Girlfriend barred from entering US :(

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The area around the Syrian border is dangerous, of course. So is most of eastern Turkey.

Istanbul is not near the Syrian border. Nor are the Western Turkish tourist areas. Both are subject to terrorism--but where are you NOT subject to terrorism?

The government of Turkey is secular. It can be said that they are fanatically secular. It is also somewhat repressive. The religion of Turkey is Muslim--but most people, especially in western Turkey, are quite Westernized. They don't dress in typical Islamic garb, usually (both sexes). \

Until about 5 years ago or so, Turkey had a lousy currency. You could exchange millions of Turkish Lira for a dollar bill back then. They've reformed the currency since then.

Her family lives nowhere near the Syrian border. They are in the north, on the Black Sea. It is a safe area.


The government WAS extremely secular until the AKP party took power around 2000. They are still far from having any kind of religious laws, but religion is growing stronger in the government. Half the country hates the current administration though. The current president is insane and kind of scary. The politics is very paranoid due to the history of military intervention.


They seem to use euros a lot now, but they aren't fully part of the EU.

Sorry you are going through this, but don't lose hope!

I also have a foreign fiance in a semi-dangerous country and am in a similar position financially. (Ok, worse- I'm unemployed.) But I plan to make this work. I'll do everything I can to do so. I wouldn't give up on it and leave him like that...

The fiance visa is really the only option. The spouse visa requires that you make more money and that you wait twice as long for them to join you.

I've also thought.. Where else can I go? Another country? But I have found no alternatives and we don't wish to live in his home country.

About welfare -- my understanding, at least this was how it was many years ago, don't know about now -- is that even a legal immigrant fully gone through the resident alien process is actually not permitted to draw on the welfare system at all, at least for the first several years, I'm not sure about later on.

I can't say I blame the government for that. They haven't yet paid into the tax system so it's not really fair to get yer green card and suddenly be on welfare...I can see the sense of not allowing that. Yes it's a pain in the ass to have to have sponsors and prove support but I think it's for a good reason. Other countries could stand to do more of that...

They can get welfare, but the sponsor has to pay it back to the government.

It didn't really make sense in my case, as my husband and I already had a young child together. If the baby and I had to come back to the States without him, guess what's the first thing I would have had to do? Apply for a shyt-ton of welfare. Government should have been more worried about THAT scenario.

Its unfortunate, but many western countries now ask for proof of funds.. I almost got thrown out the country i was brought up in! I was born in NZ and parents are English and moved back to UK when i was 3. I moved over here (NZ) 17 years ago and have been back and forth a number of times to see family. I have duel nationality.. Anyway i had a family emergency a few years ago and had to fly immediately over to UK, realized my English passport ran out but used my NZ one as i wasnt looking at staying there more than 2 months.. When i arrived, i got completely grilled and was asked for proof of funds etc, i tried to explain i was a UK Citizen that was living in NZ but they wouldnt take a bar of it! I had funds but not the minimum they required. luckily i had taken my expired UK passport with me and mentioned i was only back for a family emergency, they barely let me in but reluctantly.. Talk about feeling totally alienated in thsi world, That moment changed something internally inside me permanently from that moment on about a country i grew up in!... So unfortunately Customs are very over zealous! Also if taking a cell phone, buy a cheap throw away one with a different number as they may also go through text messages and can also retrieve deleted data... So if they decide to misinterpret something that was sent a little while back they can use that against you... Also the same for laptops and tablets!! ! I have heard many stories of people going to visit friends for genuine reasons only to be turned back because of a misinterpretation of a txt message!! Its the innocent things you think wouldnt be a problem are often the ones that get refused entry.. We live in a much different world now to a few years ago.. its such a shame!! And im very sorry for you both!! !! !!

She wouldn't, but I am on disability currently. I'm afraid of them holding that against me.


My parents can sponsor me. I can understand general welfare, but legitimate disabilities? It just feels like social darwinism. f**k the disabled.

I was told by an immigration consultant that your financial situation doesn't matter as long as your sponser qualifies (with you and fiance added to the household number).

But I don't know further details. I haven't seen it said anywhere that disability of the US citizen, or debt, will hinder the process, only that a criminal record could.
But somone who handles this for a living should know...

A sponsor has to show the means to support a new immigrant in order to be a sponsor.

It's like this all over the world, really. Most countries don't want people to immigrate, then to go on their welfare rolls.

@ Marshall, yes, I was speaking in terms of "general" welfare, not specifically disability welfare, which I didn't realize was part of this.

And yes sponsors that can meet the requirements should solve the problem I believe, but as mentioned, your lawyer will know all these ins and outs. All the powers that be are looking for is that someone is not going to wind up dependent on the state. They just want someone who's sticking in the picture to show they can prevent that from happening.

I know this all seems like a pain in the rear, and some of it seems unnecessarily punitive and excluding. The system as is stands might even quite arguably exclude some really great, worthwhile people from becoming part of another country, for reasons we don't like and don't feel are justified.

But on the other hand there are good reasons why they have to have this stuff in place.

@Uncle -- what an awful experience! I have heard it said that if a person holds dual citizenship and two passports, it's best and most expedient (and perfectly legal) to use the passport of the country you're entering. Yours was expired so you had to use your NZ one to enter the UK, but yeah, it's best to try always to use the one that lets them know instantly you are legitimately in less need of their scrutiny than the average visitor.

If you're an economic migrant, yes. If you're a refugee, not necessarily -- in the US there's funding in place to assist newly arrived refugees.

If the USA is so against people marrying on tourist/visitor visas I wonder why they don't just pass a law against that specifically? Don't prevent the entry, just prevent the legal registration of marriage.

The way the border guards treated her is sad, but not surprising to me at all. Of all the countries I've entered, the USA is the only one that treated me like a criminal right from the start. At least they did let me in.

Yea. If we had known they were so against it, I would have told her not to come for so long. There is no actual law against it from what I can tell. I figure it is a new thing. They are getting stricter.

It might be better not to do it anyways though. If we did get married on a visitor visa and she went back home immediately afterwards she'd be stuck in Turkey for a long time waiting to get legal residency. The K1 makes the process after marriage easier. She'll be able to come and go at will for 6 months without official residency (though you have to apply for extensions if it takes more than 6 months). The main reason I avoided the K1 was I wasn't sure about committing just yet. It turns out it can be cancelled if you choose not to marry, but at the same time they do want some evidence that you really want to marry. They will reject it if they don't have proof you have an established relationship. I might have to dig up old emails. It's a pain.


Yea. You really have no rights if you're not a citizen and they can majorly inconvenience you with no recourse.

Well this thread isn't about refugees. Or in fact economic migrants. The OP's girlfriend is neither. She would be a fiancee or spouse.

In the case of all immigrants who aren't actually refugees but are coming to a country to work, for school, to be with a partner, it's perfectly to be expected that that country's government does not want that person to just languish on their welfare system right out of the gate. If they're going to let a new person in who is in completely normal circumstances -- like NOT a refugee -- they want them to stand on their own two feet.

There's a difference between a government not wanting someone to be on welfare (who wants to be on welfare, anyway?) and assuming that they will be and making them jump through all kinds of hoops because of that assumption. Everything about the American immigration system makes people feel like lepers.

The American immigration system is certainly a very tough one. They are super controlling, super vigilant on who gets to be there, and on things like "who is going to be a drain on our system, or an asset?" That's what it boils down to, to them. If they have a choice in who is invited in, they're going to put mighty strong filters on that.

It's kind of like when people want to adopt. They have to be stringently probed and questioned, means tested, their home inspected. People trying to adopt get put through a lot before anyone is handing over any children. Yet people who get to procreate the usual way are never subjected to the process of having to qualify as fit parents with the right income and the right home and the right circles of support, etc. Similarly, there are people who are born in a country who might not even pass the high criteria applied to people petitioning to move to that country.

And yes it can seem more like they are just assuming the worst of everyone, in all cases, all the time. They do seem like they err on the side of "Everyone is an opportunistic liar and faker" who wants to settle in the US.

It is also kind of ironic when you think of how some of the practical and physical aspects of the United States could even stand to take new people more freely than it does, arguably, but that's a whole other long conversation.

They do make people feel like lepers, undesirables, and lying opportunists. It's ugly. I totally get and respect a government who is trying to be selective and careful rather than completely indiscriminate, as that can cause problems on a number of levels. But yeah it's a pity that "in with it" they also make it feel like nobody's good enough.