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Nogales is located 60 miles south of Tucson, Arizona and 140 miles north of Hermosillo, Sonora on the Arizona-Sonora Border. The city of Nogales was officially founded in 1882 along a north-south rail line to promote trade between the United States and Mexico. The name “Nogales” refers to a now extinct stand of black walnut trees found in nearby hills, most of which are still covered with a native oak.
A U.S. Consular Agency in Nogales was established in 1884. It was closed for budgetary reasons in 1970 but reopened in 1998. It was upgraded to a consulate in 1889 with the arrival of Consul Delos H. Smith. Our mission was upgraded to Consulate General in 2012.
A new Consulate General complex was officially announced in 2019. The new Consulate General is located on a hilltop site with stunning mountain views. The new complex will provide a sustainable, resilient, safe and secure platform for U.S. diplomacy in Nogales and completion is anticipated in 2022.
Long a vital entry point into the US from western and northern Mexico, Nogales has grown in the past 40 years from a pleasant small town to a booming factory town, its growth fueled by maquiladora factories which assemble primarily US made parts into goods exported around the world. There are over 100 factories in Nogales, and another 50-100 in other border communities along the Arizona/Sonora border. These factories have caused tremendous growth with many residents of central and southern Mexico moving north to seek employment. These factories account for 39,000 jobs in Nogales, and another 35,000 elsewhere in the consular district. The fresh produce industry has also grown tremendously with 60% of all winter produce consumed in the US and Canada passing through Nogales, Sonora and processed in Nogales, Arizona. Most of the produce comes from areas in Sonora and Sinaloa. Cattle ranching, mining and small farms still comprise an important part of the economy of the region. Nogales is also a major border crossing for Americans going south for the winter into Mexico and to the Pacific beaches year-round.
Sonora has traditionally been a relatively prosperous state with a well-developed middle class. The capital of Sonora, Hermosillo, is a bustling and growing commercial and industrial center of almost a million people. Official estimates put the population of Nogales at 212,000 but it continues to grow. Agua Prieta and San Luis Rio Colorado, two other important border cities in this consular district are also large and growing. Puerto Peñasco, a shrimp fishing port and vacation destination for Arizonans located at the top of the Gulf of California, has become a major resort and residence for Americans.
Agua Prieta | Esqueda | Pitiquito |
Altar | Fronteras | Puerto Peñasco |
Arizpe | Imuris | San Ignacio |
Atil | Magdalena | San Luis Río Colorado |
Bacoachi | Naco | Santa Ana |
Caborca | Nacozari | Sáric |
Cananea | Nogales | Sonoyta |
Cocospera | Oquitoa | Tubutama |
Cucurpe | P. E. Calles |
U.S. Citizen Services
From Mexico: 631-980-0522
From the United States: 1-844-528-6611
U.S. Citizen Services
From Mexico: 631-980-0522
From the United States: 1-844-528-6611
Michelle N. Ward is a nineteen-year member of the U.S. Foreign Service. For the last three years, she has served as the deputy executive director in the office of the Secretary of State.
For more information on U.S. Citizen Services, visit the following page:
LPR cards (Green Cards) Lost/Stolen/Expired
Here you will find information about your options surrounding the loss of your Lawful Permanent Resident card. Please note: If you have been outside of the United States for more than 365 calendar days, you may no longer be in Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status and must consult U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS) for further guidance by calling the USCIS Contact Center at +1 (212) 620-3418.
Contract and Procurement Opportunities
Please visit the link for more information on contracting opportunities. If the page is blank, no opportunities are currently being advertised. Please revisit this site on a regular basis to check if new opportunities have opened.
An immigrant visa is a document issued by a U.S. consular officer abroad that allows you to travel to the United States and apply for admission as a legal permanent resident (LPR). An immigration inspector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security makes the final decision as to whether or not to admit you as an LPR. Once you are admitted as an LPR, you generally have the right to live and work in the United States permanently. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security will mail your permanent resident card (often called a “green card”) to your new address in the United States, usually within three months of your entry into the United States. Please see 9 FAM 502.1-3 for a list of classification symbols and a brief description of each.
Getting an immigrant visa usually means that you will be able to live and work in the United States for as long as you want. A nonimmigrant visa, on the other hand, is generally for short-term visitors to the United States. You cannot stay in the United States permanently on a nonimmigrant visa, and you generally cannot work. A nonimmigrant visa is sometimes informally called a “tourist visa” but can be issued for reasons other than tourism, such as medical treatment, business or study. Please see our nonimmigrant visa page for more information.
There are three basic methods for obtaining an immigrant visa: 1.through a family relationship with a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident 2.through employment 3.through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (the visa lottery) Most applicants in Mexico obtain their immigrant visas via family relationships. The first step in obtaining a family-based immigrant visa is for your relative (the petitioner) to file a Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) by mail with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security. Once your relative has filed a petition for you, you may check its status by accessing the USCIS Case Status Search Page. You may obtain an immigrant visa through employment rather than through a family member. More information on obtaining an immigrant visa through employment rather than through a family member is available on USCIS’s Green Card through a Job page. Please see the Fiscal Year 2016 Diversity Visa Entry Instructions. Note that the registration period for 2015 has closed. You may check this page for the Fiscal Year 2016 Diversity Visa Entry instructions in approximately September 2014.
Once U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security approves an immigrant visa petition, USCIS sends the approved petition to the Department of State’s National Visa Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) retains the approved petition until the case is ready for adjudication by a consular officer abroad. Petitions may remain at NVC for several months or for many years depending on the visa category and country of birth of the visa applicant. When a beneficiary’s (the beneficiary is the person on whose behalf the petition was filed) priority date appears about to become current, NVC sends the petitioner a bill for processing Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Act) and sends the beneficiary a Form DS-261 (Choice of Address and Agent). Once the Form I-864 processing fee is paid, NVC sends the Form I-864 and related instructions to the petitioner. Once NVC receives the completed Form DS-261 from the applicant, NVC mails a bill for the immigrant visa fee to the agent designated on the Form DS-261. Once the immigrant visa fee is paid, NVC sends the Instruction Package for Immigrant Visa Applicants to the agent. You or your agent must follow the directions in the Instruction Package for Immigrant Visa Applicants exactly. Failure to do so could result in a delay in your case and could even cause you to lose your chance to live and work in the United States. Once NVC completes its administrative processing of your case, the case file is sent to the Immigrant Visa Unit of the U.S. Consulate General, Ciudad Juarez. NVC will notify you by mail when this occurs.
The priority date, in the case of a family-based immigrant visa petition, is the date your petition was filed (not the date it was approved). Family-based immigrant visas are divided into two broad groups, immediate relative cases and preference cases. An immediate relative family-based petition is filed by a U.S. citizen on behalf of a spouse, parent, or child. A preference family-based petition is filed by a U.S. citizen on behalf of a son, daughter, or sibling; or by a legal permanent resident on behalf of a spouse, son or daughter, or child. Because the law does not limit the number of immediate relative visas, the priority date is normally irrelevant in such cases (please see the 9 FAM 502.1-1(d)(1) for the notable exception, related to the Child Status Protection Act). Workload permitting, the Immigrant Visa Unit may begin processing the approved petition upon receipt from the Department of State’s National Visa Center or the Department of Homeland Security. The priority date in a preference case, however, matters greatly. The law limits the number of preference visas available. All categories of family-based preference visas are currently “oversubscribed” (i.e., there are more people who want visas than there are visa numbers available). Your priority date, along with your visa category and nationality, determines whether a visa number is available or whether you must wait. Once your priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed in the most recent Visa Bulle
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From Mexico: (55) 8526 2561
From the United States: 1-844-528-6611
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