Immigrant Visas

General Information

There are three ways to immigrate to the United States:

• Through the Diversity Visa Lottery
• Through an immediate relative in the U.S. 
• Through an employer in the U.S.

Before the U.S. Embassy can process an immigrant visa case, a relative or employer must file an immigrant visa petition with the Citizenship and Immigration Service .  After the petition is approved, the file is transferred to the National Visa Center  where it is held until ready to be processed.

Please click here for instructions on filing I-130 petitions for immigrant visas in Turkey.

Issuance of an immigrant visa is NOT guaranteed. Making specific travel plans to the U.S. is strongly discouraged. Eligible applicants are not issued a visa the same day of the interview; it is sent to the applicant’s address in Turkey via UPS within two to three working days. Please also note that some Turkish and most Iranian applicants require administrative processing. Every effort is made to complete the proper administrative processing prior to a visa interview, but if the process is not completed, the visa cannot be issued.

 

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Common Mistakes made on Applications

Fill in all sections of Form DS-230 completely and accurately.

Question No. 22: Iranian applicants must list all prior employment, not just for the past ten years. Failure to fill this out correctly will result in a delay in the administrative clearance.

Questions No. 15-18: The information given here is needed to process a Social Security Number application. A visa cannot be issued without this information.

Question No. 33a-b: It is a good idea to sign up for a Social Security Number.

Sign and date the bottom of page 2. The parents of children under age 16 should sign the child’s name and write “by (father’s or mother’s name)” as appropriate.

Do NOT sign the bottom of page four. It will be signed during the interview.

Translations

Be sure ALL parts of documents (such as a birth certificate) are translated into English, including comments listed at the end or on the back page of a birth certificate.

Affidavit of Support (I-864 or I-134)

An ORIGINAL, signed form I-184 (signed and notarized I-134 for K visas) from the petitioner is needed for all immigrant visa applications, even if the petitioner has no income. In those cases, a statement must be written and signed by the petitioner indicating why taxes were not paid for the last year.

Birth Certificates

A Nufus Kayit Ornegi is the ONLY document accepted as a birth certificate to those applicants born in Turkey. It must include all members of the applicant’s family. If the applicant was married abroad, the Nufus Kayit Ornegi must reflect such marriage.