>>>URGENT PLEASE: Help / advice re travel visa from Turkey (Earthquake!)

[BarbaraKobzik 0]

Hi,

I need urgent help / advice for a friend (US citizen) whose family lost everything in the Earthquake in Turkey and currently has no place to go. He flew to Turkey, and he and his family are now in a hotel in Ankara, he was able to get his family from the earthquake region to there. He wants to bring them over to his place in the US (Orlando, Florida) for now until things are somewhat stable in Turkey. He has a big house, so no financial problem, he can sponsor them. 

Does anybody know if there is an emergency visa process for a visitor's visa for people from Turkey, coming from the earthquake region? His Mom is 83, his brother has down syndrome, and then there is another brother with wife and two small kids. They are from Hatay /Iskenderun. It has been a very long week (or more by now) for them, sleeping in a car with all of them. It would be great to get them out on an emergency visitor' visa as soon as possible.

Anybody with contacts to immigration or embassy? Any advice / help with viva / visa appointment in Ankara would be much appreciated ! Thank you very much.  

[BIGUN 1,486]

2 hours ago, BarbaraKobzik said:

He flew to Turkey, and he and his family are now in a hotel in Ankara, he was able to get his family from the earthquake region to there.

There is a US Embassy in Ankara and it is now open from 8:30-5:30.

https://tr.usembassy.gov/ 

[wmw999 2,589]

I’m checking with a cousin who used to be in the State Department in the area. All visas normally require an interview, and those are done one.at.a.time by the local office. It’s normally not a fast, easy, or certain process for normal people. My nephew’s parents haven’t been able to get a visa to come visit them from India, even for a wedding. They’re employed with lots of ties in India

Wendy P. 

[BarbaraKobzik 0]

On 2/21/2023 at 4:02 PM, wmw999 said:

I’m checking with a cousin who used to be in the State Department in the area. All visas normally require an interview, and those are done one.at.a.time by the local office. It’s normally not a fast, easy, or certain process for normal people. My nephew’s parents haven’t been able to get a visa to come visit them from India, even for a wedding. They’re employed with lots of ties in India

Wendy P. 

Wendy, that is great, thanks much. It’s almost impossible to get an appointment in the Ankara embassy. Usually there are humanitarian emergency visas but we can’t reach anybody to figure out how to get that. Any concrete information would be very much appreciated. 

Wendy, any luck yet? Thanks so much for checking!

On 2/21/2023 at 3:32 PM, BIGUN said:

There is a US Embassy in Ankara and it is now open from 8:30-5:30.

https://tr.usembassy.gov/ 

Yes thank you. 

[BarbaraKobzik 0]

Wendy, any luck yet with your cousin? Thank you so much for checking, things have become pretty desperate. 

[wmw999 2,589]

No luck yet. It’s actually the daughter in law of a first cousin (but i do actually know her), so the connection is tenuous.

Locally, Catholic Charities sponsors a lot of refugees, and they did where I used to live 2000 miles away as well. You might want to give them a call where your friend lives to see if they have ideas

Wendy P. 

[wmw999 2,589]

Ok, I got an answer. Not a good one, but an accurate one:

Quote

Long story short: the embassy will have appointment information etc.

The challenge they will face is the presumption of immigrant intent. For a visitor visa, you have to show proof of strong ties outside the US that you can’t abandon; you need to prove that you have some place that you absolutely have to go back to.

If their home has been destroyed in the quake, it’s going to make it more difficult to establish that their stay in the US would be strictly temporary, and that they would not need to take up employment here.

Without all the facts in front of me I couldn’t say more, and it would not be appropriate to speculate further about their chances of obtaining a visa. But realistically, I think many people who have been displaced by this tragedy would have a hard time overcoming that presumption (which is written into the law).

Check the Dept of State website for information about responding to the quake, and check the website for USCIS (citizen and immigration services) to see if there are special considerations for survivors of the earthquake.

I’m sorry I can’t be more encouraging. I also know that most visa services were shut down for a looooong time during the height of the pandemic, and are working hard to overcome the resulting backlogs, so even in the best of circumstances they would still be waiting awhile for an appointment.

As residents of the EU, they would have right of entry to any other EU country, some of them with relatively lower cost of living than some of the higher ones. Not helpful if your friend has no ties in Europe, but it’s the only guaranteed one.

And you can still talk to Catholic Charities  

Wendy P.