Only days after Lana Chumley, former head of the Nonimmigrant Visa Section of the Juarez Consulate, departed her position, the US Consulate in Juarez, Mexico has radically departed from its long-standing policy of accepting all third country nationals. To make matters worse, the Mexican government has suddenly begun requiring visas for third country nationals processing at the US consulate, a policy it has not enforced in many years. Previously, visas were not required until an individual ventured 20 kilometers into the interior of the country.
The US Consulate has announced that it will serve all Mexican citizens before third country nationals. The number of third country nationals to be processed will be determined on a day-to-day basis. Initial reports indicated that only 30 to 50 third country nationals were being processed on a daily basis. Recent reports indicate that about 120 applicants are being processed each day. Third country nationals not processed are not being given preference on the following day. The new policy has led to lines forming at the consulate as early as 2 am each day.
The reasoning behind the policy change does not appear to clear. Consular officials have complained, however, about a high incidence of fraud at the consulate, particularly in the case of H-1A nurses from the Philippines and L-1 visaholders from the People’s Republic of China.
The Mexican side of the equation is equally mysterious. Mexican police officials are now combing the visa line at the Consulate to collect a hundred dollar fine for entering Mexico without a visa. Those not paying the fine are being escorted back to the border. To make matters worse, receipts are not issued by the police and some individuals have reported being fined several times. Taxi cab drivers are being instructed to take their passengers to the Mexican immigration authorities for issuance of a visa prior to going to the US Consulate.
At least one US attorney accompanying a client to the US Consulate has actually been jailed and threatened with prosecution for alien smuggling, a crime that carries a 10 to 12 year sentence.
One open question relates to third country nationals who are from countries where Mexico does not permit the issuance of tourist visas. Included in the list are nationals of India and Pakistan as well as several other nationalities. Nationals of those countries are normally required to get a waiver of the bar to issuance of the tourist visa. We have not yet received a definitive answer to the question of whether the border police are barring entry to nationals on the restricted list or are simply permitting payment of the penalty.
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