Vice Consul visits Incirlik, educates Visa processes

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Eboni Reams
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  The 39th Force Support Squadron hosted a visa and immigration briefing at the Incirlik Combined Club Complex here June 5.

Daniel Dolan, U.S. Embassy Ankara Vice Consul, provided information for military and civilian base personnel on visas and immigration requirements for those with spouses and children who are not citizens of the U.S.

"Many of the members here in the military may be interested in finding out more information for a spouse, fiancé or other family members and may want to petition for an immigrant visa for them," said Dolan.

Dolan mentioned this is the fourth time a visa and immigration briefing has been held here at Incirlik AB with hopes of having one twice a year in the future.

"Navigating the paperwork and the application process can be confusing," said Dolan. "It's a lot of documents and fine details. That's why we're offering the one-on-one appointments to answer detailed questions about their particular situation."

Though they aren't processing requests directly during the informational session, one event coordinator shared how this event is beneficial to the base populace.

"For the military members who have non U.S. citizens in their family, it's not easy to get information from the web or other contacts," said Ebru Findikoglu, U.S. Consulate Adana. "Sometimes the most helpful thing may be a simple question answered, so this event helps a lot."

There are many types of different visas, some for marriage, and others for diversity or even for work. Dolan touched on each type of visa and the difficulty level to receive it, as well as the estimated wait times.

"I believe the training was very beneficial to those who are foreign nationals or those who have foreign national dependents," said Staff Sgt. Jolene Riggleman, 39th FSS assistant Customer Support Section NCO in-charge.  "Most of the time the answer is 'it's found online' or 'call a 1-800 number,' but this was a way to physically meet with someone and grasp the full umbrella of visas for entry into the [U.S.].  We look forward to having this as a bi-annual event at Incirlik with the next one tentatively scheduled in October-November timeframe."