Just Turkish

[tanyakaraman 0]

Hi everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted. Ramazan came here in June and things have been going well, with the expected bumps along the way. We've applied for AOS and are still waiting. Anyway, here is our latest issue:

His passport expires in March. We sent it to the Turkish consulate in Chicago for renewal. The problem is his military deferrment expired in October. The consulate general told my husband that he must provide the Employment Authorization (of which we are still waiting to receive) and that he must start working, but they'll give my husband 6 more months to get a job. If he is here in the U.S legally, why does it matter that he has a job in order to renew his passport??? He came on a spouse visa, not a work visa. He is legally living here and is adjusting status (we provided the USCIS AOS and EAD recipts), so why must he show that he is working in order to defer military again?! So, if he gets is EAD, but can't find employment until after 7 months (you never know with the job situations here right now), they'll flat out refuse to renew his passport?!

Yes, we are kicking ourselves for not renewing BEFORE he came.....

Anyone ever have to deal with one of the Turkish consulates here in the States?

Deanna

Deanna,

He can defer his military based on your marriage (the conditions of his visa) and not employment. You need to first register your marriage with the Turkish embassy that has jurisdiction over the state where you got married, then his military can be deferred. This is what we did. I think people at the embassy are unfamiliar with the K1/K3 visas and you may need to talk to different people at the embassy before you find someone who truly understands your situation. I know this can be frustrating but keep calling them until you find someone who knows what they're talking about...

[tanyakaraman 0]

Please welcome the newest addition to our family - a furry little four-legged blue eyed pure breed Turk...

What an absolutely beautiful kitty!

[tanyakaraman 0]

Good luck tomorrow Tayna!! I know you will do well!!

Thanks Melinda...I took the NCLEX on Tuesday, Feb 9th (the testing center shut down on Monday the 8th due to the snow in our area) and I learned on Thursday that I passed! So I'm an RN now, yay!! Hopefully all went well for you on Monday also!

Tanya

[Jenn and Fuat 2]

Please welcome the newest addition to our family - a furry little four-legged blue eyed pure breed Turk...

Ohh.. I want one. Sooo cute.

[Melinda&Necmi 0]

Thanks Melinda...I took the NCLEX on Tuesday, Feb 9th (the testing center shut down on Monday the 8th due to the snow in our area) and I learned on Thursday that I passed! So I'm an RN now, yay!! Hopefully all went well for you on Monday also!

Tanya

Congrats!! I am so happy for you! Have you had any luck finding a position? It went very smooth Monday:) He didn't show up. I have to go to the court house to get a certified copy. I was happy to hear it will cost only $140:) $10 each page!!

I am so happy for you! I know the relief when you see that you have passed:)

Mindi

[tanyakaraman 0]

Congrats!! I am so happy for you! Have you had any luck finding a position? It went very smooth Monday:) He didn't show up. I have to go to the court house to get a certified copy. I was happy to hear it will cost only $140:) $10 each page!!

I am so happy for you! I know the relief when you see that you have passed:)

Mindi

$10 a page?!? Wow, there must be gold leaf on that paper Thanks for the congrats & glad to hear all went well for you too. Gotta love it when they don't show up...makes everything that much easier. I found a temp position that'll last me from March until mid-May. Have you ever heard of the HEDIS project? Basically just doing chart reviews..no patient care or anything, but pays like a nurse's salary, so I'll take it! I'm applying like crazy for patient care jobs too, so hopefully something will materialize between now and June!

Tanya

[Melinda&Necmi 0]

$10 a page?!? Wow, there must be gold leaf on that paper Thanks for the congrats & glad to hear all went well for you too. Gotta love it when they don't show up...makes everything that much easier. I found a temp position that'll last me from March until mid-May. Have you ever heard of the HEDIS project? Basically just doing chart reviews..no patient care or anything, but pays like a nurse's salary, so I'll take it! I'm applying like crazy for patient care jobs too, so hopefully something will materialize between now and June!

Tanya

I haven't heard of HEDIS. I'm going to google it:)

I'm not sure what the paper is made from, but I do know that I will be soo not happy if it gets lost in the mail when I mail it to Turkey:) I wish I had the copy before I left on the 23rd but they cant have it ready by then:(

I hope you can find a long term position soon:)

Mindi

[ErikaAndHamit 73]

What a cute cat! where did you get her from?

[awaterlily 0]

Thanks all! We just love her -

After researching everything about the breed for almost two years then deciding to take the plunge and get one, I found her through a breeder registered with the Cat Fancier Association . It took a while to find a breeder that had available kittens at the right age. I understand that because this breed is so rare there is generally a wait list to get kittens, esp the white blue-eyed or odd-eyed ones. However, if you want to adopt a retired show cat, there are plenty, some as young as one year and many breeders will let them go with simply the cost for spay/neuter and the shipping, if needed. If all goes well with our little girl, we may adopt a retiree later.

Kinda interesting that there is also a global pedigree database available online too I can trace some of her ancestry all the way back to Ankara, Turkey in the 1960s!! ;-)

What a cute cat! where did you get her from?

[BayanAltun 0]

Deanna,

He can defer his military based on your marriage (the conditions of his visa) and not employment. You need to first register your marriage with the Turkish embassy that has jurisdiction over the state where you got married, then his military can be deferred. This is what we did. I think people at the embassy are unfamiliar with the K1/K3 visas and you may need to talk to different people at the embassy before you find someone who truly understands your situation. I know this can be frustrating but keep calling them until you find someone who knows what they're talking about...

Thanks for your info! We got married in Turkey. Do we still need to register with the embassy?? If so, how? The old man (Consulate General in Chicago) told Ramazan that it didn't matter about his marriage and his visa...that he must work for them to defer his military. I say that is BS, but he is the only person they put us through to. And, the guy refuses to talk to me.

This is what infuriates me: In October, we paid $145 online to renew the passport for 4-5 years. After that, we learned that we needed to submit proof that he filed for AOS. So, once we received the USCIS receipt, we sent his passport again, but since they raised their fee to $165, we sent an additional $20. Then, we got into this issue of the Consulate General telling him he must work....blah blah. So, he said he will extend it for 6 months, but we need to send in $34. Why the h*** can't they just take the $34 from the flipping $165 they already have?!?!?!! We must send a petition for them to refund that money. You are kidding me. So, my husband won't argue with the old man, and the old man WILL NOT talk to me.

We live in Indiana, so I figured the Chicago Consulate was the logical choice, but would we be better off getting his passport back and trying a different consulate?? This is ridiculous! I am so frustrated.

[tanyakaraman 0]

Thanks for your info! We got married in Turkey. Do we still need to register with the embassy?? If so, how? The old man (Consulate General in Chicago) told Ramazan that it didn't matter about his marriage and his visa...that he must work for them to defer his military. I say that is BS, but he is the only person they put us through to. And, the guy refuses to talk to me.

This is what infuriates me: In October, we paid $145 online to renew the passport for 4-5 years. After that, we learned that we needed to submit proof that he filed for AOS. So, once we received the USCIS receipt, we sent his passport again, but since they raised their fee to $165, we sent an additional $20. Then, we got into this issue of the Consulate General telling him he must work....blah blah. So, he said he will extend it for 6 months, but we need to send in $34. Why the h*** can't they just take the $34 from the flipping $165 they already have?!?!?!! We must send a petition for them to refund that money. You are kidding me. So, my husband won't argue with the old man, and the old man WILL NOT talk to me.

We live in Indiana, so I figured the Chicago Consulate was the logical choice, but would we be better off getting his passport back and trying a different consulate?? This is ridiculous! I am so frustrated.

If you got married in Turkey, you shouldn't have to register your marriage as they should already have it registered. Sorry, I didn't realize that.

Ugh, it sounds like they're really giving you the run around. I've never been successful at talking to anyone at the Turkish embassy either...they only talk to my husband...& he just flips out on everyone he talks to until they give him what he wants LOL. Last time he had to defer his military/extend his passport, he was in the Turkish embassy in NYC shouting at the top of his lungs "I'll change my citizenship!! All because of this bull (you know what)!!

I'm thinking maybe you could try calling a different embassy...maybe New York or Washington DC...get a different answer out of them, then call back the consulate in Chicago and tell him "well the consulate general in NY said this...." Sounds like the guy in Chicago has his mind made up that your husband can only defer his military by working and he's not willing to consider that he might be wrong. I guess you could also just give him what he wants...wait for the employment auth card to come and get your husband the first measly job he can get just to defer the military....

The first time we had to do this, we had to send a bunch of money/photos and my husband's Turkish ID to the embassy in California (we got married in Nevada, so had to register our marriage with the consulate that had jurisdiction, which was Cali) to register our marriage...they were supposed to send me a Turkish ID card...but we never got anything. They never even sent my husband's Turkish ID back. He had to pay to get another one in NY the last time he deferred his military.

This stuff is such a pain...and so expensive! I can't wait until my husband naturalizes so we can stop having to deal with it all!

Good Luck...

Tanya

Edited February 18, 2010 by tanyakaraman

[Ctrl+alt+delete 0]

My hubby contacted the Consulate in California to do both. Yes, he can defer his military duty based on marriage. They have paperwork at the consulate you need to fill out and send to them with his passport. They can email it to you. After it is approved they will send you a letter which he will keep on his person while visiting Turkey that states his duty is in deferment for a period of time. When the letter expires he will have to repeat the process every time if he plans on returning to Turkey. The passport renewal is easy. Fill out the paperwork, send them the passport and $$.

I can’t remember too much about the process but here is the web site to do both.

http://www.konsolosluk.gov.tr/

Sorry about my memory.....hope you are able to find some info on the web site.

Best wishes,

Debbie

Thanks for your info! We got married in Turkey. Do we still need to register with the embassy?? If so, how? The old man (Consulate General in Chicago) told Ramazan that it didn't matter about his marriage and his visa...that he must work for them to defer his military. I say that is BS, but he is the only person they put us through to. And, the guy refuses to talk to me.

This is what infuriates me: In October, we paid $145 online to renew the passport for 4-5 years. After that, we learned that we needed to submit proof that he filed for AOS. So, once we received the USCIS receipt, we sent his passport again, but since they raised their fee to $165, we sent an additional $20. Then, we got into this issue of the Consulate General telling him he must work....blah blah. So, he said he will extend it for 6 months, but we need to send in $34. Why the h*** can't they just take the $34 from the flipping $165 they already have?!?!?!! We must send a petition for them to refund that money. You are kidding me. So, my husband won't argue with the old man, and the old man WILL NOT talk to me.

We live in Indiana, so I figured the Chicago Consulate was the logical choice, but would we be better off getting his passport back and trying a different consulate?? This is ridiculous! I am so frustrated.

[Jenn and Fuat 2]

Hello from Istanbul

Just got in a few hours ago and waiting for Fuat to get off work. I can't believe our interview is actually in four days! We'll leave for Ankara on Sunday, and will sight see in the city the day before the interview.. then head back here, on Tuesday, right after the interview. I hope the interview goes well.. otherwise, it's going to be one heck of a long, depressing bus ride back to Istanbul.... but I am keeping my hopes up we won't end up in AP ( though that seems to be the trend lately).

I'll be sure to post on Tuesday and let you know what happened!

[Der Bücherwurm 1]

Hello from Istanbul

Just got in a few hours ago and waiting for Fuat to get off work. I can't believe our interview is actually in four days! We'll leave for Ankara on Sunday, and will sight see in the city the day before the interview.. then head back here, on Tuesday, right after the interview. I hope the interview goes well.. otherwise, it's going to be one heck of a long, depressing bus ride back to Istanbul.... but I am keeping my hopes up we won't end up in AP ( though that seems to be the trend lately).

I'll be sure to post on Tuesday and let you know what happened!

Good luck! Have fun while you're in Turkey. There are so many extra things I wish I'd picked up as souvenirs before I left. So make sure you find time for shopping. When we went to Ankara from Istanbul we took the 2-person overnight train. I highly recommend it. It is so much better than a bus or even the speed train. You get a little compartment with 2 bunk beds, a sink, a mini-fridge, coat-hooks, a shelf and a cabinet to store your things but most importantly you get PRIVACY! Taking the speed train in worst class (yes, there is a class lower than economy class on Turkish trains ) back to Istanbul the first time after we got put on AP was just awful for me. I wanted to cry the whole way but there were people all around. (I was thinking at the time that AP for us meant another 6 months to a year.)

But alas the AP was only a month and a half so we are now home after having a nice little layover in NY where we got to go to the 'Top of the Rock' where you can see the whole NY skyline, then wandered around Times Square and Central Park. We'll see more on a future trip. Now we are still waiting to receive his social security card, etc. Once he has that he can get his driver's license and start applying for jobs. I'm hoping he will be able to find something online in another state (preferably around Denver, Colorado) because there just aren't that many good opportunities for either of us here in the southeast and I don't much care for the climate here either. I know my family will be disappointed if we move to another state because they had been eagerly awaiting our arrival for so long and they think my husband is the nicest guy. But you have to go where the jobs are and they aren't here in the deep south unless you are content to work at a restaurant.

[camistanbul 0]

Hello from Istanbul

Just got in a few hours ago and waiting for Fuat to get off work. I can't believe our interview is actually in four days! We'll leave for Ankara on Sunday, and will sight see in the city the day before the interview.. then head back here, on Tuesday, right after the interview. I hope the interview goes well.. otherwise, it's going to be one heck of a long, depressing bus ride back to Istanbul.... but I am keeping my hopes up we won't end up in AP ( though that seems to be the trend lately).

I'll be sure to post on Tuesday and let you know what happened!

GOOD LUCK!!! :thumbs: :thumbs: