You might have applied for C.O.S (Change of Visa Status) with USCIS & waiting forever(last 8 months or so) for your C.O.S to be approved by USCIS (H4/F2/H1B/L1A/L1B/L2 to F1)
What is the quickest way to get back into status ?
Based on your visa category – you might (or) might not have dependency on USCIS to get back into status.
Further explanation below
Case 1) You might be currently on one of these visas – F2 / H4 / L2 / H1B / L1A & Applied for Change of status to F1 & waiting for USCIS to approve your C.O.S from long time.
Do you still need to wait for C.O.S to be approved by USCIS ?
Answer is “NO”
How long does C.O.S wait time takes to get approved from USCIS ?
It varies from 8 to 18 months too.
Does COS approval from USCIS matter (H4 to F1, F2 to F1, L2 to F1 etc.,) for F1 stamping ?
Answer is “NO”
You can come to mexico to apply for your F1 visa stamping without waiting for USCIS to approve your C.O.S & By Default – anyone applying for F1 visa can get stamped through emergency appointments & get back to status immediately (without the need to wait for USCIS decision, which is simply waste of time…)
Same applies for someone moving from L1 to F1, H1B to F1, B1 to F1 etc.,
Case 2) You might have been on H1B (or) L1A (or) L1B until now, Unfortunately your US visa extension through USCIS got denied due to some bad RFE response / some other issue. You have option to get I-20 immediately & you need to get back into F1 to continue your stay in US on valid US visa.
You can take new i-20 from your university & apply for Emergency appointment in mexico locations, get your visa stamped immediately & get back to visa status immediately. (You don’t need to go through USCIS path of applying for C.O.S – Change of status & wait for indefinite period to get back into status)
Case 3 ) You are on H1B (or) L1 visa & need to move to dependent visa (H4 or L2 etc.,), you simply need approval document of primary candidates I-797A document to get your(dependent) stamping done & get back to status immediately. You don’t need any approval from USCIS for your dependent(H4 or L2 etc.,) stamping as even though you wait for USCIS approval(which takes long time), it’s not needed anywhere for your stamping process.
Case 4) You are on depedent visa (H4, L2 or E3D etc.,), & unable to apply for your visa status extension at USCIS in premium processing. Need to go only in normal process (where as your spouse (primary candidates) I-797A got approved from USCIS. For E3 – you got your labor cert approved or extension approved through premium processing.
Incase non-emergency appointments are available, Dependents can get back to status immediately by attending visa interview at US consulates in mexico based on primary candidates i-797A (extension) approval document. No need to apply extension with USCIS too.
All above info looks good & perfectly matches my current scenario, what is the location where i can get my F1 visa stamping(or any C.O.S Change of Status stamping) done through Emergency appointment ?
Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo & Tijuana(recommended order for F1 stamping) are good locations for getting Emergency appointments & also many change of visa status / change of visa category folks got their visa stamping done in mexico.
Most FAQS :
What to do incase of visa denial in Mexico ?
- So far 5 or 6 denials out of 10000+ clients in mexico from last 4 years, you can calculate visa approvals vs visa denial rates.
Can i still come back in case of visa denial in mexico ?
- Denials itself are rare, if you still have strong fear about denials incase of any strong reason, please take mexican visa before your travel to mexico, helps you to fly out of mexico to India (can attend visa interview in india again)
- You can’t come back from mexico to USA directly incase of visa denial at mexico.
How many days process is this visa stamping in Mexico ?
Day 0 : You arrive to Mexico by Flight / Land.
Day 1 : Fingerprints/ Biometrics
Day 2 : Visa interview
Day 3 : Passport pickup at 2 PM & Fly same day evening if you have flight at 5 PM or later else fly on Day 4 morning.
What’s total cost for this stamping process ?
- Your US visa fee payment including our charges will be between 240$ to 270$ +
- Total charge for you & your family for Accommodation & transportation charges will be between 299 to 549$ (based on location & number of nights stay needed)
- Your flight tickets cost.
Want to look at recent visa interview questions & feedback from folks who attended for this change of visa category stamping ?
H4 to F1 stamping in Nov/ Oct 2021 from many clients (Below)
