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| Ankara, Turkey |  Review on November 20, 2014: |
twincletoes
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Hi everybody! here's my review on the CR1 visa interview i had at US embassy in Ankara!
my interview was at 07:50 am on Nov 18th 2014
i was outside the embassy at 7:30 am, there were few people waiting in the line!
and i joined them and waited around half an hour! oh btw, while i was waiting in the line i took my phone out of my pocket and the security guard saw me and came to me and told me i wont be able to get in with any electronic device! then i freaked out and then he told me u can leave it at this small cafe near the embassy. so i ran to the cafe left the phone there and i was worried if the shop will let me leave it there.. but when i went to the cafe, the guy saw me holding the phone and my folders and told me: 5 turkish liras only! haha then i was like ohh this cafe seems familiar with people leaving their phones there :D then he got my phone and wrote note on it my name and then i ran back to the embassy and the line got longer but the two nice ladies who were behind me called me and said hey u were here! so i went back to the line! that was a bit stressful ("sigh").
anyway, then after few minutes of waiting in the line, people started going in!
and went through security check and stuff.
after that went to this big room and a lady was there checking immigrants applicants number and giving number! so i went to her and she checked my case number and gave me a number to follow on the screen!
then waiting started and the room started to get more and more crowded! after like 20 minutes my number showed up, i ran to the window and the lady there asked me to submit all proofs of relationship (i submitted emails, Skype chats, phone call logs, letters covers,money transfer receipts and 2 envelops of photos; one envelop had the photos before we got married, and the other envelop had the photos after our marriage) then she said ok, wait in the salon for the second call!
i went to the salon and waited for the second call, around 10 min and did the fingers biometrics!
then, waited again for the last call for the interview! after around 30 min maybe? i dont remmber exactly :D
my number showed up and went to the window for the interview! and the lady asked me to do the oath! after that she started asking me questions:
how did u meet each other? and when?
when did u get married?
how many times she visited you after marriage?
she asked me if i had wedding photos,
i told her we didnt make a wedding ceremony! she asked why not? and i told her we didnt have time to plan for it since my wife's flight back was 3 days after the day we got married and the reason we got married last minute was because i needed documents from syria (birth certificate and police clearance and a document proved that im single) and my dad could get me those documents at the end of august! and my wife's flight back was sept 6th!!! so we had very stressful time waiting for all the documents..
then the CO nodded and said oh i see, ok
then i showed her the photos of our marriage at the marriage bearue!
i handed her the photos (so me and my wife both wearing plane white t-shirt and shorts and slippers :D lol) and then the CO's face was shocked and smiling and said: oh you guys really didnt dress at all!!
i said yea we had no time to plan stuff.. (me smiling too)
then she asked me why her parents didnt come to the wedding. and i said they were busy they're both working and couldnt come to turkey.. she said ok, and what about your parents why didnt they come? i said they were in Istanbul near my brother and since we were just gonna stay in ankara for 2 days we didnt have time to plan for their stay and coming and all,.. but after we got married we went to Istanbul and met with my family and had small celebration 
then she asked about my wife. what is she doing? is she student? what is she studying?where is she staying?
then she asked me about my studies what am studying in Ankara.
and asked me what im gonna do in the US.
and asked where are we gonna stay together in the US.
and she asked me how u decided to come to turkey to study in the first place.
i said it was my brother's friend's idea! who was studying in turkey and came to visit in Syria and we invited him over for lunch and he suggested the idea to me!
then she asked me if i have been to any other countries than Syria and Turkey and i said no.
ohh btw, she was typing sometimes on the computer during the interview.
then she asked me if i knew turkish and i told her yea i know like intermediate and she said oh good for you!
oh btw my CO spoke arabic in the beginning of the interview which was surprising
and i told her your arabic is good how did u learn?
and she said she's been in Syria before for 2 years and learnt there a bit
then she told me how come your english is so good?? where did you learn english? and i told her it started when i was intermediate school in Syria when my cousins who are living in poland and were married and had children my age so they would come to Syria in the summer time and i couldnt communicate with the kids and i wanted to learn english and improve so i can talk to them and any forign person! and thats how it started! she said oh i see.
and then she looked through my file and said hmm ok everything seems fine, and she asked me if i submitted the courier delivery document for passport delivery and i said yea i submitted. then she said ok and she started typing on the computer and then i said oh so my wife is half Egyptian and she speaks arabic which is great for my parents to be able to talk to her and she said yea thats nice!
and then she said: umm ok so we'll send ur visa in 5 bussiness days to the post office u suggested! and i was sooooo happy and said omg im so excited because my wife already made plans for us for the Christmas vacation trip around California and im so excited and happy i will be able to be with her!
and she said ohh that sounds nice im jealous!
i was so happy during the whole interview! because my CO was so chill and super nice and smiling many times and she made me feel it was like friends talk!
alright, after that i said thank you and have a good day! and left with big smile and eyes little tears of joy
and was so happyyy that my visa is approved
so i got out of the embassy around 11:30ish am and went to the cafe and got my phone and turned it on and called my wife and played a small trick which was mean of me but i just did it for few seconds i told her that i got a.p :D and she started to freak out and cry and i was like heyyyy visa approveddd im so sorry haha and she promised me she's gonna punch me in stomach when she's gonna pick me from SFO airport :D hahaha
then went told her the whole interview how it went and we were both so happy!
then booked the flight for Dec 7th
and when i came back to the dorm i checked the case status and it was showing administrative prossesing and then after like 3 hours i checked again and it showed ISSUED and was so happy
and the next day morning got an email from the embassy saying that my visa package has ben submitted to the post office!
and after 2 hours i got a text mesage on my phone from the post office saying that your visa package is ready for pick up!
so i went rightaway to the post office and got the visa and was sooooooooo crazy happy and exciteddd
so overall about the US ankara embassy i would say it was fantastic!
good luck for everybody for their interview!
one thing i want to mention is that unfortunately people here in turkey dont follow the VisaJourney website..  which is sad because i was so stressing out before the interview and i couldnt find any review up to date!!! all reviews were like 2 years ago and then 4 years ago and 5 years ago 7 years ago...
so i wish people here in turkey join this website and write reviews about their interview experience!!!
that's all!!
good luck for everybody!
cheers!
(updated on November 20, 2014)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #15642