Immigrant Visas
Filing Certain Immediate Relative Immigrant Visa Petitions
The consular section in damascus accepts immigrant visa petition filings for immediate relatives (parent, spouse or child) of american citizens who are resident in syria. Filings are accepted days of monday, tuesday or wednesday only at 1:00 p.m. on an appointment basis. To request an appointment, please send an e-mail to ivdamascus@state.gov or call 3331342 between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. sunday through wednesday. When requesting the appointment, the petitioner and beneficiary should have a legitimate existing relationship and must be physically present in syria. For example, if filing for a spouse, the couple must already be married and have a marriage certificate.
The following documents are required for each immigrant visa petition filing, and will not be returned. Documents must be either originals or certified copies, and must be translated into english. Furthermore, the ministry of the interior must notarize civil documents.
Please make certain that your documents are submitted in the following order:
- form i-130, petition for alien relative (completed but not signed)
- form g-325a, biographic information (for both petitioner and spouse)
- ds-230 part i - biographic data - completed on behalf of the beneficiary
- proof of legal name change, if any
- photocopy of the biographic data pages of the beneficiary's passport
- extract of an individual civil registration for petitions filed on behalf of children)
- family record (to prove parentage relationship)
- current marriage certificate (spousal petitions)
- divorce certificates for all previous marriages, if applicable
- death certificates for any previous spouses, if applicable
- photograph of petitioner and of beneficiary (see immigration specification)
- filing fee of usd $ 190 for each petition.
- proof of petitioner's u.s. citizenship (passport valid for at least five years at time of issuance, or aturalization certificate, or birth certificate, if born in the u.s.
Important notes:
an interview does not guarantee that the petition itself will be approved at post. Any petition (i-130) which is not completely and properly filled out or which is not accompanied by the necessary documents may be returned without action.
If the case is clearly approvable, the embassy can continue processing locally. If, however, the case is not clearly approvable, the embassy must forward the petition to uscis athens for further processing. This may take six months or more. Any decision to forward a petition to uscis athens is final. Please note: petitions for recently established relationships (i.e., a new spouse) are often not clearly approvable and hence delayed. Petitioners in such cases may be better served by filing their petitions in the united states. Please contact your local uscis office in the u.s. or visit http://www.uscis.gov.