Belarus Turkey America IR-1

[dashaoz 0]

I'm an American currently residing in Turkey with my wife. She is a Belarusian citizen. We got married in Delaware August 2010 and started living in Turkey since September 2011.

I would like to find out if it would be our best interest to wait for her Turkish citizenship and then apply for an IR-1 visa for her, or start the application process now. From what I heard, after Belarusian government had the U.S Embassy reduce their American personnel from 35 diplomats to 5, Belarusian citizens have hard time obtaining visas. Now, they can get the visas only from designated countries.

Turkish & Belarusian people who had similar experience are recommended to answer please.

Thanks in advance.

[Enigma11561 336]

If your wife wants to petition using her Belorussian passport, she may need to go to Warsaw. As you said the Minsk US Embassy has very limited functionality. If she waits to get Turkish citizenship, that is a whole different matter. If the need for a Turkish passport is because you plan to live there for a long time, or because that passport may offer fewer travel restrictions, then go for it. But if you plan to live in the US, why would you want this?

Edited January 18, 2013 by Enigma11561

[dashaoz 0]

If your wife wants to petition using her Belorussian passport, she may need to go to Warsaw. As you said the Minsk US Embassy has very limited functionality. If she waits to get Turkish citizenship, that is a whole different matter. If the need for a Turkish passport is because you plan to live there for a long time, or because that passport may offer fewer travel restrictions, then go for it. But if you plan to live in the US, why would you want this?

Thank you for your reply. Yes, Warsaw is one of the few posts that she can travel to when the interview takes place. My aim is for her to get maximum benefits. By becoming a Turkish citizen, in the future benefits like healthcare, and retirement are possible with a less fee vs. U.S. After all, she wants to keep her Belarusian citizenship. Turkish one would be additional. And yes, we would like to move to U.S in the near future and I would like her to get a Green Card through me. As most immigrants, a permanent residence permit is enough.