ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Middle East and North AfricaHow many of you
http://www.ou.edu/ssa/learn.htm

http://www.studyabro...abic/index.html

http://languagestudy...d.com/Syria.cfm

i also think the syrian dialect would be closer to what would be spoken in jordan versus the egyptian one, but that's just me.

damascus is also a very safe city and the government/local authorities go overboard when it comes to the protection of its foreign presence/tourists etc. i never felt odd or unsafe there ever during my stay. it's also pretty cheap....way cheaper than jordan FTW.

i'm not hating on jordan, but i just think it's overpriced for no good reason.

QUOTE (enraptured @ Sep 9 2009, 09:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
http://www.ou.edu/ssa/learn.htm

http://www.studyabro...abic/index.html

http://languagestudy...d.com/Syria.cfm

i also think the syrian dialect would be closer to what would be spoken in jordan versus the egyptian one, but that's just me.

damascus is also a very safe city and the government/local authorities go overboard when it comes to the protection of its foreign presence/tourists etc. i never felt odd or unsafe there ever during my stay. it's also pretty cheap....way cheaper than jordan FTW.

i'm not hating on jordan, but i just think it's overpriced for no good reason.


if you wanted to go tour those jordanian tourist spots as well, you could do it for much cheaper than the program and all that for 4500 bucks. you can easily take a bus to jordan, get a cheap hotel, get a cheap tour guide who will guide you to all those spots, etc...

i dunno, good luck with whatever you decide!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-09 20:09:00
Middle East and North AfricaHow many of you
damn what a rip off. you should go to syria or egypt instead.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-09 18:55:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA CR1/K3/K1 filers
QUOTE (childress_london @ Sep 10 2009, 12:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
We had our interview today and we were approved. They would not let us come back and pick up the visa, so we have to wait until it comes in the mail. The lady that took the documents was nice but the one who interviewed us was not. As far as I know he did not get AP...he got the welcome to the united states of america letter, but the lady was so rude to us that I don't trust her. I won't believe it until I see it. :-P
congrats!!!!!!!!!!! that's awesome!!!! kicking.gif kicking.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-10 20:02:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA CR1/K3/K1 filers
QUOTE (Kenza @ Sep 6 2009, 12:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'm selfish like that too. My husband has one week in France between his tests and before I left he said he wasn't going to go visit his family in Morocco and then last week he says he wants to and then I said no, blah blah and then finally i gave up telling him no and he books his ticket to Morocco for one week. I was and still am very mad because before he was supposed to come and spend Eid with me and now he's going to Morocco and spending some days of Ramadan and Eid with the family and not with me.

Olivia, inshallah I hope everything works out and I pray inshallah the visa gets to him SOON! I will be so excited that day inshallah. Take care (hugs) luv.gif


no offense sister, but he's going to be coming to you for a lifetime hopefully anyways. and he probably won't be able to see these family members for quite some time...i don't blame him for his decision...not everyone can up and fly halfway across the way just to see family and friends....at least, not most people out there smile.gif

hope it all works out in the end.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-07 06:48:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA CR1/K3/K1 filers
QUOTE (Kenza @ Sep 1 2009, 03:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Just stopping by to say hubby got his visa!!!!!!!!!! Will buy ticket inshallah when I get home from school smile.gif

mabrook! good news!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-01 23:44:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA CR1/K3/K1 filers
QUOTE (Amanda_Raad @ Jul 27 2009, 11:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (amysaid @ Jul 27 2009, 02:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
well, it looks like maybe no visa after all. ahmed called dhl and they said that his passport is still inside the embassy, that that message "Departed Facility" doesn't mean anything, it's just an update that they do. sad.gif So disappointing.

Amy...my hubby's visa said the same thing on Aramex...it said "picked up" like 2 minutes after he left the embassy for his interview. I called Aramex and they told me it was still at the embassy...they had just entered the airbill so you can have the tracking number when they actually send it. It took about 5 days to get to us...after 2 days the status changed. Good luck to you!


Ok...update on the job situation. I had a meeting with HR a few minutes ago and expressed my concern with how I feel discriminated against...etc. Her response was "oh we are a private company and we reserve the right to allow who we want into the building...what you said was inflammatory whether they told exactly what you said or not, it still caused an issue. Being married to who you are married to, you know that you will face these kinds of obstacles. It is better that you socialize outside of work with co-workers and not mention any personal things at work. I understand that it seems unfair, but really it is a one time thing that is in your file about your behavior, not about who you are married to. If this incident wouldn't have happened I am sure it would have been ok to bring your husband in to work to meet everyone."

Being married to who I am married to? Come again?? Really? I am pissed beyond words right now. I, an American Christian woman, went to the middle east and got a much warmer, open, loving reception. I feel more loved in the middle east than I do in my own country. I mean really?? Tonight begins the serious search for another job.


after you have hopefully found another job...i would find a lawyer and talk about options you can pursue regarding the above. that's absolutely disgusting behavior. you can argue that you felt so uncomfortable being there after having had that discussion with HR that you felt forced to leave....sorry to hear that...nice sick little world we live in nowadays sad.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-07-29 14:48:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA CR1/K3/K1 filers
try these sites also for cheap deals:

http://www.sidestep.com

http://www.travelzoo.com

http://www.tripmania.com

congrats! and good luck smile.gif

kat
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-06-22 13:26:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA CR1/K3/K1 filers
congratulations!!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-04-22 18:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA CR1/K3/K1 filers
Guess I'll be joining this list as well. My husband is Syrian and I'm still waiting for NOA2 for the I-130 but pending some research, nagging, and endless antagonizing I am considering sending in for the CR-1 visa with my I-864....he was rejected for a tourist visa last March when he wanted to come here (this was back when we had no interest in him coming here to live, I wish I did everything different now sad.gif ) and I hope that the Damascus embassy is a) not horrible and cool.gif not going to hold that against him.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-03-18 14:55:00
Middle East and North AfricaUpcoming Interview
QUOTE (CasandraYounes @ Sep 11 2009, 04:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
he never received a packet from Casablanca, he did when we were doing the K3 and that fee was $135, but since we switched to the CR1 we haven't received anything except for info from NVC and Casa saying by email that they received our file


really? so this goes for everyone? another expense? sad.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-12 01:13:00
Middle East and North AfricaMissing him...
sometimes the simplest things are the easiest answers....spend time with people, distract yourself from your situation, watch a silly movie/tv show, go out...do an activity....time will go quicker as well...

we're all in your shoes, one way or another, trust me...you can do it, but you have to prepare for a hard and long wait.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-06 20:22:00
Middle East and North AfricaSyria Cracks Open Its Frail Economy
QUOTE (Donna A @ Sep 11 2009, 11:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
where were the KFC's. i didnt see anything american when i was there. the second time i went i did see someone selling pepsi products. my husband thought they were probably smuggled in or something cuz he never saw it there before.


i'm really bad with names, but it was near rook eldeen (if that's how you spell it??) going towards a nice area, 5 minutes from where the embassies are mainly congregated...

pepsi products...weird? i don't remember bebsi but there was coke and sprite and 7/11 and all that...

it's starting to change, slowly but surely...

there were areas that, if i had the money and leisure...i'd definitely go and retire in. just GORGEOUS...

i've only been to jordan to compare to another arab country but i definitely was surprised, i think syria has way more to offer and is more intriguing, cheap, etc etc...people are lovely...nice mix of everything.

ive been to jordan three times and detest it...it's too expensive (last year i spent nearly $3000 for a horrible hotel room, horrible food, etc), not much to see, people are ....unique let's say...etc. i think there's huge potential there, but the system is not allowing for it..and in essence this "system" exists in all of the middle east...no room for the middle man to grow.

i hope that the middle east will be more innovative in years to come...more openness, development, etc....it can be great if given the chance to really experiment with new ideas and what not.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-11 10:49:00
Middle East and North AfricaSyria Cracks Open Its Frail Economy
QUOTE (S and S @ Sep 11 2009, 03:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Wish there would have been a KFC when I was there, lol.

I would like to see relations between the US and Syria open up more. I just hope that life for the Syrians improves and that it doesn't come back to haunt the US later.


kfc stinks...yeah i saw two i think when i was there...it was pretty nice tongue.gif

i saw signs of change, but it's going to take a while...hopefully things improve over the next few years.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-11 04:21:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionChanging Religion
QUOTE (santa cruz @ Aug 13 2009, 05:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (enraptured @ Aug 11 2009, 11:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
santa cruz, sorry to hear about your case being sent back. may i ask why....i'm in the process of getting my AOS packet together and want to also nitpick at whatever i can to ensure that we don't get rejected....



I met a man much younger than me from Syria and after several months of talking via online and by phone we decided to meet. This was my first trip abroad and I didn't want to go to Syria, so I asked him if we could meet in Jordan as I had heard they had good relationship with the U.S. My flight was delayed 7 hours and when I finally arrived in Jordan he was no where to be found. Needless to say it took a lot of people to help me to locate the hotel he was staying at. We both were so upset about losing one another. We spent several days just enjoying each others company and the day I was suppose to leave was quickly coming. He asked me to marry him, saying he doesn't want to feel that loss again. I knew how he felt. So we hurriedly got married in the couple days we had left. So then I came back to the states and set about to find a way to get him here with me. I went to a woman who was suppose to be highly qualified in visa matters. This was in 2007 and she was suppose to file the papers before the fees went up, she waited to long and they sent the forms back. I was out of the country with my husband at the time in Turkey (Istanbul) so when I got back I had to re-file again. This was in jan. 08. We went thru all the required paper work and he was set for his interview on jan. 09. His interview was in Jordan due to the fact that the Syrian embassy was closed at the time. We got married on Feb. 14, 2006. The woman that was helping us told us not to take our proof to the interview that they would set up a second one to view the proof. So thats what we did. When the officer found out he did not have any proof with him he just kicked him out and told him that his visa was going back to the NVC then to the USCIS for further review. I went back to this woman and told her and all she said was sorry but i can't help you any further. a week later I did contact another lawyer and she immediatly sent out 2 requests to the embassy in Jordan to reinterview him before it was sent back. They told her that it was already on its way back to the NVC then to the uscis. It got to the uscis on march 23, 2009. Then this lawyer had to step down. So I contacted the senator aid and she told me that what they are doing now is a back ground check on my husband and it was up to his government to send it back in a timely manner. its been 120 days since the USCIS had it. Two days ago I found out that they have made a decision and we would recieve it in 2 - 4 weeks. We are hoping that they will give me the chance to show our proof but we are expecting the worse. I have left the states to be with my husband in Syria as 2 and a half years have been very hard and we are ready to start our life together and work on additional proof while we are waiting the USCIS to decide our fate. I have checked into getting residency here and it would take 3 - 6 months. We got married on Feb. 14, 2006.
Do you know if they will send a NOID or NOIR?
His form that he recieved at the consulate just said that it was being sent back for further review. It did have some numbers on it section 212(a) (5)(a) and 9 fam 41.81, N6.5 and when I looked it up it was about labor visa. I had a laywer to even double check and that is what it states. Do you have any suggestions if we could do anything with the fact they send it back stating the labor visa?

i really do not, im sorry...im even newer to this than you are sad.gif
and i'm extremely neurotic, i photocopy everything twice and three times and make sure hubby has copies etc etc etc...like now, he's got all the proof for the interview, and i burned all the pics on a cd. the only thing missing was phone records, but ive written a letter explaining why i cant get my phone records and they could call t-mobile to ask for them if they want to. the other stuff is just ridiculous, im really sorry for what you are going through. Inshallah it all works out for the best. rose.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-14 11:31:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionChanging Religion
QUOTE (ABENITEZ @ Aug 14 2009, 10:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I am confused, this topic is supposed to be about religion. I would suggest you post your story in the IR/CR forum because you will get more replies about it there.


she was just replying to my question...
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-14 11:28:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionChanging Religion
QUOTE (santa cruz @ Aug 13 2009, 05:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (enraptured @ Aug 11 2009, 11:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
santa cruz, sorry to hear about your case being sent back. may i ask why....i'm in the process of getting my AOS packet together and want to also nitpick at whatever i can to ensure that we don't get rejected....


Just have a lot of proof. Anything you do together make sure to get some proof of it. Also putting it in a time line for them. Did you already get your visa to the states?


1) we did not want to do this in the beginning so i dont have much. i have a stack of emails from maybe february 2007 to present, all my itineraries for going there to see him (3 trips in total in these two years, and i would spend a month or two in each time), some phone cards, no phone records (see my sig below), and over 60+ pics, as well as three to four affidavits from friends and family. that's good enough?
2) we are still clearing through NVC so hopefully once they are done we will be getting an interview date soon enough.

are the people at the embassy kind/polite/mean/annoying/etc?
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-14 11:24:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionChanging Religion
santa cruz, sorry to hear about your case being sent back. may i ask why....i'm in the process of getting my AOS packet together and want to also nitpick at whatever i can to ensure that we don't get rejected....
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-11 22:12:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussioncr1
did you register with USCIS for email updates? they should be emailing you about your case?

call NVC and ask if you have a case number, their number is (603) 334-0700, press 1 then press 5 to speak to an operator. make sure you have your USCIS case number ready. at that point, you either get the number and an IIN (Invoice Identification Number) (although most of the time i've noticed they don't provide this over the phone, but you should be getting a letter via snail mail with it) and pay online or pay by money order.

if you pay online, it's better and quicker. http://travel.state..../info_3906.html

get ready to get your paperwork together. i guess you should look at this too:
http://www.visajourn...e_NVC_ShortCut
it helped me out a lot.

good luck.

Edited by enraptured, 20 August 2009 - 10:15 PM.

meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-20 22:12:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussionvisa processing fee
no it's for NVC:

http://travel.state..../info_1335.html
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-20 13:41:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionMedical Exam Costs
Hi all,

Does the medical cost the same in every country or does each country have their own set price?

Just curious, I'm guessing at this point, we need to start thinking about this...

Thanks,
Enraptured
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-31 02:14:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussioni really really need help about administrative processing after the interview
QUOTE (kofo @ Sep 3 2009, 04:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
hops soooooooo smile.gif


to enraptured
if u r from syria ... and if u need anything ... just let me know ur mobile number ... or ur mail ... and i will try to tell u anything u want smile.gif


kofo, my husband is from syria smile.gif i was just there from may to july...actually, i was blown away. it's a beautiful country, great food, nice people, good times...hope to go back again one day...but we are doing the immigrant visa, very different from yours, but i still wanted to ask you what you went through to assess for myself what hubby will endure...Inshallah it will work out.

i'm glad that you got your visa, hope you have a wonderful time at your cousin's wedding!

best wishes,
enraptured
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-03 21:37:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussioni really really need help about administrative processing after the interview
by the way, can you describe how your interview went? what did they ask etc?
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-03 00:41:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussioni really really need help about administrative processing after the interview
Im sorry to hear that. There's nothing it seems that you can do but wait and keep in constant contact with the embassy, try to call or email every week and ask them what's going on with your case...sorry to hear that. I'm afraid that we will be in your shoes soon enough. sad.gif

Hang in there,
enraptured
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-03 00:16:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionIs engagement ring important?
you're going to ankara's embassy? go to kizilay, there are some cheap stores around there. we got our rings there...well, we actually liked and wanted ours lol....but you will find some trinket stores and what not that have some cheap stuff...try that...or i guess if you're coming from IR, you may have cheaper stuff there? just for show, who cares...
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-07 06:34:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussionpasted interveiw but did not get visa approval
no one can tell you that, it can take a short time or a very long time. you must prepare yourself for a wait, that's for sure.

sorry to hear, hope it all works out for the best.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-07 06:44:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionOk, so what basically goes down pre-interview?
another question: when people go to an interview with everything they've got and they are denied and ask for more evidence, what exactly can you really supply at that point, given that you've brought everything that you had with you already? what helps?
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-13 05:41:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionOk, so what basically goes down pre-interview?
So, my husband is having his interview October 27th at the US Embassy in Damascus, Syria.

My cousin's hubby went to Damascus a few weeks ago and I sent with him a bunch of stuff for the interview. In this packet was the following:

All our emails up until that point (I didn't put some because they were extremely private, but overall I'd say we have over 50 pages of stuff)
All my boarding passes and itineraries for my trips out there to see him (I went to Turkey in 2007 when we got married, Jordan + Turkey in 2008, and now Syria this past May 2009)
A CD with over 60 pictures of us together, as well as pics of our wedding ceremony and with my mom and sis, my sis, and our mutual friends (he will print these out over there as it's much cheaper)

And that's it...he already has copies of my birth certificate (certified of course), my old divorce decrees (also stamped and certified), etc.

He has a really long letter that I wrote him for his birthday in June 2007, the rest were destroyed...got wet when they were sitting in storage and it flooded.

I am planning to send him a PDF copy of my last tax return as I do my taxes online and he can just go ahead and print it out, according to an email I got from NVC after our case was completed, he needs that...I dunno why, but whatever.

He already has copies of everything else that we sent into NVC, and he has his own original copies of his birth certificate and police certificate. If need be, he could probably go and get the military certificate again, but I see this as a pointless thing, they will have these already at the embassy anyways, no?

We got married in Turkey, and I've posted this question in the Turkish thread here, to which I didn't get a reply, but we sent our only original copy of our marriage certificate to NVC. I have to basically give my cousin power of attorney to obtain certified copies of this marriage decree in TR, since neither of us can really afford to go there just for a freaking piece of paper. This process itself will take forever, so we just said ok forget it, let's hope that what they have is enough...

And...........I guess that's it. Besides that, I made copies of every single freaking piece of paper that I have sent it starting from the original I-130 application upward.....is this enough?

Am I missing anything? I should mention that on that email I got from NVC that states when our interview was, there was a list of documents and next to them letters that depicted whether certain documents were already supplied, or were not needed, etc. Fortunately, we gave everything they required, so I don't think we need anymore stuff. But I'm no fool and I want to make sure that we have everything we need....now is this fine? Do people take extra stuff with them to the embassy besides everything I've depicted above?

Also, after he does his medical and what not and gets the results...when does the fingerprinting process work itself in? Does this occur at the time of the interview?

I'm guessing we already paid for everything necessary at this point, so he won't need any money on him when he goes?

Any other tips?

He pretty much knows all there is to know about me, we don't believe in keeping secrets, even if they are painful....case in point, we've discussed our exes before, which is a ####### topic for the both of us, but we felt that we had to know what went down in those relationships so we could avoid those mistakes in our current one.

Thanks....and even a bigger thanks if you've managed to read through this entire post lol

kat
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-13 04:33:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionQuit or wait
wait...enough said.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-13 09:32:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionNVC sent case to wrong consulate, now what?
QUOTE (Rohini @ Sep 10 2009, 11:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My fiance recently received Packet 3, however in an email New Delhi informed him that his case will be transfered to Mumbai. (Thank God! Who wants to have to interview in New Delhi if they don't have to?!!)

He is confused whether he should return the forms to New Delhi or what. Does anyone know or have experience with this? He has contacted New Delhi by email but has not yet gotten a reply. No luck contacted them by phone yet...


I don't understand...if the case was transferred to Mumbai, how is that the wrong consulate?

If they emailed him about the move already, why is there hesitation on sending the papers to Delhi? My guess would be to send them to Mumbai? Has your fiance contacted the Mumbai consulate to confirm his case being there?
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-11 01:22:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionDo tax returns need to be notarized?
QUOTE (Leo&Farah @ Jul 18 2009, 02:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (enraptured @ Jul 19 2009, 02:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Most banks usually have notaries that will notarize your stuff with free, granted that you can prove you have an account with them...that's what I've been doing. Better than paying for it!



That's neat that they do it there. Over here banks don't do that kinda thing. I tried and they stared at me blankly. Ended up having to go to a commissioner of oaths to notarize my application for a police cert which cost money. Not a lot, but not free either.


that's really weird...you're in MD? are you close to DC? maybe you can head on there one of these days and try one of your bank branches? i used to do this also with my bank in DC....but yeah that sucks...but at least you've got a cheap option, which isn't too bad either.

sad.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-07-20 17:33:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionDo tax returns need to be notarized?
Most banks usually have notaries that will notarize your stuff with free, granted that you can prove you have an account with them...that's what I've been doing. Better than paying for it!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-07-18 13:33:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionK1 Visa for iranian got Approved
im sorry and hope that she will get out of AP soon sad.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-21 06:40:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionOCTOBER INTERVIEWS
yeah...there's two other threads with people who posted about october interviews...

mine is october 27th kicking.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-10 19:49:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionInterview is in Ankara Turkey, any sugestions?
QUOTE (M_n_M @ Aug 12 2009, 05:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Oh and I've heard that in Turkey you MIGHT have some problem with theft, a few friends of mine went there for vacation --one got their purse stolen, another got his leather jacket stolen, and one even got their passport stolen... just keep an eye out for your things and don't take more money that you need to out with you...I probably wouldn't leave passports in hotel rooms or anywhere within reach. Apparently the cops aren't very cooperative either. But hopefully NONE of this will happen to you... and either way, most of it seems to happen in Istambul and not Ankara... but I guess all this is common sense no matter where one travels.


in 2007 i was in turkey to get married, i went to the embassy and signed the affidavit to marry from there. once i left, we realized (me and hubby) that i didn't have my passport. went back, asked if they had kept it, looked all around the area, freaked out....it was gone. i had to go back in and request an emergency passport, but not before going to the local police station and filling out a report...totally ridiculous. they only were nice to me because i was cerkez. on top of that, we had to get that translated and notarized LOL.

do definitely be careful...larger cities tend to attract more thieves although ankara is way safer than istanbul in my opinion, most likely due to the government, military and police presence there.

in regards to accomodations...well, we stayed at this ghetto hotel in Ulus, mostly because it was cheap. it was 50 YTL a night, if you are interested, it was Otel Cevizoglu, a 5 minute taxi ride from the posthane in Kizilay. the staff is pretty polite and nice. the rooms weren't bad but the bathroom sucked biggrin.gif

there are some gambling spots and seedy areas nearby, but generally it wasn't too bad. you may feel weird about it if you're used to staying at the hilton or something. hotels are expensive in general in Ankara.

QUOTE (Hagi @ Sep 7 2009, 08:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Don't be suprised if they treat you like dirt. I went all the way there for my wife's first K3 visa and they yelled at me right off the back and said they only wanted to talk to my wife.

They did not give her the visa right away and made us first submit proof we were married through phone bills, emails, and more pictures... Make sure you have these things incase they screw you too.

They just denied my wife again after the CR-1 interview and put us on AP, which can take 1-6 months extra. There is no reason for it... they are just haters. My tiny wife looks like a threat to them I guess.


sorry to hear about this sad.gif hope your AP ends quickly
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-08 00:20:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussionk1 visa rejected at chennai consulate
i have no advice but just want to convey my condolences and hope you get things sorted out rose.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-10-23 23:12:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionVisa Interview gone wrong
congrats, at least this obstacle has been passed! good.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-11-07 10:26:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionVisa Interview gone wrong
sorry to hear that, but hang in there, it will end soon.....
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-10-21 15:52:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussionwho's still in AP in pakistan ?
QUOTE (kabhatti @ Nov 8 2009, 08:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Is it safe to say that male beneficiaries have a higher chance of Administrative Processing?


yeah, definitely 100%
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-11-08 20:30:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionKati had her interview today
congrats, good news!!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-11-09 12:11:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionHow does embassies, etc. verify details about your relationship and yourselves?
QUOTE (Galt's gallstones @ Nov 8 2009, 10:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Congratulations on his approval! star_smile.gif star_smile.gif star_smile.gif star_smile.gif star_smile.gif When do you expect him to arrive here in the states?


thanks a lot biggrin.gif

we are looking at 2-4 weeks, i want to definitely start searching for plane tickets when i am sure he has his passport/visa in his hand. i just read some posts on here from people who were told that they were approved, had their passports taken away, then apparently are going through AP. so my bubble is slightly pricked but if they give his passport to him next thursday as they say, then we will start. i definitely want to aim before the end of the month though! he's been bugging me to take him to a thai restaurant in manhattan right after we leave the airport LOL ....

good times kicking.gif kicking.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-11-08 15:33:00