As far as I know, the most difficult visa for us is the UK and US visas.. Although this scared me a little at first, I decided to apply for a US visa.. It was not clear when and how I would go to the country, but I started the process with the thought that we will get the visa and of course we will go.
The visa I applied for is a “non-immigrant visa”, that is, a tourist visa.. First of all, you need to go to the link below and fill out the DS-160 form.. After clicking the link, you choose Turkey/Istanbul or Ankara and continue.
https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/
This DS -160 form is quite long and there are dozens of questions. By the way, the form is not in Turkish but in English.. But the questions are not the kind that cannot be answered. If even I was able to fill it with my half-baked English, you can fill it out without any trouble, so be comfortable.
Based on my own experience and my knowledge of the visas that your spouse and friend have received before, there are a few points I can recommend while filling out the form. (These are not precise, just my advice).
I suggest you upload the visa photo digitally when filling out the form.. You can continue without this photo and submit a photo when you go to the application, but instead of trying again, upload your photo taken at 5cm by 5cm American Visa standards to the form.. If your photo complies with the standards, they will not request extra photos from you in the application and will use this photo for the visa to be issued.. Of course, you should still take a photo when you go to the application, just in case.. Also, the photo must have been taken within the last 6 months.. To understand this, they look to see if the photo you take is the same as the passport photo.. If it’s the same, they say come and get a new one.
For the USA visa photo, the background should be white and the bottom standard.
Another part of the form is who will you go to America with?. Unfortunately, there is no option to say “I will go alone, I have no acquaintances there”.. You will either enter the name, address and telephone information of a person residing in the United States, or you have to enter a company information that you will visit there.. According to the information I’ve learned before (it may be wrong information or a big urban legend), if you show an acquaintance in America, the authorities may find that you are more likely to go there and not come back.. For this reason, I did not specify him even though I have a relative in America, and I entered a hostel address in New York in the company information section and passed that section. What did you write in the monthly income?”. Even though my insurance is officially paid over the minimum wage, I marked my monthly income as 1.500-2.000 USD.
Finally, if your purpose of going is for touristic purposes, you need to choose the visa category B2.. The B2 category includes those who want to go both for health / treatment and for touristic purposes.
Another detail is that the system gives you a number when starting the form.. Make a note of that number and do not forget to save the form from time to time when entering the information as the form is very long.. Because when you wait for 3-4 minutes without doing anything, you are kicked out of the system somehow.. Then you can continue from where you left off by answering the form number and security question given to you at first.. If you want, you can also do this registration process by downloading the form to your computer, the choice is up to you.
Finally, when you complete the form completely, you browse through the individual pages for your final check.. If there is an error or omission, you can edit it.. You cannot make changes to the form again after giving the last approval, note here. If you think that there is an error in the form after giving the approval and you fill out a second form from scratch and continue your visa application that way, there is a possibility that they may ask why you filled out two forms during the interview, where you made a mistake (it may be an urban legend). Do not make extra questions for nothing (:
A barcode number is given to you after approval. This barcode number is like your visa application ticket.. After everything is finished in the form, you see your passport information on the screen, such as the same concert ticket (Visa Confirmation), and you need to take this ticket with you when you go to the appointment.. You do not take the DS-160 form. In addition, the ticket sample I mentioned is also sent to your e-mail address that you entered in the form.
If you’ve done the part up to this point, you don’t have anything to do with the form side.. It’s time to make an appointment.
Click on the link below to go to the official website of the American Consulate in Turkey.
https://ais.usvisa-info.com/tr-tr/niv
Click the “create account” tab at the top. You enter the necessary information to create a new account.. After logging into the system, it’s time to make an appointment.
You have to make the payment before making an appointment.. Here are two alternatives for the payment amount. One is 160 USD and the other is 400 TL. As you can see, they calculate the usd rate very high.. My advice to you is to choose usd and pay with your credit card.. Later, this payment will be reflected in your card statement in TL.. In any case, cut it less than 400 TL. (As of February 2014)
When I made the appointment, I chose 10:45 am, approximately 20 days later, since there was no room for 3-4 days later.. If there is no empty place on the day you want to go, if you send an explanatory e-mail on the site, they will help you about the appointment day.. But instead of dealing with these, it would be appropriate to make your application early and choose an appointment day according to your mind.. Unable to choose afternoon when choosing time. As far as I understand, appointments are only made before noon.
If you are aware of all these stages, you did not need any documents other than your passport.. The men do not want any paperwork from you anyway.. What they said; When you come to the interview, you can bring with you something to prove what you filled in the form, if the officer asks, it would be beneficial to show it.. These documents can roughly be like the following;
– 3-month payslip
– Signature circular of the company you work/own and trade registry newspaper sample
– Tax plate
– Signed permission letter from the company
– Your 3-month bank statement
– Deed of house or car, if any
– Flight ticket reservation
– If available letter of invitation
– Your old passport (Make sure to bring it if you have one)
You filled out the DS-160 form, made the payment and made the appointment. Now all that’s left is to take as much of the above documents as you can and go to the interview.
I went to the consulate in Istanbul. I prepared some of the documents and set off.. As far as I’ve talked to people who have gone to get visas before, everyone is very excited.. I heard that because of this excitement, he can’t speak comfortably in the interview and therefore it is getting stronger to get the visa.. I wasn’t excited about it as I usually have a relaxed demeanor. I was in the mode of going for a trip anyway, if they give, they won’t give if they don’t.. My advice to you is do not overestimate this visa business and get excited.. Because while I was waiting for the interview, the people I saw surprised me.. I’ll tell you what I saw in a moment.
I arrived at the consulate at around 9:30 for my appointment at 10:45.. After a small call at the door, I queued to go inside the building.. After waiting for 10 minutes, they let me in.. Here you are subject to a search like at the airport entrance.. If you have a cell phone or ipad or similar device with you, they do not let you in and there is no safe place.. That’s why I say don’t take anything electronic on you like I did.. But those who will come from outside the city can leave such electronic devices at the cafes opposite the consulate for 5 TL.. There are also cafes for breakfast and tea if there are people who go earlier than the appointment time.
After the security check, another officer will look at your Visa Comfirmation, photo and passport that you brought with you. If there is nothing missing, it sends you to the appointment meeting section.
You get on the elevator and enter the room. At the entrance, the officer at the counter takes your passport and Visa Comfirmation document and checks it, then prints a stamp and gives it back to you with a sequence number.
The environment here; It looks like a hall consisting of 8-9 booths like the bank entrance you know.. Before you sit down, your queue number lights up and you go to the box office.. You provide Passport and Visa Confirmation. The cashier tells you to take these and sit down.. 5 minutes later, your number is on again at another box office.. They take your fingerprints there too. Now you have come to the final stage. You sit back in your seat and wait to be called for an interview.
While you wait, you can hear the interviews of people who are in line. Because everything happens 2 meters in front of you. What the officer asks, what the other person answers, you hear them all. If you have a slightly excited nature, hearing these can negatively affect you.. Namely; the person sitting next to me was answering the questions asked aloud to himself, he was speaking one English and one Turkish.. The man isolated himself from the environment with excitement, it was like he would surrender his soul if you touched his shoulder.. I don’t know what that friend did, did he get the visa?. I wouldn’t be lying if I said I didn’t see a single person with a calm demeanor among the other waiting ones.. The man went to high school in America, he has a wife with him, they want to go together, the owner of the company. I mean, 99% will get the visa, but they give silly answers in the interview.. If the officer asks one, he gives ten answers.. The more you get ridiculous, the more the officer goes, asks for documents, etc.. So, what I understand is that the more comfortable you are, the easier it will be for you to get the visa.
Again, as I heard from other interviewers, while I was waiting, the officers asked for documents from some, while others did not ask for any documents and did a few things. it says your visa has been approved. At the other box office, someone who wants to go alone can ask questions such as “are you married, why is your spouse not coming with you on this visit?”. It is useful to be prepared for these types of questions that may come up.. If you stumble while answering, the attendant starts coming towards you (This is what I saw).
After waiting 5-10 minutes, my queue number burned out and I went to the box office.. I’d be lying if I said I was never excited, but I answered the questions in a short and clear way very comfortably.. The Turkish conversation I had with the 35-year-old, blond, stubby-bearded officer who interviewed me was exactly as follows;
– Hello
+ Hello (Ooooo I speak Turkish, I’m lucky )
– You have traveled a lot (After looking at the passport)
+ I try to travel the world as much as I can (Smile)
– When do you want to go?
+ In August
– How many days?
+ 3 weeks
– Where are you going?
+ New York
– Are you thinking of going anywhere else?
+ I’m thinking of going to other areas next time (Smile Give the visa, give the visa, and then go)
– What do you do?
+ I am a photographer
– Good job(Laughing) (the man laughed for the first time, I think he will give the visa)
+ Where Do you live?
– Istanbul
+ Which district?
– Ümraniye
+ Who are you staying with?
– I live alone
+ Your visa has been approved
– Thank you (The collapsing r smile given by ehave)
He gives you a white paper saying your visa has been approved and sends you.
As you can see He neither looked at my bank accounts nor asked for documents.. An urban legend is circulating that there are usually high amounts of money in the bank for a US visa.. I don’t really believe this. I don’t believe it because I know both from myself and because I know that someone who owns a company cannot get a visa even though it shows money with 6 zeros in his bank account.. In my personal opinion, the DS-160 form is 50% effective, and your attitude in the interview is 50% effective in issuing the visa.
Now you have to wait for your passport to arrive at the PTT branch you specified while filling out the form.. Mine arrived 2 business days later, with a 10-year US visa in it.
I tried to convey my visa process to you as much as I could, maybe even help. As you can imagine, my recommendations are not valid, I just shared my own thoughts with you.
Good luck with your visa application.
Add:
Does America give the visa for 10 years?. But that doesn’t mean you can go and stay there for 10 years.. The maximum period you can stay after entry is 6 months.. This period is up to the discretion of the officer you will meet when entering the country.. Any stamps in your passport etc.. It isn’t happening. Everything is done electronically. Before, when you enter the country, you are given a paper and it says how long you can stay.. Now there is no such thing. If you want to know how much is allowed, there is a site that can be viewed online, but I don’t know which one.. If it is very important, you can ask the officer you interviewed.. They were warm and friendly, don’t worry, you can ask them freely.
The 10-year visa is not a single-entry visa.. You can go in and out many times in these 10 years.
After getting my visa, I took a 35-day trip to America.. I just finished the west side. In addition to them, I went to Mexico Tijuana, Las Vegas and New York.. America is a beautiful place to visit, but too expensive. You can see how much I spent, how I entered the country, my travel notes and videos from the link.
Transportation:
To the consulate in Istanbul I used public transport. I would say don’t go by car and deal with the parking problem.. If I would describe it roughly;
Those who will come from the Anatolian side can come via Beşiktaş.
Beşiktaş;
40T or 22 They can take the bus no. and get off at the “hot springs” stop.. The stop is 200 meters from the consulate.. The journey takes 20-25 minutes.
From Taksim;
You will get on the 40T and get off at the “hot springs” stop.
From Mecidiyeköy;
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You will get on the 29Ş and get off at the “hot springs” stop.
4th Levent;
You can take both 29Ş and minibuses and get off at the “hot springs” stop.
From Atatürk Airport;
From the airport, get off at the “Şirinevler” stop, take the metrobus and get off at the Mecidiyeköy stop.. Then, you can take the 29Ş bus and get off at the “hot springs” stop.
From Sabiha Gökçen Airport;
Take the E10 or E11 to Kadıköy and take the ferry to Beşiktaş.. Then continue by looking at the section I wrote above for Beşiktaş.
Or E3 and 4. You can go to Levent and get on the 29Ş and get off at the “hot springs” stop.
You can check the departure times of the buses from the link;
http://www.iett.gov.tr /
Note-1: Please do not send me an e-mail for a US visa. You can write your questions in the comment section.
Note-2: This article cannot be used without permission.