Military Question (Turkey) [edited title]

[jordynalex 10]

My fiance and I filed our I-129f in February. My fiance is from Turkey and there is a military requirement here. One of the ways to get out of this requirement is to pay to not go. His family has paid for all the other males in the family and are going to pay for him too. The thing is, this cannot be done at any time. He cant go to the military whenever he wants. They have to wait till a certain age. Since he is enrolled in University, the day they call him is probably like 5 years away maybe 6. Will they let him come to the US even though he hasn't completed his requirement or paid to not go? I cant find anywhere else to ask

[TBoneTX 45,319]

*** Country-specific thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Europe & Eurasia regional subforum; topic title edited to specify Turkey. ***

[edpa 20]

My fiance and I filed our I-129f in February. My fiance is from Turkey and there is a military requirement here. One of the ways to get out of this requirement is to pay to not go. His family has paid for all the other males in the family and are going to pay for him too. The thing is, this cannot be done at any time. He cant go to the military whenever he wants. They have to wait till a certain age. Since he is enrolled in University, the day they call him is probably like 5 years away maybe 6. Will they let him come to the US even though he hasn't completed his requirement or paid to not go? I cant find anywhere else to ask

Hi jordynalex, that's a complicated situation. I found this posting, you can see what they said:

http://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussion-forums/i485-eb/569417675/mandatory-military-service

I emailed my lawyer and this is the response I got from him:

"There is no such section on the I-485. The form asks about whether someone has served in the military, fought in any armed conflicts, or received military or weapons training, but the US government does not care that your husband has not complied with a mandatory military service requirement in his home country.

However, after receiving permanent residence, if he were to travel home, this issue could potentially come up there, but it is not a problem for U.S. immigration purposes."

I believe it wouldn't be an issue, but have you tried to talk to an immigration attorney regarding this? My husband completed his service, so I honestly can't relate, but if I were in your situation I would get in touch with a lawyer.

[jordynalex 10]

Hi jordynalex, that's a complicated situation. I found this posting, you can see what they said:

http://www.trackitt.com/usa-discussion-forums/i485-eb/569417675/mandatory-military-service

I emailed my lawyer and this is the response I got from him:

"There is no such section on the I-485. The form asks about whether someone has served in the military, fought in any armed conflicts, or received military or weapons training, but the US government does not care that your husband has not complied with a mandatory military service requirement in his home country.

However, after receiving permanent residence, if he were to travel home, this issue could potentially come up there, but it is not a problem for U.S. immigration purposes."

I believe it wouldn't be an issue, but have you tried to talk to an immigration attorney regarding this? My husband completed his service, so I honestly can't relate, but if I were in your situation I would get in touch with a lawyer.

Thank you so much. I really wasn't sure about it.

[charmander 692]

I'm a male Turkish citizen and completed my mandatory training while I was residing in US. When i did it 7 years ago, the law was different. I paid a big chunk $$ and still attended a 3-week long training in Turkey. Now the law is different, you still have to pay but significantly less $$, and you no longer have to attend the training. basically you would be exempt from military service. Even in the future he should answer "No" to all military related questions b/c he will never be a part of military unit or attend a training.

I am sure your fiance knows about all of these but just tell him it wouldn't affect his immigration journey.

[sarah86 8]

1. He can opt to put his education on hold and get this duty out of the way, the 5 or 6 years you're talking about is when he has no choice but to go/pay since he's education will be completed and he will not have any other excuse not to go/pay.

2. no it will not prevent him from coming here. the COs or the US doesn't really care if someone has fulfilled their required military duties in their own countries.

3. the only problem would be him traveling back to Turkey once he gets here, cause if he doesn't take care of this duty (either by joining the military or paying the fee) or he postpones it through one of the turkish consulates here, as soon as its known that he has entered Turkey, he will either get pulled in directly from the airport, or will be notified via mail at his last known address in turkey that he is being seeked upon to complete the military req. Hell we get that mail for my brothers they send it all the way from turkey to us here in USA anyway, this was beside the point but just wanted to inform you the only problem would be entering back into turkey once he wants to go back go back for a visit or something.

[everywhereuwant2b 4]

I'm a in a similar situation. I reached out to the embassy in Ankara and they said it wouldn't affect it. However I'm concerned that it still might influence their decision to approve/deny my visa if they feel that he's trying to avoid military service. Though it's not a common reason for why visas are denied:

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2015AnnualReport/FY15AnnualReport-TableXX.pdf

So I guess I would just be prepared to answer that question, should it come up during the interview.