Pre-interview: Fingerprints and medical exam.

U.S. Consulate

Ever since I got back many people have asked me what the process is like. Well, where do I begin?

As you can see from the picture, the Consulate is an  ominous looking place. On the outside, it looks  more like a prison than a government office. Of course, the people inside are much like the friendly government employees we have come to know and love.

Like many of these places, the routine is the same; hurry up and wait. Once you enter this building you become a number. Nothing more, nothing less. They don't care who you are, where you are from, and what you want. You are in their territory. As soon as you leave the building, you no longer exist to them.

The first appointment was a fingerprint appointment I had that the first day that I was in Mexico. Ciudad Juarez is dirty, desert-like place, and the U.S. Consulate is like an oasis in the middle of a desolate wasteland. Juarez is an ugly city, but as you drive closer and closer to the consulate you start to notice nicer buildings and businesses.  In the blocks around it there are department stores, nice hotels, Starbucks, and other popular establishments.

Waiting room

The fingerprint appointment was not at the Consulate itself, but at the Applicant Service Center. It is down the street from the main building, and it is not actually part of the U.S. Consulate. At the fingerprint appointment, they take your picture and they scan your fingerprints. It is how they identify you when you go to the appointment. It is also a type of digital signature where you swear that you will the the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth at your interview.

Its a quick affair at the ASC. You present your passaport, proof of your appointment, and you are in the door. Then you sit, and wait. Then they call you over to a counter where you are searched. Then you wait. Then they call you to a cubicle, and the scan your hand and take your pictures. You have to read a placard on the wall that is a type of oath, and you are done. After this appointment I had a quick dinner at a little gordita stand. (I do miss the food.)

Smile!

Then it was back to the house for a nap. I could not stay awake any longer.

The next day our driver took us to our medical exam. He got a few of us into the car and we headed off to the clinic next to the consulate. The medical building was nice, clean, and the people were very professional. Maybe they were a little too professional. It was obvious that this place had become a business that was benefiting from the Consulate. You are required to pay the fee and any shots that you may need. They are not affiliated with the consulate, but they provide you with the results that you need at the interview.

Once again, the theme is wait, wait and wait some more. They have a waiting room. You give them proof of your appointment and your id. They give you a number and they send you to another waiting room. When they call you up to yet another window you give them your passport. They separate men and women and they make groups of about 10.

You are led into a room where they have you take off your shirt. You are called one by one into and x-ray room where they take a scan of your lungs. They do this very quickly and efficiently. Then you go into yet another waiting room. This is where I ran into somebody I knew from Oregon. It was a big relief to have a familiar face to share this experience with. When we found out the next step in the process we got slightly more nervous. We were going to get our blood drawn. 

I don't know if I have brought this up before, but I have a problem with needles, and the sight of blood, and the sight of other peoples' blood. The way they did it also made me uncomfortable. You are herded into a room with a group of strangers. They sit you in a chair that has a raised arm. The room wasn't very big at all, so you are sitting inches away from someone getting their blood taken.

On the outside, I was trying to appear calm and collected, but internally I was panicking. I did not want to have my blood taken, nor did I want to see other people's blood. These nurses were very efficient. It was like some kind of factory. when my name was called I raised my hand. A nurse walked over to me and she told me to hold my hand out, and to make a fist. I looked away, fearing the absolute worst. I felt a slight pinch, and it was over. She had her sample. She told me to get up. I didn't eat breakfast so I felt a little faint. I think she noticed because she asked me if I felt ok.

I got out of the chair, relieved that I had lived through the ordeal, but of course it was not over. We were led to yet another waiting area. In the next area they weighed us, took our blood pressure, and checked our hearing and vision. Then we went into individual rooms where we were examined by a doctor. The doctor went over me very quickly, and she asked me questions about drug usage and diseases and things like that. Before I went to Mexico I made sure I had most of my shots. That strategy paid off. The doctor told me that I did not need any shots, and that I could go.

I paid at the front desk, and I waited for the other guys that were with me. One of them had to get several shots, and another had to go through a "psychological exam." I think in a previous interview he had lied about using drugs, so they made him jump through a few extra hoops. They told us to return in a few hours for our results. When we got the results we were told that we could not open them before our appointment at the consulate.  Then we headed to the grocery store for some shopping.

You had to do your own cooking at the hostel, which we didn't really want to do so we bought plenty of cup-o-noodles, and simple things that would not require cooking or washing dishes. Then the waiting began. I went to the medical exam on a Wednesday, but my actual interview at the consulate was not until Monday morning.

The next few days included a lot of reading, pacing, talking to the other guys, eating, and watching tv. Once in a while my buddy and I braved the outside world and we would walk to the corner convenience store. Or we would sit on the front porch and count how many times the federales drove by. In the next post I will give a play-by-play account of the actual interview.