Is Any Embassy Providing Nonimmigrant Visas?

[hannysgrammy@gmai 13]

2 hours ago, Coco8 said:

Friends just went to Egypt on holidays! They said it was great because the typical destinations were almost empty. 

I just came from Hurghada  last month. Not alot of people but nice 10 days

[The White Fiance 22]

We thought the people in Egypt were great, but the country was very dirty, and the food in restaurants was generally bad, even when they had good ratings. Fortunately, we took a cruise, and the food on the ship was good. There was a lot of garbage in the streets, and no matter where we were, the air smelled of things best not mentioned.

 

The weather was unpleasant because we had to go in summer. Zero clouds, burning sun, and temperatures up to 114 Fahrenheit.

 

There wasn't anything to see except tombs, temples, and museums. All the temples look alike because almost all were built by the same Greek. They're not really Egyptian.

 

Because of the coronavirus hysteria, tourists were few, so souvenir merchants were starving. They descended on us, trying to sell us things to keep their families fed. Sad thing to see. I don't know how they're staying alive. We wanted to be helpful, but there was not much we could do.

 

We may have to go back, regardless. We don't want to go anywhere else in Africa, Egypt is better than the few Middle Eastern countries that are open, and Turkey expects us to fork out four figures for a Turkish Airlines ticket with no assurance she will get a visa. If they reject her, Turkish Airlines will keep most of our money, and they will take a month to give us the news.

 

We even considered Mexico, a place neither of us wants to visit, and they expect her to travel to another country to apply for a visa in person. I could take a 35-hour flight to Zambia, but my wife doesn't want me to because it's a boring destination.

 

We will just have to figure out what the least-bad choice is.

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

Where are you coming from that it’s a 35 hour flight to Zambia? Generally flights from the US to sub Saharan Africa take 19-26 hours, depending exactly where you fly from and to.

Boring? Vic falls and Zanzibar are two of the most popular tourist sights in Africa, with good reason. There are amazing wildlife parks in both Zambia and neighboring countries - there is a good reason this region is one of the top safari destinations, and there are plenty of luxury options. If antiquity is not your thing, as it doesn’t seem to be judging from your scathing review of Egypt, maybe those will be more to your liking. But yes it is a developing country so it may be a little dirty etc. that’s life in Africa lol. Zambia is a beautiful country with lovely people. I can’t really see why your wife doesn’t want you to visit her home country. But anyway as posted above, you could always rather go for an island holiday not too far away, in Mauritius, Seychelles or even Maldives. They all cater very well to western preferences (as you seem to place high value on that) and are all great honeymoon spots. I highly doubt she’s going to be successful getting a US visa anywhere outside her home country, so I really don’t think you should be basing your destination on that Hail Mary.

 

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

1 hour ago, The White Fiance said:

Turkey expects us to fork out four figures for a Turkish Airlines ticket with no assurance she will get a visa. If

also not sure how you line up what Turkish airlines charges for their tickets with the chances of her getting a visa, that’s got nothing to do with their ticket pricing. And if you look at the website of the US consulate in Turkey, you’ll see it says

In response to significant worldwide challenges related to the pandemic, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara and the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul are not able to provide nonimmigrant visa services to non-residents of Turkey at this time.

[The White Fiance 22]

3 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

also not sure how you line up what Turkish airlines charges for their tickets with the chances of her getting a visa, that’s got nothing to do with their ticket pricing. And if you look at the website of the US consulate in Turkey, you’ll see it says

In response to significant worldwide challenges related to the pandemic, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara and the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul are not able to provide nonimmigrant visa services to non-residents of Turkey at this time.

Your understanding of what I wrote about tickets is pretty far off.

 

Regarding Turkish policy, I have been corresponding with the Turkish government, so I feel confident I have sound information.

Edited September 1, 2021 by The White Fiance

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

46 minutes ago, The White Fiance said:

Your understanding of what I wrote about tickets is pretty far off.

 

Regarding Turkish policy, I have been corresponding with the Turkish government, so I feel confident I have sound information.

Ah, I thought you were still talking about the mission of trying to get her a US visa somewhere else.  But i see now here you’re talking about a Turkish visa. What would be the purpose of visiting Turkey, then, just honeymoon? Then why not just go somewhere she doesn’t need a visa? As coco posted on the previous page, many options for that. 

[The White Fiance 22]

I don't want to prolong the thread unnecessarily, but there are reasons we are looking at Europe and Turkey. Some of the places on the visa-free list involve incredibly long flights for one or both of us. Many are beach destinations. A lot of people get excited about beaches, but I grew up in Miami and spent a ton of time boating in the Bahamas, and the last thing I want to pay to see is another boring beach, ocean, reef, or fish. The wife is black and does not sunbathe. She is also unable to swim, and boating is a very bad idea until she learns. If you don't like sunbathing, swimming, boating, or fishing, a beach destination is just an airport and an overpriced hotel room.

 

The African locations are not noticeably better than Zambia, a destination we would like to improve on if at all possible. Some are worse. South Africa is very dangerous for women, so it's out. Some of the locations are extremely expensive. Some, regardless of the list, are closed to Zambians right now because of coronavirus.

 

We want to eliminate the pleasant, affordable destinations before drilling down to desperation locations like the Seychelles and Barbados.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, however.

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

25 minutes ago, The White Fiance said:

I don't want to prolong the thread unnecessarily, but there are reasons we are looking at Europe and Turkey. Some of the places on the visa-free list involve incredibly long flights for one or both of us. Many are beach destinations. A lot of people get excited about beaches, but I grew up in Miami and spent a ton of time boating in the Bahamas, and the last thing I want to pay to see is another boring beach, ocean, reef, or fish. The wife is black and does not sunbathe. She is also unable to swim, and boating is a very bad idea until she learns. If you don't like sunbathing, swimming, boating, or fishing, a beach destination is just an airport and an overpriced hotel room.

 

The African locations are not noticeably better than Zambia, a destination we would like to improve on if at all possible. Some are worse. South Africa is very dangerous for women, so it's out. Some of the locations are extremely expensive. Some, regardless of the list, are closed to Zambians right now because of coronavirus.

 

We want to eliminate the pleasant, affordable destinations before drilling down to desperation locations like the Seychelles and Barbados.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, however.

I just wrote a long post with many options including trying to disabuse some of your strange notions about Africa (having traveled through at least 7 sub Saharan African countries I do have an idea what I’m talking about) but then I  deleted it because (1) you don’t actually seem to be interested in anything anyone else has to say and keep landing on Turkey (2) this forum is after all for US tourist visas etc and as it is pretty unlikely your wife is going to get one, your thread is probably better placed elsewhere.  Good luck, though.

Edited September 1, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[The White Fiance 22]

Thanks again for your kind help.

[Boiler 44,013]

You have met once and married?

[The White Fiance 22]

It turns out some of the information we got from Turkish civil servants was wrong. While Turkey is open for Zambians, they were telling us there were various hurdles, and the process would take weeks. I kept digging and found out that was incorrect, so we will be able to visit Turkey shortly. This is a big relief, considering the low desirability of the places we had been driven to consider.

 

It appears that applying for a US tourist visa is not possible in any foreign country she can get to, however. The coronavirus hysteria is still in full force. At least we'll be able to get to work on a spousal visa.

[The White Fiance 22]

In case anyone else needs a third country in which to meet a spouse with a low-value passport, here is the Turkish e-visa site: https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/ Turkey takes people from a lot of countries other nations reject, and they don't require coronavirus tests for vaccinated people.

 

There are other sites which are fake. They take your personal information, and you get scammed. The government site above will give you a visa in about two minutes, once you fill out the forms. If you have problems, they will respond to emails in a few minutes. They are very helpful and polite. They gave me a multiple-entry visa, but Zambians can only get single-entry visas.

 

The site says you have to have a round-trip ticket in advance, on Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, or Onur Air. This is not correct. Just say you have a ticket, and you will get your visa. Then you can buy tickets. You do not have to have round-trip tickets. You can fly in using Turkish Airlines and out using Pegasus, for example. You can have two one-way tickets, and in our case, this turned out to be much cheaper.

 

It's not necessary for all of your tickets to be on an approved airline. The only flights that count are the ones that connect to Turkey.

 

You will have to say you have a certain amount of money.

 

You do not have to know the date of your arrival or departure. You will get a visa good for a certain period starting on whatever date you apply.

 

I am supplying my wife with tickets, money, travel insurance, her visa, a copy of my visa, tickets, and insurance, a sponsorship letter, a copy of our marriage certificate, and a bank statement from one of my accounts. I also told her to take her own bank statement. We're both vaccinated, and we are planning to take ivermectin before leaving. Can't hurt, and Africans are used to taking it anyway because of worms. She says she is overdue for a dose.

 

Many travel insurance companies will not cover coronavirus for people from sketchy countries. I got my wife a policy from Heymondo; no problem.