Recently I had been to Mexico with my friend for visa stamping. I thought it’s a good a topic to start off a blog. Though I am neither good at writing nor have a good command over English. So quality is not assured. If you still want to take a chance then... welcome to my BLOG.....

Many friends and colleagues warned me not to go Mexico, especially by crossing border. They said it is dangerous and risky but my experience was the other side of it.



It was Thursday afternoon 3 PM when we started off our trip (with a rented Toyota Corolla car). We drove all the way from Fremont (in California) to Mexico border; a total of 500 miles (800 KM) one way! I guess I drove about 1/3rd of the distance and rest my friend. Total driving time was roughly 8-9 hours with 2 breaks in between. It was my first long drive. I drove at speeds up to 90 miles/hr (140 km/hr). We reached our hotel, which was near to US-Mexico border at around 12 midnight. My interview was on next day morning at 10 AM. We left hotel at 7:30 AM the next day and drove till the border. At border we found many parking stations for people to park their car and enter Mexico. Parking rates varied from $5 to $10 per day. One can enter Mexico in two ways; drive or walk. We decided to walk since driving in Mexico requires Mexico auto insurance and need to be familiar with traffic rules/roads/speed limits etc. Crossing border is very easy. To my surprise there were no security guards, no border checking and nothing of that sort. Also no visa is required. Cool isn't it? There was a just a rotating door/gate which makes sound (metal collides I guess) when we rotate the gate and enter. I made one rotation and I was in Mexico! So easy isn't it? If someone by mistake enters without the knowledge and/or without the passport, his/her life would not be simple, if he/she wants to come back. Returning is not that simple. Now I was in a place called Tijuana of state Baja California (not to confuse with California State of USA. This is Mexican state called Baja California), Mexico. Immediately after crossing the border I could see many taxi wallas’ waiting for customers. After seeing our faces they started saying “need a cab to US consulate?" one after the other. For a moment I felt I was in India. It recalled my days when I used to get off Udyan train at Bangalore railway station, where after coming out of station, a lot of auto and taxi fellas calling the same way. It is very interesting to know that few meters behind, the other side of the border, we don't see any taxis waiting for us but we all have to wait for it (booking by phone or Internet) unless we have our own/arranged car! That's America guys so no point in comparing.
We got into one of the taxis towards US consulate for a fair price of $10. Later I realized that, throughout this place everybody including very small shop fellows accept US $. Taxi fellow was somehow managed to speak bit of English. He told initially that US consulate has moved to a different location and asked if we still wanted to go to the old address. We didn't want to believe his words (considering the warnings others made about Mexicans) and also we needed to pay the visa application fee in a bank which was near to the old the address. So we asked him to drop us at old address only. After reaching there, we found that that the US consulate was indeed moved to a new location. Change of address was neither mentioned in our appointment letter nor on the US consulate web site! Can’t help… we wanted Visa in any case! We then went to a bank called Banamex. This bank has tie -up with US consulate and we had to pay (only in this bank) the visa application fee of 1100 Mexican peso ($100). After paying the fee we headed towards new address by taxi. As usual there was a big queue outside the consulate. As everyone aware that nothing is allowed inside except paper documents so we kept our bags in a small shop (which is more or less looked like a small chai dukan) near to the consulate (for a price of $3). Except for small hiccups/confusion my H1B visa was approved. They asked me to come and collect the passport at 3 PM. half part is done! Outside the consulate, my friend Manohor met his other friend, who came with his wife and son for visa stamping. We also met one more Indian there at the consulate. Total six of us were set to explore Mexico as we had around 4 hours before collecting our passports.

(our group)

I started taking pictures of everything I could see on the streets. I found many similarities between India and Mexico. Speed limits were written in Km/h than miles/hr. Gas (petrol) sold in liters as opposed to gallons (~ 3.8 liters) in US. I could see small shops on the streets, small moving "bandi's" like paani puri selling fruit salads selling for less than a dollar!

(Fruit Salad for less than a dollar!)

I could also see slums on some corners. But the city has wide and neat roads, big shopping malls etc.

(Neat & wide roads)

We stopped by a Domino's pizza and had our lunch and entered a shopping mall where we spent most of the time. Language was the problem there. Hardly anyone speak English. But they were very friendly, very polite and nice to customers. Who said Mexicans are bad? After shopping around we headed back to collect our passports. Finally I got my passport (with visa stamped) but not without waiting in another long queue.

Now it was time to return. Entering to Mexico took less than 10 sec but entering back to US took more than 7000 seconds (~2 Hr) that is 700 times more waiting time! Such a big Queue.

 
(cars waiting to enter US at US-Mexico border)


(people waiting to enter US)

While waiting in the Queue, so many thoughts were started coming to my mind. I was just summarizing the entire procedure one must go through to become a legal worker in US. First one need to get an employer who is ready to sponsor H1B for him/her. For that I guess everyone has to go through technical interview(s) (except those who are sponsored by consultancies). Once you are OK then, you need to submit copies of all documents like, educational certificates, passport, experience letters etc. US Govt will not blindly believe your degree, so an attorney must evaluate your educational background and must certify that your degree is as good as any US University awarded degree. Once this is done employer will file the petition for you. It takes 1-5 months to get H1B petition approved. There is no guarantee that everyone's petition gets approved. There is something called quota. This year quota is 65000. That means only 65 K applicants will get a chance to work in US. If more applications are received than the quota limit, then they decide using a lottery method. So it is the luck that matters not your talent! Year 2007 was an extreme case. On the very first day (Apr 1, 2007)) of opening of 2007 H1B quota, the INS (Immigration & Naturalization Service) had received more than 100K applications within few hours! See the rush? Hua! All right now assume that you are lucky enough to get approved in the lottery. Still it is not guaranteed that you are now free to enter US. You need to get your approved H1B petition from your new employer and then need to book an appointment with an US consulate for a H1B visa. Go through the interview where they might ask you questions like "Do you seek to enter US to encourage terrorist activities?" I wonder if ever anyone says yes to such questions. So once you go through all this stringent procedure (funny?) and if they think that you are safe enough to be allowed to enter US, then you are half done! Meaning you got the visa. Congrats! Next you (or your employer) should book tickets and finally you will land in US soil. So your dreams come true? Not fully! There is one more interview to be attended. You need to face an immigration officer who decides whether you can be allowed in or deported back! Not to be surprised if he asks same questions those were asked at the consulate. If he also finds you safe, then he would stick I-94 card to your passport with an expiry date. You are almost done. Next is to make sure that your luggage are also safe like you. So luggage has to go for an inspection. If everything is fine then your are in! Congrats once again.... You are now a part of so called the richest country on the planet earth, thinking that it will make you richer day by day!

Guys, is this we want? Where we are being checked at every stage whether we are worth or not. Why I am here? Is it because I thought I would make more money here? Or I am here to make my family proud? Or I want to show off to others that I am better than them, working in US on cutting edge technology? Or is it because life is better here? Or is it that NRI’s (specially working in US) would get a better bride (and/or may even great a great deal on dowry)? Or I am so bad that I can’t get a job in India that’s why I am here? Well I found some answers after a lot thinking..... Dollar value is going down day by day... in 6 months it came down from Rs 46 to Rs 40. A 15% fall, so is our salary! Many of my friends are enjoying 7 digits salary in India. Not much difference in earnings. In fact they enjoy being close to family and friends. My family wants me back home every time I call them. So there is nothing like they or I should be proud of being here. I haven't seen much change in the kind of work I do here when compared to what I was doing in India. Crime rate in US is highest than any other country. Next to my apartment complex, a 21 year old guy was shot dead. Any one can have gun here. So is life really better here? One of my friends girlfriend refused to marry him just because he was heading to US and I have heard many such cases. Gone were the days, where NRI status would fetch best girls. I kind of found answers to my own questions but still I am here. Why? Before I could think of an answer to this question, it was my turn to answer an immigration officer’s questions. After answering him, I got my I-94, and went through security check and I was back in US! Got into our car and headed back home. All those thoughts of "mera desh mahan" vanished as if it were ever existed.

May be this is what life is, think, say and forget it!