Just Turkish

[substance 0]

OK I just called the NVC,

My case is completed and waiting to be scheduled for an interview date. NVC schedules dates on the second week of each months the lady said. So mine will be scheduled in December.

I asked her if i can reschedule it to a closer date. She said you can try but we dont guarantee that.

[MPGGPM 0]

OK I just called the NVC,

My case is completed and waiting to be scheduled for an interview date. NVC schedules dates on the second week of each months the lady said. So mine will be scheduled in December.

I asked her if i can reschedule it to a closer date. She said you can try but we dont guarantee that.

That seems even quicker than that other example timeline, right? I'm curious as to how long yours took from the time you sent in your last packet, to the actual interview itself. Since we will be sending our final packet in as well, shortly, I'd like to continue to see other examples so I have a timeframe/idea of the length of time it takes.

That one woman whose timeline I had looked at, had hers in one and a half months after she sent in her last packet. Yours, if in December, seems even faster. (although you are not sure of the interview date yet).

Well....if it's not too much to ask, since you are doing a cr-1 (most other cases on this thread seem to be k-1's and k-3's), I'd appreciate anything you could tell in regards to what your interview experience was like.

I expect my wife to have hers in February since we'll wait a bit until she takes her trip here to the USA to send in that last packet.

Good luck.

Edited November 23, 2006 by MPGGPM

[substance 0]

We first sent the I864 affidavit of support form along with the necessary documents in august. And sent the DS230 Part I and II in september. IN late september(about 3 weeks after we sent the packages) NVC sent us a checklist saying there are things missing ,needed to be sent. We sent the missing documents in the first week of october. Our case was completed yesterday about 6 weeks after we sent in the missing papers.

NVC does not do anything untill they have everything. I am assuming you sent I864 and preparing to send Ds 230 Part I and II. NVC will not touch your I864 before you sent DS230 part I and II. Once they have everything and they admit they have everything. It takes about 3-4 weeks to review them.

If you didnt not fill out I864 and DS 230 par I and II correctly or missing a document. They will send you a checklist telling you whats missing. AND again, they wont touch your case untill they get those missing documetns or corrections on the forms. THEN AGAIN, when you send the missing things, it takes 2-4 weeks to review all. But that 2-4 weeks starts after they admit they have the mail you sent.

In most cases , you send mails , it gets there in 1 or 2 days but NVC pick them up in 2-4 weeks due to very large volume of mails.(in our case it took 5 weeks)

So from my experiences, You should allow 3 months or so, after you submit the last form which is DS 230 part I and II.

this whats going to happen;

You will mail the Ds230

then in 1-2 weeks(sometimes more) NVC will admit they recieved it.

then 3 weeks and some days for them to review them and complete your case.

then your case will wait till the second week of the next month to get a interview date(nvc only schedules date on the second weeks of each month)

after this point, you may expect something like 40-70 days (from the time your case was completed and the interview)

summary= about 5weeks (give or take a few days) for your case to be completed+ then 1-3 weeks to get an interview date+ then 40-70 days from the day interview date scheduled to actual interview date= total of 3 to 4 months.

this is the best case . as i said any mistake in I864 and ds 230 will add 2 more months of waiting.

to give you how long it took for us. Our case was approved in may 28th. today is novermber 23rd. we just got done with NVC in 1 week less than 6 months.

Edited November 23, 2006 by substance

[substance 0]

quote from internetcafe

"

The Embassy does not give the applicant any notice. It is the NVC that does everything even setting up of the interview date. The Consulate does the interview part of the process only. You can e-mail the NVC and ask for a closer interview date stating your reasons convincingly and clearly as I did. However I ended up having to postpone my interview date because of job-related reasons and astronomically high prics for plane tickets in summer- especially if you are looking for flights a few day from that day. "

Hi,

My case was just completed on november 22nd. And I will have to wait for the second week of december to get an interview date obviously. This process took already too long and I can have the medical exam by december or the first week of december. So I have no reason to wait for another month or so. Could you give me some more info on rescheduling the interview for a closer date. How much of a chance I have? If I tell them I am done with the medical exam and everything they ask , would that convince them enough? or it has to be a convincing reason? (actually I dont know what would be convincing)

If you can share your experience about getting a closer date, if you dont mind. at least how long apart was the original date and how much closer date you got after you asked them to.

I really made a big mistake , canceled my student visa and married my wife in turkey and ended up stuck here for over a year. I had lived in the US since I was 17 and I really want to go back as soon as possible as I am having adjusting problems here in Istanbul. My wife ended up staying here with me because this waiting kept getting longer and longer but we last decided it would be better for her to go back and finish her school. Now we have been apart for the last 4 months of this 1 year waiting as well. So I really would like this interview happen someday in January so she has her christmass break and she can come here to go tru the interview with me then we can fly to USA together.

Well, I know your going to ask me why we did marry here in turkey hehe. Well first of all , we didnt know it would take over a year. secondly, she is turkish origin and we wanted to get marry in the city where we both were born(istanbul). Ohh again we were misinformed about the K3 visa at the beginning of all this, We were told K3 was a fiance visa, so we skipped that options but now deeply regret we didnt ask anyone else.

[MPGGPM 0]

My case was just completed on november 22nd. And I will have to wait for the second week of december to get an interview date obviously. This process took already too long and I can have the medical exam by december or the first week of december. So I have no reason to wait for another month or so. Could you give me some more info on rescheduling the interview for a closer date. How much of a chance I have? If I tell them I am done with the medical exam and everything they ask , would that convince them enough? or it has to be a convincing reason? (actually I dont know what would be convincing)

If you can share your experience about getting a closer date, if you dont mind. at least how long apart was the original date and how much closer date you got after you asked them to.

I thought I'd mention that t appears from his writing's that he did not ask for a closer date , but rather...postponed it.

Who knows what the chances are exactly, but I'd have to think that the chances of the embassy giving an earlier date, other than for some extreme emergency, would be slim to none. I mean......otherwise, wouldn't we all be asking for a closer interview date?

But, I still think you should try..........it's worth a shot. This time of year is probably tougher because of all the holidays coming up, and between the US holidays, and the Turkish ones, in the next 2 months, that's several less days than usual to work with to schedule interviews.

Anyways....

I can definately relate to being separated from a wife for so long. My own wife has been in Istanbul for 1 3/4 years now. I think in retrospect, your 4 months apart is not so much. Then again.....when you love and care for someone so much....even a few weeks apart is a lifetime.

Do you mind mentioning what type of student visa you canceled? (j-1..F-1....or other?)

Good luck on your interview when it does come.

On a side note......looks like Turkey, and in particlar, Istanbul, will be a very busy place this week......and for better or worse, Turkey will be getting a LOT of publicity . (Already seeing a lot of reports from Istanbul on the evening news and the 24 hour news channnels here in the USA ). I've told my wife to avoid downtown this week if she can help it.

[substance 0]

well actually didnt cancel it. It was a 5 year F-1. It expired when we came to Turkey to get married. We filed for I130 instead of renewing F-1. I didnt know it would take 1 year or so to get the visa, otherwise we would have taken a different route.

I have heard several ppl got closer dates thats why I was curious. I had thought the same thing too(everyone would ask for a closer date) but you are right I will take my chance.

Well that 4 month is from her the last day of her last visit, we had been apart before several times each couple months or so. No one could give us any guestimate about how long it would take(no one official) In january when we started this, we were thinking we would be done around may,june. when we were in june, our I130 was approved, we said probably in late august or early september. well in september we said probably late october or november . now we are in November and we say its going to end in late january or feb. we will see whats going to happen in january or feb. maybe i will get the visa maybe i will say probably march or april lol

this was the worst thing about this waiting. we could make no plans. as i said before i am stuck here. i have less than 1 year of college left so i am still high school graduate and no chance to get a decent job here, then again my school is there waiting , no progress in that either. i have a car(i miss it badly too, dont tell my wife lol ) an apartment and stuff that i am paying every month but not using. well basically the spring semester starts on late january and i wont make it usa in time. so i will have to wait 8 more months to start and finish school lol

those 8 months nothing to do, just spend time with my wife, this what motivates me:)

[internetkafe 0]

Hello Substance,

Hello MPGGPM,

I see that you have have school to attend to. If you can get a paper from your school stating that you should return and resume attending by this date (put your desired date) you will experience hardship (there is extreme hardship clause in some immigration related articles) it might help. In addition to this you can also tell the embassy that your spouse is going to be in Turkey and stay with you but she has either school or job or family (an ailing family member she has to be close to or a child etc etc....whichever is relevant/case with you) in the US therefore she cannot stay indefinately and she has to return in (put your desired duration of time) and you are intending to go to the US together....

Email the embassy using the e-mail form on their website and ask for a specific date stating your reasons in a clear and concise manner. But it seems your case is still at the NVC so you can e-mail them instead. I did that to get the closest interview date possible(this time without having any reason to do so apart from mainly not wanting a mid-summer interview for fear of costly airfare). Note that this was not a re-scheduling. This was an early scheduling. They gave me too close a date. :-P I had to re-schedule. Why? Try buying plane tickets for 3-5 days from now. You will see why.

By the way I had already waited this wait for two times before CR1 because of bureacratic nonsense IMHO.

To reiterate, if you want to get a close interview date e-mail the NVC stating your reasons; if you want to re-schedule your already established interview date e-mail the embassy stating your reasons. Each case is unique although with some resemblance.

I wish you both (substance and MPGGPM) a short problem-free wait.

P.S. Does MPG GPM stand for MilesPerGallon or a weapon?

Just a reminder from the embassy's website:

THE U.S. EMBASSY CONSULAR SECTION WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC BETWEEN NOVEMBER 23, 2006 AND DECEMBER 1, 2006. THE CONSULAR SECTION WILL REOPEN ON DECEMBER 4, 2006. PLEASE AVOID SENDING ANY E-MAIL OR OTHER CORRESPONDENCE DURING THOSE DAYS. ANY E-MAIL OR OTHER CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED DURING THIS TIME FRAME WILL BE ANSWERED IN THE FIRST 5 WORKING DAYS AFTER DECEMBER 4, 2006. THANK YOU.

Edited November 27, 2006 by internetkafe

[MPGGPM 0]

P.S. Does MPG GPM stand for MilesPerGallon or a weapon?

Actually, what it represents is a great lack of uncreativity on my part Was just something I whipped up at the time of registering for this website, which I never imagined I'd still be on now......nearly a year later.

Turns out that this website turned out to be much more informative than all the others......so, I'm still hanging around. The name could just as well have been GFHHFG or maybe BCMMCB or possibly YTRRTY...(I think you get the drift

By the way, someone should tell that guy on FOX news, that it is not pronounced EEEEstanbul.........but Is-tanbul:) (at least...I think that's right. It's how I pronounce it anyhow. Then again, it took me about 1-2 months before I could pronounce my own wife's name correctly

I was just watching a report on the pope's visit , since it's all over the news programs lately....and I am sure will really be covered even more in the next few days, and that's how the guy said it.........EEEEstanbul.

Even still.........it was still a better pronunciation than that one announcer covering that "Red Bull" air race they had in Istanbul a few months back , here in the USA.....on "Speed Channel" cable network, I think. Yeesh....... Kept calling it Is-TAN-bul. (He kept accentuating that middle part) My wife and I got a good laugh out of that, though . She was here in August , and watched it with me.

Anyways...

If there is one thing I have focused on in reading yours and Substance's replies, it's to be extra careful on this final part of the NVC application. I and my wife, would really be at our wit's end, if there was a mistake that caused the NVC to delay things several weeks or more. I've reiterated to my wife as we have spoken by phone, to take extra care in filling out the forms. And when she arrives to visit in the USA not too long from now, we will both sit down, and doublecheck, and then triplecheck etc.......everything (then also meet and ask our lawyer to do the same)......before we send it out.

This process is more than long enough, without giving our government yet another reason to delay and take their own sweet time with our application.

[substance 0]

now everything about this visa thing got more exciting lol

i am writing them an email right now. I had to skip 2 semesters because of this visa thing. They have to give me a closer date. And yes I already have papers from the school but i can ask them to send more recent one. The spring semester starts on january 9th. So I have to be there by january 5th the latest as i need a few days to enroll buy books and stuff.

Lets see how it goes. I will let you know if it works

I wish I had known this early scheduling thing. I have my medical exam on the 5th december (i scheduled that already).

I didnt think this 1-2 month waiting for the interview made any sense anyway. WHen you ask for a tourist or student visa , they give you a date for the next day, but when its a immigrant visa ,its 1-2 months(and every paper work and prep has already been done by the nvc , embassy will only interview, just like tourist visa)

[substance 0]

my medical exam on December 6th at American Hospital in Istanbul

DO I need anything else than the medical exam reports in the interview?(for IR1)

What is required by the embassy other than the medical?

[Dayna 0]

My husband eats almost an entire loaf of bread every day! And he is the skinniest person!

Hi,

I came across this forum and your post made me laugh so much! My husband is the same way...

I am American and he is Turkish... I cannot believe how much bread he eats too!

He eats a loaf for breakfast, lunch, and dinner... that is 3 loaves a day! And he is skinny like a stick.

I call him susamli kraker (sesame cracker), those sesame crackers that Ulker makes.

The only time I ever eat bread is with sandwich or if I make spaghetti!

hahahaha

Take care,

Dayna

[substance 0]

OK the email didnt work. I requested for early scheduling of the interview date. as internetkafe did and it worked for him/her but not for me. they replied my email as below

Your inquiry has been received at the National Visa Center (NVC).

All documentation necessary to complete the National Visa Center's processing has been received. As soon as an interview date has been scheduled, the designated representative of this case (applicant, petitioner, or attorney) will be notified. The US Embassy or Consulate General may require additional documentation at the time of the interview.

they did not really answer me. i didnt ask them if my case was complete. i asked them i had a hardship needed my interview in a specific time frame(not too early , not too late) but they told me what i already know. and the funny thing is it took them 5 days to give me this answer.

[Mina76 0]

My husband eats almost an entire loaf of bread every day! And he is the skinniest person!

Hi,

I came across this forum and your post made me laugh so much! My husband is the same way...

I am American and he is Turkish... I cannot believe how much bread he eats too!

He eats a loaf for breakfast, lunch, and dinner... that is 3 loaves a day! And he is skinny like a stick.

I call him susamli kraker (sesame cracker), those sesame crackers that Ulker makes.

The only time I ever eat bread is with sandwich or if I make spaghetti!

hahahaha

Take care,

Dayna

Hi Dayna,

Welcome to VJ B)

Yes, that is why I started this tread to introduce this topic on how to deal with adjusting to living in the USA as compared to living in Turkey. It's been very hard for my husband as I'am sure it was for some of the other spouses coming here to live in the USA for the first time.

The "bread" topic was a funny one and something new for us who are not so used to eating so much bread, but interesting though is how much the turks eat bread and yet stay so slim

Anyway Good Luck to you and your spouse on your visa journey!

Mina

[MPGGPM 0]

We filled them out well and mailed them back. AGAIN 1month for nvc to admit they recieved them and about 2 weeks after they sent us a checklist for missing documents( we sent the certified copies of the birth and marriage certificate, they wanted the originals) well , we mailed the certificates and it took them exactly 5 weeks to admit they recieved them. and now its been 2 weeks since they got everything . we are waiting for our case to be completed.

I'm sorry you haven't gotten much more of a response to your questions. If I had more experience in going through the NVC/embassy, I might have been able to help you more. Hopefully someone can answer your concerns about contacting the NVC.

However, after looking again at some of the things you wrote, one thing has confused me. It is the part that I copied above. I don't understand why, after you submitted all that paperwork with your I-130, the NVC would then ask you to send them again.? I know you said they asked for the originals, but to me, that doesn't seem customary, and in fact when I asked my lawyer about my w-2's etc.....she even told me NOT to send the originals, just copies.

So, that part about them not accepting your copies of the birth certificates and asking for originals, was unusual...(to me anyhow).

I hope the rest of your case goes smoothly. Since I haven't submitted the last part of paperwork to the NVC yet, I can't yet say how long it has taken us to go from them...to the interview in Ankara (I hope we don't get any RFE's).

But your I-130 did take quite a long time. I think you said it was finally approved in June, after submitting it in January? (almost 6 months?) Ours took about 3 months.

One final side note.....I think they need to start a thread for people like you and my wife.......on how to readjust to life in TURKEY ......after having been in the USA so long. (This thread is the opposite)

She had the same adjusting pains as you........having been in the USA for nearly 13 years...to your 7.(She came on a j-1 visa...not f-1)

When she went back nearly 2 years ago......it was a tough time for us both, and especially for her. She also had her home here in the USA(like you), and her car(we finally just sold it since it was just sitting around for so long). The worst part, is she's having to stay with her parents. (I have a decent job ...and she's got a steady stable on in Turkey...but even for us, paying for 2 homes was a bit too much).

I've had many a conversation with her on the phone, where I can hear her frustration in not being able to be in her REAL home, back here in the USA.

It's very tough.

I can only imagine the adjustment period , for someone in yours and my wife's situation, to leave your home in the USA, and go back to a VERY busy city like Istanbul. Coming from a small city in Florida, it is quite a change. And even Miami (where I used to live)...is miniscule in size ,traffic, and especially buildings (in Istanbul, that's like all you see everywhere, )

It seems like your paperwork has gone a bit longer than most. I hope as I said before, the rest goes quicker. This process is such a tough and frustrating one for everyone involved.

Edited December 2, 2006 by MPGGPM

[substance 0]

You really should call NVC and make sure if they want the originals. When we recieved the DS 230 package, it said the originals or the certified copies. We were also told not to send the originals but the copies. SO we went on noterising the originals of the birth and marriage certificates. they want them translated too. Along with the DS 230 package, we sent the certified copies of everything.

I called NVC everyday atfer i sent ds 230(this was the last package , i sent I864 and other before ds 230) asked them if they recieved them and once they recieved them i again continued on calling them everyday asking if its been reviewed or complete. well after like 3 weeks they told me some documents were missing, they sent out a checklist. I asked them whats missing. they said the originals of the birth and marriage certificates. for Turkey, they need all the original forms and certificates , the officer said, they will put these in my folder and send it to Ankara. well i sent the originals of the certificates next day. it took about 5 weeks for nvc to recieve them. i called them everyday they told me the same thing, they dont have them yet please allow us 2-4 weeks to recieve them due to high volume of mails they recieve each day. and another 2-4 weeks to process the missing documents. well mine took 5 weeks. the officer also admited. if NVC dont have everything required they dont touch my case. so bc of the missing things my case was there for months untouched. well then after this 5 weeks waiting, they finaly said they recieved them and reviewing , pls allow 4 weeks to complete. fortunately it took only 3 weeks for them to complete and no security check or RFE. If i had sent the originals in the first place my case would have been complete 2 months earlier.

well we filed the I 130 first day of feb so it took like 4 months actually to get approved but our NVC stage took too long. our case went to nvc in 30-35 days then we recieved each form pretty late. it was mostly like they send out a from , it gets to my wife in 3-4 weeks then my wife replies , the mail gets to nvc in 3-4 weeks.

for the turkish-american(in heart) spouses, there are actually many on this forum. we have advantages and disadvantages of course. for example a spouse who has never been to USA will have adapting issues where we wont at all. However a spouse who has lived in the US and went back to wait for the visa will be sick of the waiting more. its kinda like missing double times. both usa and the spouse.

i take it like kind of being prisoned without walls around me. for example I want to go buy a car then i say im only going to be here for a few months anyway. im not really proceeding in my life but my life is going on as time is going on. If i had only knew it would take this long, it would have had a different 1 year here. I never expected this.

well paying for 2 homes and stuff. yea i hear ya:) but what hurt me most was. my car tanked in value big time as a new body style came out a few months ago. I so much wanted that car some years ago , I gave up so many things to buy it. now its lost 25% of its value ,without ever been driven for a single mile over the last year. and I paid for the extended warranty 1 year of it was for nothing. I am not afraid it will give me problems bc of having been sat on the park for a year, fortunately the warranty is valid till 2008. Hopefully I will make it to USA by then heheh.