February 24, 2012

U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria Suspends Operations

Effective February 6, 2012, the U.S. Embassy has suspended operations and is not open for normal consular services. Neither U.S. passports nor visas to the United States will be issued in Damascus. The Polish Embassy in Damascus has agreed to assist U.S. citizens remaining in Syria by providing limited consular services. http://damascus.usembassy.gov/

In response to the current situation in Syria, the U.S. Embassy is no longer accepting I-130 petitions for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. The Immigrant Visa (IV) Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, will be the designated processing post for Syrian visa cases until further notice. All I-130 petitions that do not fall into the immediate relative category must be filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the United States. There are no exceptions. http://damascus.usembassy.gov/visas.html