (as of 11/11/02 this includes Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North Korea and Cuba)
For this automatic revalidation to apply to you, you must be careful to keep your I-94 card when leaving the U.S. to enter Canada or Mexico for a trip of less than 30 days. Present your I-94 card along with your valid passport, original Form I-797A (H1B or O-1 Approval Notice) or, if E-3, LCA (ETA 9035) and a letter from your hiring department/unit confirming current employment
Anyone experienced with this?
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Old Feb 10th 2015, 9:36 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

That means that you can go to Canada/Mexico on holiday and get back in. Is that all you want to do? What if you need to travel elsewhere? You'll need the visa in your passport - you are just delaying the inevitable.

I had my interview in Toronto, was very easy to set up online. Interview Mon, got passport back Wednesday and flew back on Thursday. Have you checked that Nicaragua accept 3rd country nationals?
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Old Feb 11th 2015, 3:06 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Originally Posted by Orangepants
That means that you can go to Canada/Mexico on holiday and get back in. Is that all you want to do? What if you need to travel elsewhere? You'll need the visa in your passport - you are just delaying the inevitable.

I had my interview in Toronto, was very easy to set up online. Interview Mon, got passport back Wednesday and flew back on Thursday. Have you checked that Nicaragua accept 3rd country nationals?
Yep that's all I want to do really, it's not to delay the interview or anything. Just that I'd rather wait until May to go to London for the interview, and if I can travel to Mexico/Nicaragua for some time off in the meantime, then I'd prefer to do that, yes.

If I can get the interview done in either country then even better, but I'm scared to leave the passport with them if I'm only going for 7 days. My lawyer advises against doing the interview in Mexico if I have the choice, so I spoke to the embassy in Nicaragua who said the processing time is 5/7 days. Amazing to hear about Toronto's quick turnaround time!

thanks for the response
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Old Feb 11th 2015, 4:32 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

I find myself amused. I see very clearly where the lawyer is coming from. You don't like the advice so you are asking for lay advice here.

Whatever. It is your life, not the lawyer's.
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Old Feb 12th 2015, 3:30 am
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Well, yes I guess it'd be nice to hear some other people's opinion.

My lawyer has always been on the cautious side, and also didn't really go into much detail as to what risks are involved.

A friend of mine made the same trip in the same situation: on an expired O-1 and carrying his i797 and with interview pending. He had no problem apart from getting held up to be questioned. When he showed them the i797 and explained, they simply went to the supervisor and confirmed that he was allowed back into the US.

If there are any other people out there who have done the same, or who have had a negative experience, it'd be really nice to know.
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Old Feb 12th 2015, 2:10 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

I don't think many people would take the risk. They get their renewal papers then go to a consulate and get the visa taken care of.

As the source you quoted says - you can go to Mexico and Canada and get back in, NOT Nicaragua. I personally would sort out the renewed visa as soon as possible. Initially, I was going to go to the Bahamas Consulate for mine but decided that Canada was a better option for me as if there was any uncertainty with the issuance of the visa, I had friends there I could stay with if my trip was extended.

You don't seem to like your lawyer's caution.

Last edited by Orangepants; Feb 12th 2015 at 2:25 pm.
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Old Feb 12th 2015, 2:35 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

"TCN" visa applications are somewhat of a sophisticated issue. I already see some potential errors in some of the lay posts here.

One of the banes of an immigration lawyers existence is when the client really doesn't like the lawyers advice and then follows the advice of "friends" who will say "I know of a person who ..."

On the cautious ground I am going to give analogy -- I've known some heterosexual couples who have engaged in sexual intercourse many times without birth control and have never conceived. Just saying.
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Old Feb 12th 2015, 5:10 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Thanks for taking the time to reply S.Folinsky, but what are the potential errors? I'm getting similar mysterious answers and condescending comments from my lawyer which is why I'm here in the first place.

Orangepants, I LOVE my lawyer's caution But trust me if I could do the interview earlier, I'd do it. But I won't bore you with the details of why that can't happen, not in London at least.

Just to be clear, the situation is this: I cannot go to London until May. As far as that goes, I'll have to wait for the interview until then, therefore I won't be traveling until then. Which is unfortunate, but I'll survive!

However, I have an opportunity to travel to Mexico for a week (let's forget about Nicaragua for the minute), and I find a bunch of info online that says there's the AVR rule that lets you travel to Mexico/Canada on an expired visa as long as you carry your i797. I also find a bunch of forum posts where people are discussing the same thing, some saying that they've been successful. Great.

I ask the lawyer, he says 'hmm i'd avoid that if I were you' without giving much further info.

So that brings us to the here and now, where I'm just trying to establish WHY there'd be any problems if there's a rule that allows you to do so in the first place. So far the only info I'm able to get is that people have done it, and that lawyers are saying I should avoid it for some reason.

Anyway, it's just a curiosity. If there's risk, of course I won't do it. I thought that posting the question would get me some straight up answers that didn't get turned around on me not trusting the lawyer or suggesting that I should do the interview right away as if it hadn't occurred to me already.

The other option is of course do the interview in Mexico, but that'd mean potentially extending the trip. And apparently the lawyer says there are other mysterious risks in doing it there, suggesting I should do it in Nicaragua if I had the option!

Hope that paints a better picture of where I'm at
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Old Feb 12th 2015, 7:35 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Dear FNDLND:

The warning in my signature block is there for a reason. So, I'm not going to even really begin to tell you the "best" way. That said, some general comments:

Sometimes, legal advice in particular situations can be a judgment call. It is not uncommon for three excellent lawyers to come up with four options and to disagree what is the "best." Sometimes, the lawyer may not even be able to articulate the reason for their unease for a particular course of action but have learned to trust that sense of "something's wrong."

As I said, I see where your lawyer is coming from and it is within the normal type of advice given in TCN cases.

A final point: many people want 100% guarantees [hell, even in 95%] and it just may not be possible.
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Old Feb 13th 2015, 12:04 am
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Originally Posted by FNDLND
However, I have an opportunity to travel to Mexico for a week (let's forget about Nicaragua for the minute), and I find a bunch of info online that says there's the AVR rule that lets you travel to Mexico/Canada on an expired visa as long as you carry your i797.
I'm not a lawyer, so I can be as wrong as I like on the internet!

One problem with what you seem to be suggesting is that AVR doesn't apply if you make a visa application on your short trip to Canada/Mexico. So, if you go to Mexico, make the application, and it's denied for some reason, the expired visa in your passport will not get you readmitted to the US.

As for general problems with TCN visa applications, from reading around it does seem that different consulates behave very differently from one another, and what might be a routine visit to one could turn out to be a nightmare elsewhere. (There are reasons why your lawyer is not thrilled about the prospect of you interviewing in Mexico, I bet.) What's worse, you could well draw unwelcome attention simply for being in an unexpected place. (Q1: "What exactly are you doing in Nicaragua, anyway?") And, of course, a consulate in a third country is not obliged to process your application at all, although in practice I don't know whether that would be likely to cause a problem.
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Old Feb 13th 2015, 4:49 am
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Thanks for the thoughts Zerlesen.
If I've understood what you're saying correctly, actually the idea isn't to do the application in Mexico as I'd be leaving it until May in London. I know I mentioned it at some point above, but it was literally a secondary option that I definitely don't want to risk.

The main thing I'm putting out here is simply to establish what the risks are of coming back into the US from Mexico equipped with nothing but an expired visa, an i797 and a printout of the AVR regulations.

Is there a chance that the guys at immigration could ignore the regulations and deny me from re-entering the US?


Thanks again
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Old Feb 13th 2015, 12:30 pm
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Default Re: US Visa interview... in nicaragua?

Originally Posted by FNDLND
Is there a chance that the guys at immigration could ignore the regulations and deny me from re-entering the US?
A visa is a travel document. An expired visa is not a travel document. Your O-1 status continues so long as you remain in the US... but once you leave, you must get a new visa in your passport. Getting into the US may (or may not) be a problem... but the larger issue is likely the travel itself. If you're in Nicaragua and don't have a valid US visa in your passport, it's unlikely you'll be allowed to get on a plane headed to the US. The extension letter isn't a travel document... and neither is an expired visa.

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