Short answer
In August 2026 the interview-required US visitor visa wait in Latin America ran from about 15 days at Nogales and Recife to about 270 days at Bogota. Mexico spans most of that range on its own, from about 15 days to about 180. Brazil is uniformly quick. Colombia is the regional outlier. And Mexico is the only mission in the region where the $750 paid expedite operates.
At a glance
- Fastest posts
- Nogales and Recife, about 15 days
- Slowest post
- Bogota, about 270 days
- Mexico's internal spread
- About 15 days at Nogales to about 180 at Guadalajara
- Brazil
- About 15 to 75 days at every post
- Students and workers
- About 15 to 30 days almost everywhere in the region
- Paid expedite
- Mexico only, B-1/B-2 only, until 31 December 2026
- Interview waiver
- Very fast in Brazil, far slower than interviewing in Mexico and Colombia
Mexico, post by post
Ten consular posts, and a twelve to one spread between the fastest and the slowest. This is the largest free improvement available to a Mexican applicant and most people never look past the post nearest home.
| Post | Visitor B-1/B-2 | Student F, M, J | Petition-based H, L, O, P, Q |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nogales | About 15 days | About 15 days | About 15 days |
| Matamoros | About 45 days | About 15 days | About 15 days |
| Tijuana | About 45 days | About 15 days | About 15 days |
| Nuevo Laredo | About 75 days | About 30 days | About 15 days |
| Hermosillo | About 90 days | About 15 days | About 15 days |
| Merida | About 90 days | About 45 days | About 30 days |
| Monterrey | About 90 days | About 15 days | About 15 days |
| Mexico City | About 105 days | About 30 days | About 30 days |
| Ciudad Juarez | About 120 days | About 15 days | About 15 days |
| Guadalajara | About 180 days | About 15 days | About 15 days |
Interview-required waits as recorded from the State Department's wait time tool in August 2026. Retrieved 19 August 2026. Which posts your scheduling account offers is decided by the system, not by preference. Check the official tool before planning around any of these.
Note the pattern down the right-hand columns. Student and petition-based waits sat at about 15 to 30 days at essentially every Mexican post, including Guadalajara at 180 days for visitors. Mexico does not have a capacity problem. It has a visitor visa demand problem, concentrated in specific posts.
Brazil, post by post
The quiet success story of the region, and a useful corrective to the assumption that large countries have long queues.
| Post | Visitor B-1/B-2 | Student F, M, J | Interview waiver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recife | About 15 days | About 30 days | About 1 to 3 days |
| Rio de Janeiro | About 30 days | About 15 days | About 1 day |
| Porto Alegre | About 30 days | About 30 days | About 1 day |
| Sao Paulo | About 60 days | About 15 days | About 4 days |
| Brasilia | About 75 days | About 15 days | About 1 day |
Same source and month. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
Brazil is the one place in this article where the interview waiver behaves the way everybody assumes it does: a day or two, at every post. If you are eligible for it in Brazil, it is unambiguously the right route.
Bogota, the regional outlier
Colombia runs its entire nonimmigrant caseload through one consular section, and in August 2026 the visitor queue there was about 270 days, roughly four times Sao Paulo and eighteen times Nogales.
What makes it interesting is the shape of the problem. At the same post, in the same month, student and exchange cases were around 60 days and petition-based cases around 15. That is not a post that has run out of capacity. It is a post where visitor demand has run far ahead of the share of capacity allocated to it.
For a Colombian applicant that means two things. The headline figure is not your queue if you are a student or a sponsored worker. And if you are a visitor applicant, there is no second Colombian post to move to, which is the lever available to Mexican and Brazilian applicants and not to you.
A post with no alternative is genuinely harder
Most of the advice on this site rests on checking every post you are entitled to use, and in Colombia that advice is empty: there is one. Leaving the country is not the answer either, for the reasons set out below. So the honest position for a Bogota visitor applicant is that the levers are narrower than usual: hold your appointment, widen the range of dates you will accept, and work the cancellation supply. We would rather say that than imply we have something clever for a case where nobody does.
The interview waiver trap
Applicants across the region reach for the interview waiver on the assumption it is faster. In Brazil that is right. In Mexico and Colombia it is frequently the opposite, and by a very large margin.
| Post | Visitor interview wait | Visitor interview waiver wait |
|---|---|---|
| Bogota | About 270 days | About 398 days |
| Merida | About 90 days | About 333 days |
| Mexico City | About 105 days | About 322 days |
| Guadalajara | About 180 days | About 322 days |
| Monterrey | About 90 days | About 251 days |
| Nogales | About 15 days | About 137 days |
| Hermosillo | About 90 days | About 1 day |
Same source and month. Hermosillo is included to show that the pattern is not uniform even within one country, which is exactly why you have to look up your own post rather than follow a rule of thumb. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
The rule to take away is not "the waiver is slow". It is that the two queues are independent and you have to check both. The official wait time tool publishes them side by side for every post, and it takes a minute.
Not sure you are still eligible for the waiver at all? The rules were cut twice in 2025 and most categories lost it. Read who still qualifies for a US visa interview waiver.
The $750 lane, and who can actually use it
Mission Mexico was the first mission in the world designated for the State Department's expedited appointment pilot. As of 19 August 2026 the only other one is Mission Canada. Nothing in Brazil or Colombia participates.
What it is, precisely: $750 per applicant, on top of the application fee, for an interview within ten business days when a paid slot is available. B-1 and B-2 only. Paid to the US government inside your own scheduling account, never to an intermediary. Non-refundable. Scheduled to end on 31 December 2026.
Two cautions specific to this region:
- Check whether you need it. At a Mexican post already booking inside 45 days, $750 per person buys you a few weeks. The fee is worth considering at Guadalajara at 180 days and hard to justify at Nogales at 15.
- It does not create a right to apply in Mexico. Applicants elsewhere in Latin America occasionally read the designation as an invitation. Since the guidance of 6 September 2025, updated 10 October 2025, you are directed to apply in your country of nationality or legal residence, and fees are neither refunded nor transferred if it goes wrong.
How your options compare in the region
Routes to an earlier interview in Latin America
Costs exclude the US government fees everybody pays: the MRV application fee, and the $250 visa integrity fee where your post is collecting it. Third-party pricing changes, so verify with each provider directly.
| Option | Cost | What it actually does | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| A different post in your own country | Free, plus domestic travel | In Mexico and Brazil this is the single largest improvement available. In Colombia there is no second post. | Mexican and Brazilian applicants who can travel |
| Do it yourself | Free | You check the portal and reschedule when something opens. | Flexible dates, a soft deadline |
| Expedite request to the consulate | Free | A discretionary decision on documented urgency. | Medical emergencies, funerals, student start dates |
| $750 government paid expedite | $750 per applicant, up front and non-refundable | An interview within 10 business days, at Mexican posts only, B-1/B-2 only, until 31 December 2026. | Mexican applicants at a slow post with a hard deadline |
| Easy Visa Booking us | From $100, paid only on success | Our team takes on the rescheduling work for your post and keeps working it until an earlier interview date opens. The wider your acceptable date range, the more often it moves. | Bogota and Guadalajara. Rarely worth it elsewhere in the region |
The categories above are the alternatives you are already comparing, not endorsements. We have no commercial relationship with any provider in them, and pricing models change, so verify current terms directly.
What our row gives you, and where it does not apply
- You pay only if the date actually moves. From $100, charged when an earlier interview is secured. The $750 government lane is charged up front and not returned if you cancel. Ours is the only paid row where a result you did not get costs you nothing.
- One fee, not one per traveller. The government fee multiplies by every person in your party, which for a Mexican family of four is $3,000 in expedite fees alone.
- Our value scales with the queue. At Bogota near 270 days and Guadalajara near 180 there is real ground to make up. At Recife or Nogales at about 15 days there is not, and we will tell you so.
- A wide date range is the biggest lever you control. If you can accept any date inside a broad window rather than one specific morning, the odds of moving your interview go up sharply. Tell us the widest range your travel plans allow and we will tell you honestly how it looks before you commit to anything.
- Nothing is asked on trust. A named founder, real support channels, published terms and refund policy, and a written statement that nobody can promise you a date.
If you are in Brazil, or at a Mexican border post, do it yourself and pay nobody. Queues of 15 to 60 days do not need help, and a service that told you otherwise would be selling you something you do not need.
The reader who should not pay anybody, us included, is the student or petition-based applicant anywhere in this region. Those queues were 15 to 60 days almost everywhere, including at the posts with the worst visitor backlogs. Check your own category first.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the US visa wait in Mexico?
It depends heavily on the post. In August 2026 the interview-required B-1/B-2 wait ranged from about 15 days at Nogales and about 45 at Tijuana and Matamoros, through about 90 to 105 days at Monterrey, Hermosillo, Merida and Mexico City, to about 180 days at Guadalajara. Student and petition-based categories were around 15 to 30 days at almost every Mexican post.
How long is the US visa wait in Brazil?
Short by global standards. In August 2026 the interview-required B-1/B-2 wait was about 15 days at Recife, about 30 at Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre, about 60 at Sao Paulo and about 75 at Brasilia. Student and petition-based categories were around 15 to 30 days at every Brazilian post, and interview waiver processing was a day or two.
Why is Bogota so much slower than the rest of the region?
Bogota carries the whole of Colombia through a single consular section, while Mexico spreads its caseload across ten posts and Brazil across five. In August 2026 Bogota was around 270 days for visitor interviews against about 60 for students and about 15 for petition-based cases at the same post, which points to demand concentrated in the visitor category rather than a general capacity problem.
Can I pay $750 for a faster interview in Latin America?
Only in Mexico. Mission Mexico was the first mission designated for the State Department's expedited appointment pilot, and as of 19 August 2026 the only other one is Mission Canada. The fee is $750 per applicant, it covers B-1 and B-2 only, it is paid to the US government inside your own scheduling account, and the pilot is scheduled to close on 31 December 2026. No post in Brazil or Colombia participates.
Is the interview waiver faster in Latin America?
In Brazil, yes: waiver processing was a day or two at every Brazilian post in August 2026. In Mexico and Colombia it was often much slower than interviewing. Bogota showed about 398 days for a visitor visa waiver against about 270 for an interview, and several Mexican posts showed waiver waits of 200 to 330 days against interview waits of 15 to 180. Check both figures for your own post before choosing a route.
Should I apply in Mexico if I live elsewhere in Latin America?
No. Since the State Department's guidance of 6 September 2025, updated on 10 October 2025, applicants are directed to apply in their country of nationality or legal residence, and those who schedule elsewhere are warned they may find it harder to qualify. Fees are neither refunded nor transferred. Paying the Mexican expedite fee does not change where you are supposed to apply.
Which Mexican post should I choose?
Whichever your scheduling account offers with the shortest queue that you can realistically travel to, and check the current figures rather than the ones on this page. The spread across Mexican posts was about twelve to one in August 2026, which is the largest free improvement available to a Mexican applicant, but border posts and interior posts serve different populations and your account decides what you may select.
The bottom line
Latin America contains both ends of the global range, and the variation is mostly within countries rather than between them. Mexico spans about 15 to 180 days across ten posts. Brazil is quick everywhere. Colombia is slow in one category at one post, with no alternative to move to.
Three practical rules follow. Check every post your account offers you, because in Mexico that is worth up to five months. Check the interview waiver queue as well as the interview queue, because in Mexico and Colombia the waiver is often the slower route by hundreds of days. And check your own visa category, because the frightening numbers in this article are visitor visa numbers and almost nothing else in the region is slow.
What nobody can promise you
Nobody outside the US government can guarantee an interview slot, a timeframe, or a visa decision. We cannot either, and on this page we have told you that most applicants in this region have no good reason to pay us. What we offer, where the queue justifies it, is that the work gets done properly and that you pay only if it produces a result.
Sources
- Afno Visa Guide, US visa appointment wait times: Mexico. August 2026 record of the State Department wait time tool for all ten Mexican posts, interview and interview waiver columns. A secondary record of an official figure, so check the official tool as well. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- Afno Visa Guide, US visa appointment wait times: Brazil. August 2026 record for Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, interview and interview waiver columns. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- Afno Visa Guide, US visa appointment wait times: Colombia. August 2026 record for Bogota: about 270 days for interview-required B-1/B-2 and about 398 days for the interview waiver route. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- US Department of State, Nonimmigrant Visa Expedited Appointment Pilot Program. Mission Mexico as the first participating mission, the $750 fee, the B-1/B-2 restriction and the 31 December 2026 end date. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- US Department of State, Visa Appointment Wait Times. The official interview and interview waiver waits by post, published side by side. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
Published 8 September 2026. Wait times move week to week and the posts available to you are decided by your scheduling account. Treat every figure here as a snapshot and the official tool as the authority. This article is general information and is not legal or immigration advice.
Most of this region does not need us, and Bogota might
At 15 to 75 days there is very little a rescheduling service can improve, and we would rather say so than take a fee for it. Where the numbers do justify a conversation is Bogota near 270 days and Guadalajara near 180. If that is your post, tell us your current date and the widest range you could accept, and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth paying us at all.
- From $100, and you pay only if we secure you an earlier date
- The wider the date range you can accept, the more often we can move it
- No guarantee of a date, stated plainly before you decide anything
Easy Visa Booking is an independent scheduling assistance service, not affiliated with the US Department of State, any US Embassy or Consulate, CGI Federal or the AIS portal. All appointments are made through the official portal.