Visa Wait Times
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The Embassy, Consular Section in Ankara will be closed on Thursdays, November 26th and December 24th for Iranian applicants under administrative process status. Please make your travel arrangements accordingly.
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visas to the u.s.
Information for Iranian Non-Immigrant Visa Applicants
Appointment System for Non-immigrant Visas:
Iranians seeking a non-immigrant visa will require an appointment. All appointments are made through the Visa Information Service at 90-212-340-4444. Our interviewing capacity for Iranian applicants is limited, so appointments are not always readily available. The appointment book for Iranian applicants for a given month is opened on the first Monday one month prior. For example, appointment slots for the month of April are made available by the Visa Information Service on the first Monday of March; appointment slots in May are opened up on the first Monday of April, and so forth. As the number of appointments are limited, all appointments are sold out in a couple of hours. Depending on the availability of appointments, applicants may have an interview either at the U.S. Embassy Ankara or at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul. All Iranian visa applicants are required to bring their ORIGINAL birth certificate /Shenas Nameh and the National ID Card to the visa interview.
The following link provides full details on how to make an application:
http://turkey.usembassy.gov/guide_to_niv.html
Appointments for Iranian Student and Exchange Visitor Visa Applicants:
Iranian nationals applying for student (F1 visas) and exchange visitor (J1) visas who are proficient in English may send an e-mail message with scanned copy of their I-20 or DS-2019 forms to CA-Ankara@state.gov. Please make sure to write “NIV-Emergency” to the subject line of your e-mail message. We will consider your request and communicate with you shortly. As our appointment numbers are very limited we can consider scheduling emergency appointment only for the principal applicant. Derivative family members for (F2) or (J2) visa should obtain appointments from the regular appointment system for Iranian nationals as indicated in the paragraph above. Further, if you have falsely obtained a student or exchange visitor appointment for travel purposes other than studying in the U.S., your application will not be accepted when you appear for your interview.
Administrative Processes: All Iranian non-immigrant visa applicants aged 16 and over are subject to some type of administrative process before a non-immigrant visa is issued. If your visa application is approved, you will be given an instruction sheet on how to monitor the administrative process status from the internet. Administrative processes may take minimum 4-6 weeks or more and our office does not have any control over them.
Information for Iranian Immigrant Visa Applicants
Ankara is the only Iranian immigrant processing post in Turkey. Other Iranian immigrant processing posts are Vienna, Abu Dhabi, Frankfurt and Naples. A petition must have been filed for the applicant in the U.S. and been assigned to Ankara by the National Visa Center before an appointment will be scheduled.
The information below is designed to help prevent some common problems faced by Iranian applicants. It is not a listing of visa requirements. Those requirements can be found elsewhere on this website.
Time in Ankara: For an initial interview, an applicant needs to have a medical exam in Turkey and have visa photos taken prior to the interview. A visa is normally received two to three working days after the interview via UPS. If documents are missing or an administrative process is pending, the visa will take longer to process and it is normally recommended the applicant return to Iran to wait.
Visas are only issued to applicants who are physically present in Turkey. Visas will not be sent to Iran or any other country. The only exception is for overcoming a missing administrative processing – one member of a family can return to Turkey on behalf of the entire family. The person returning to the Embassy must be one of the family members receiving a visa, not a US citizen or a friend.
As of September 7, 2004, all applicants aged 14 and over must be finger scanned. If a child turns 14 years of age while waiting for a visa, the child must also return to the Embassy for finger scanning before receiving an immigrant visa.
Administrative Processes: Most applicants from Iran require some type of administrative process before traveling to the U.S. Every attempt is made to obtain the proper administrative process before the interview. By filling out Forms DS-230 Part I and II accurately and completely, the process will be quicker. The applicant’s entire employment history is needed, not just the past ten years. Responses such as "retired" or "self-employed" without an explanation of where the applicant worked will lead to delays in visa issuance. In addition, dates of every trip (not just the year) to the United States must be provided, not just the last three trips. If the applicant has stayed more than six months in the U.S. on a tourist visa, the applicant must bring to the interview copies of letters from DHS granting a visa extension. Administrative processes are completed within six months or more and our office does not have any control over them.
Missing Documents: The National Visa Center collects documents for all files assigned to Ankara, conducts administrative processes, schedules appointments (for all files except K visas), and sends the files at the end of each month for the next month. Some files take an extended amount of time to process at NVC. Some of the applicant’s documents may have expired by the time of the immigrant visa interview. By keeping a copy of all documents sent to NVC, a quick look at them before the interview will show which ones may have expired. Police certificates and documents related to military service are NOT required from Iran.
Rescheduling Interviews: Rescheduling of interviews is possible by email. Family members who are not already part of one file are encouraged to come for their interviews at the same time. Every effort should be made to have children come for interviews before their 21st birthday. The Child Status Protection Act protects some children from "aging out," but does not apply in all cases. The best way to guarantee issuance for a child is to get it before the child turns 21.
Iranian Family Law: Iranian family law, based on sharia, is very different from U.S. family law, and can lead to complications in the IV process.
The U.S. government does recognize proxy marriages, but only if the marriage can be proved to be consummated (i.e., the couple were at the same place at the same time).
Revocable divorces are not recognized by the United States. If an applicant received a revocable divorce in Iran, it must be finalized, written as final on the divorce decree and registered in the birth certificate.
Applicants with multiple wives MUST divorce all but one before going to the U.S. If a visa is being issued for the purpose of marriage, all other marriages must have been terminated before the current marriage.
Adopting a child in Iran is a long, complicated process. Contact the Embassy via email before coming for an adoption visa.
Children’s Issues: If a one-time-only exit stamp can be obtained for the child, contact the Embassy before the interview to make sure the file is complete before the interview in order to avoid a possibly lengthy wait in Turkey.
Reminder: IR-5 visas (parents of U.S. Citizens) are for individuals only. Separate files and documents are required for each parent. Children under 21 of the IR-5 applicants do not qualify as part of a parent’s file.