The U.S. Mission in Turkey announced on November 6, 2017, that embassies and consulates have resumed “limited visa services” in Turkey.
The U.S. Mission noted that “[w]e continue to have serious concerns about the existing cases against arrested local employees of our Mission in Turkey. We are also concerned about the cases against U.S. citizens who have been arrested under the state of emergency. U.S. officials will continue to engage with their Turkish counterparts to seek a satisfactory resolution of these cases.”
The U.S. Mission also said, however, that it had received “initial high-level assurances” that no additional local employees of the U.S. Mission in Turkey are under investigation. “We have also received initial assurances from the Government of Turkey that our local staff will not be detained or arrested for performing their official duties and that Turkish authorities will inform the U.S. government in advance if the Government of Turkey intends to detain or arrest a member of our local staff in the future.”
The U.S. Mission also said that Turkish citizens with valid visas may continue to travel to the United States. Turkish citizens “are also welcome to apply for a nonimmigrant visa outside of Turkey whether or not they maintain a residence in that country. Please note that an applicant applying outside of Turkey will need to pay the application fee for services in that country, even if a fee has previously been paid for services in Turkey.”
As background, on October 8, 2017, the U.S. Department of State announced that it was suspending nonimmigrant visa services at its diplomatic facilities in Turkey. Nonimmigrant visas included business, tourist, student, and temporary work authorization visas. The suspension also applied to diplomatic and official visas.
The U.S. Mission said that those with questions regarding canceled appointments or other issues resulting from these issues should visit the U.S. Embassy in Turkey website.
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