FAQs – General Questions

General Questions

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara is the only post in our Mission to Turkey where immigrant visas are processed.

The Immigrant Visa Unit is open between 08:30am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday.

In response to significant worldwide challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State has temporarily suspended routine visa services at all U.S. Embassies and Consulates. We will continue to provide emergency and mission-critical visa services as resources and local conditions allow.  We will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time. Please review  https://tr.usembassy.gov/visas/ for updates.

From outside of the United States:
U.S. Embassy Ankara, Turkey
Consular Section
Immigrant Visa Unit
Ataturk Boulevard 110
06100 Kavaklıdere
Ankara, Turkey

From within of the United States:
Consular Section, U.S. Embassy Ankara
Unit 7000
DPO AE 09823

The Immigrant Visa Unit only accepts written electronic inquiries regarding specific cases through the website.  Please include your case number, full name and exact date of birth of the principal applicant.

By U.S. law and regulation, we may only respond to inquiries from applicants, petitioners, members of Congress, and/or attorneys of record.

Documents obtained from Turkish authorities do not require an English translation. Any document issued in a language other than English and Turkish needs to be translated into English by a certified translator.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara is not a designated post for refugee case processing and is not authorized to consider a refugee case.  Please approach the Turkish authorities to seek “International Protection”.  You can get detailed information about the process of seeking asylum in Turkey from the Directorate General of the Migration Management (DGMM).  For detailed information please visit the following site: http://www.goc.gov.tr/icerik6/refugee_917_1063_5782_icerik.   The site is in Turkish, English, Persian, Arabic and Russian.  You can contact the DGMM by telephone or e-mail.

You can find detailed contact information from the following site: http://www.goc.gov.tr/icerik/provincial-organisation_916_1052.  You can also contact United Nations High  Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) through the web sites and phone number below: https://help.unhcr.org/turkey/ 444 48 68  If you (refugee) would like to access services in Turkey: https://turkey.servicesadvisor.org

This is a decision that only you can make. Note that the U.S. Embassy does not endorse any provider of such services, nor does it maintain a “special relationship” with any individual or business offering advice or assistance with the visa process. No one can guarantee the issuance of a visa to you. All U.S. Government forms are free and available on the internet.

Beware: some visa applicants lose money and/or are permanently barred from the United States as a result of misleading information and fraudulent applications provided by “visa consultants”.

Every American citizen may write to Congress or Senate about any matter of concern. We reply to all   inquiries we receive from members of Congress or Senate. Queries you send yourself will receive the same answers we send to members of Congress or Senate. As a matter of policy, we ask petitioners to limit inquiries to one channel of communication. If you choose to inquire through Congress, please do not send duplicate inquiries directly to the Embassy.

U.S. law mandates that information regarding any immigrant visa application be released only to the applicant, petitioner, attorney of record, and/or relevant Congressional office.

I received an e-mail message regarding the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. They requested payment for the application and told me that I would be banned from the DV entry for five years if I don’t pay. What should I do?

Diversity Visa (DV) notifications are not sent via e-mail. Any e-mail which states that you have won the lottery or a green card is not legitimate. Diversity Visa Lottery entrants can check the status of their online application free of charge by visiting our website: www.dvlottery.state.gov. If a third party made the application for you, you should ask them to provide you the confirmation number.

The only way to apply for the DV Lottery is directly through the official site: www.dvlottery.state.gov during the specified registration period.

Only internet sites ending in “.gov” are official U.S. government websites. If you receive any e-mail from an address that ends in “.com,” “.net,” “.org,” or anything other than “.gov,” please be aware that it is not a legitimate e-mail from the U.S. Embassy or the Department of State.

No, a United States citizen cannot transmit citizenship to a spouse. If your spouse wishes to relocate with you to the United States, he/she will require an immigrant visa. A Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) who is married to a U.S. citizen may apply to become a naturalized U.S. citizen after three years of residence in the United States. Questions concerning this process should be addressed to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Petitioners who are out of the United States can file their I-130 forms online through U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS) website https://www.uscis.gov/i-130 or by mail through Dallas Lockbox Facility. For detailed information on filing I-130, please visit USCIS website at https://www.uscis.gov/i-130

Petitioners who live out of the United States and who believe that their situation merits an exception as described in USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part B, Chapter 3. may request permission to file the I-130 petition for their spouses, children and parents through the U.S. Embassy Ankara Consular Section.

If you wish to request permission to file your I-130 with our consular section, please send us an e-mail with a detailed explanation of your circumstances which would necessitate an exception. Each request for an exception will be evaluated individually.

If your baby’s mother or father is an American citizen, the child may have a claim to U.S. citizenship. For more information, please visit the American Citizen Services (ACS) website through this link: https://tr.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/citizenship-services/

Depending on your immigrant visa category, it may be possible to add your child to the immigrant visa petition filed on your behalf. However, please note that petitions filed under immediate relative of U.S. citizens do not have derivative status; therefore, the children cannot be added in these applications. In this case, the petitioner will need to file a separate I-130 petition for the child.

You should notify the Immigrant Visa Unit by   e-mail about the birth of your child before your interview.

All applicants registered for immigration are required to attend the interview in person for a formal visa interview with a U.S. Consular Officer, regardless of age.

No. Due to space and time limitations, the Consular Section cannot allow petitioners or legal representatives to participate in visa interviews.