Ailene and Ali

You can look at our timeline. My husband also submitted the DS-5535 and we waited an entire year, several updates but still refused. After we reached the 13th month of waiting, we filed a Mandamus lawsuit in February of this year. Visa was issued in about two months, and he arrived in the US on May 15th. I cannot tell you how many emails I sent and had two of my state senators inquire on our behalf and was told we just have to wait until Washington completed their checks. This doesn't mean yours will take that long. Some as I am sure you have read complete in a few weeks, months or a year. I am sending prayers your way and hopefully it completes soon. 

Ankara embassy handles Iraqi and Iranian citizens, and I am sure other nationalities. My husband was assigned to Ankara due to Baghdad embassy being closed. He just had to obtain a Turkish visa for entry which was good for 30 days to go for his medical and interview. 

oh yes sorry I submitted the I-134. So I will add the I-864 with his packet. Thank you so much for your help. 

Hello. My fiance entered on a K1 visa and we are now married and preparing his register for permanent residence. Looking through my timeline I have the I-485, I-765 and I-131 and the supporting documents for each form. Is this all that needs to be sent in? Since an I-864 affadavit of support was done prior to his interview, I do not need to send this form again correct? The I-693 when does this get submitted? Thank you for your help. 

My husband went through the same thing although he is not Turkish. He is Iraqi and was assigned to Ankara embassy. He received the DS-5535 and we waited a year before filing a WOM. Our lawsuit took only 3 months to complete everything, and he is finally here. He only traveled to Turkey (where we would vacation together) and Syria. No one knows how or why people are selected. I read so many cases that their fiance/spouse never traveled and got the DS-5535. Perhaps he has a name that pinged the system. Washington will have to do their checks, as we were told many times this cannot be expedited, just wait and check your emails. Once they are done with their checks then the embassy will proceed. Some cases complete in a few weeks and others, a year or more. I wish you the best of luck and hopefully more couples with this experience will chime in. Sending prayers your way and that you will be reunited soon. 

Yes the Ankara embassy is open. For K1 applicants you have to schedule your own appointment, visit the website for Ankara embassy.  You have to check daily for the embassy to open up appointment slots. It took my fiance three weeks before finally accessing the appointment calendar. This was back in October 2021 so it may be quicker now. 

What is so difficult is not knowing how long to wait. We filed a WOM so not sure if that helps in the issuance. 

K1 fiancé visa, I am the US Citizen, and my fiancé is from Baghdad and his case was assigned to Ankara embassy. After a year of waiting for the DS-5535 we received the email that AP is completed and to renew medical and send passport. He flew from Baghdad to Ankara and did his medical this morning. I am sure it is not wise for him to wait in Turkey. Does he fly back and then ships his passport to the embassy? And this can be done with DHL I assume so he can have a tracking number. Also, it said to update the DS160 only if it is re-opened status. I log onto CEAC like I normally do, and I do not see any message about resubmitting the DS160. I want to make sure we are not missing anything. Thank you!

My fiance is Iraqi and interviewed at Ankara on January 25, 2022. There was a checklist online that mentioned passport photos taken within 30 days prior to your interview, and we also updated our intent to marry letters. His experience was good, had a straight to the point officer, and he made copies of several of our items. We prepared a notebook full because I did not want to have any delays for missing paperwork. 

Our reply came with the following:  

This is an automated e-mail, please do not reply. 

We would like to confirm that we received your DS-5535 form.

Unfortunately our office cannot predict how long this processing will take. However, as soon as it is completed, we will reach out to you via e-mail to explain the next steps required to proceed with your application.  If we need any further information regarding your application, we will reach out to you directly via e-mail.

My fiancé interviewed in Ankara on January 25 of this year and still waiting. Our cases did update about 7 times, most recent update was August 17th. I have noticed some cases completed at 2 weeks or a year. I am trying to avoid filing a lawsuit as long as our case keeps updating. My fiancé is Iraqi. It is very frustrating and best advice I can give is stay busy planning trips together. We spent time in Turkey in July and now I am planning trip to Iraq in November. I am praying that he is here in Texas before then. 

Our DS-5535 request also came by email and it should tell you how they want the information submitted back to them. For our embassy we had to send it back in Word document. Once you send, they should send you a confirmation email stating they received it. 

Does the message also say that the embassy will open up appointments and to keep checking? My fiance had his interview in Ankara, Turkey and when we registered his appointment I remember checking daily for about 6 weeks and then the embassy opened up appointments. I am not familiar with your embassy but it sounds like the same situation. We were told to just keep checking and we are K1 visa. I hope this information helps you, if not I am sure someone will chime in with more information. 

My Iraqi fiancé interviewed in Ankara in January and used a referral and he is awesome! He has all the required paperwork and has dealt with Ankara embassy. I emailed his certification and few details to embassy prior to interview. Look for  Omer Ejder on Facebook. 

I can only share my personal experience when I received an RFE. 

June 16, 2020 - mailed RFE to USCIS, June 19 status update received RFE reply at 8pm. July 16 NOA2 approval. I hope this helps.

Congratulations!

Congratulations and welcome to Texas!

It may give you access the day before your interview and I’m sure it’s Covid related. I would email the embassy just to make sure. 

Hello I did find a translation office in Ankara for when the time comes for my fiance. The name of the company is Yakamoz Ankara Translation office. Here is the link 

https://www.yakamoztercume.com/en   Good luck on your interview! 

You can find me on Facebook messenger [removed]. 

Not sure if getting married and withdrawing our K1 will be faster process but I am scared that our case fell into the “black hole” that people speak of. When we started the K1 route I just knew it was the quickest way for us to be together. Did not know how long he would have to wait for his EAD card. I heard many comments that I should’ve married and file spousal because he is from a MENA country although Iraq is not considered a high fraud area. There are so many rumors of lawyers telling their clients to start over and marry. I e seen a few new cases getting approved spousal petition in six months.  I pray that Baghdad Embassy reopens! 🙏🏼

Our case has been sitting at the Ankara embassy since October 2020. I have emailed my Senator more than once and no reply. I even filed a complaint on DOS website stating discrimination of Iraqis. Watching timelines of cases arriving in the past months get their interview because they live in Turkey. Our case is sitting there while others get in front of us. Embassy replies with the same message every time. Not sure if getting a lawyer will help or not. Right now we are thinking about just getting married in Erbil in November and filing for spousal instead and maybe by then process will be back to normal. If we go the spousal route I hope we can request NVC to send our case to Jordan. I did hear that it takes years of living in Turkey to get residency, not sure how true that is. So frustrating! 

You always have the option to email the embassy. I can tell you that our case was sent to the Ankara embassy in Turkey this past October 2020, and we are still waiting for an interview date. This was suppose to be the part where everything moves a lot faster, but because of Covid it has taken this long. Hopefully they will start making their way through the backlog, and your embassy requests your case soon. Good luck and I hope you hear something soon. 

Hopefully there will be movement soon. My case has been sitting at the Ankara Embassy since last October and my fiance is also Iraqi, so we are waiting for Covid restrictions to be lifted before they will contact us for an interview. You have a resident card so the only thing I can think of is that the Embassy has not requested more cases to be sent over to them. I would keep trying and I pray that you and everyone else sees movement soon! 

I used Rapid Visa too and they should've provided you with a tracking number at least so you can see that it was delivered. I wish I was a part of this group before I paid Rapid Visa. The reason I say this, is because every time I called Rapid Visa, I would get different answers, and those response were from people that did not personally go through the immigration process. There are so many members on here that will give you great advice. Welcome to the group!