And This Week::

Because I am getting married, I thought red was an appropriate color for this entry. 

So, here you go:::

Last week I went to the Consulate to get a paper noterized saying, Yes, Deej can marry. We had tried to go before and it was rather a long day and we did not realize you have to have an appointment before you go, because appaerntly, when you try to put it in for the Istanbul Consulate, it directs you to the Ankara Embassy, so, Americans really look out for that. 

When I got my paper noterized, I have to tell you that, there are a lot of crabby Turks trying to get into the USA, and so just pay no mind to them, get to the place you need to go and don't pay attention to the crabby Turkish who don't even bother dressing nicely to come to an interview with the Consulate. (yeah!!! Many women wore Sport tights, like running tights, for an interview! And one woman refused to remove her sun glasses for the security... Go figure.) 

My suggestion: You are wanting to show respect for the place you will be going, when you have an interview for any country to visit them, wear business type clothes or a nice skirt and blouse. No sports clothes, you're not going to the GYM!

Anyway. I went to the place, got my paper noterized and noticed that I had to verify, or certify my notary by a district manager of the offices in the district I will marry. For example if I am marrying in Sinop or Tabzon, the Disrtict would be Ankara, and if I were marrying in Muğla or Daçta, I would go to Adana. So, really check where your disctrict is and make sure you go to the right Consulate or Embassy... Anyway, I went to right one. 

We then went to the Mayors Office and it was in Beyizt area of Istanbul. It took just a few seconds and about 45 Lira, and they stamped my paper and said OK: You can marry here in Turkey. 

Then we went to Silivri and met up with the Long Rock. We ate a nice fish meal with bread and salad. We came home. 

The process to marry here is really long and very hard, so let me tell you what we did. 

First off, we want both countries to recognize our legal union so that we will not have to do any back pedaling. Once you start having to to do more work, it is going to mean more head aches. 

So, the first thing I did was went to my Consulate by setting up an appointment and they had me sign an affidavit there, proving I am able to marry. 

If you have never been married before, mark the appropriate slot, if you have bring proof of marriage dissolvement and it has to be certified. So, the Certification, or an actual papers from the lawyer is really good. 

Then, you have to take the affidavit to the Marriage Office of Foreign Affairs. Each district is a different place. 

Then you need to have:

Proof of your Spouse is able to marry 10 Lira

Both of you need an itkemetkah (proof of address) 3 lira

Your Passport needs to be copied and translated by an official translator (usually a Lawyer can do that, you have to ask around) 90 Lira

The Passport that is translated then needs to be noterized, and approved by the city. That is another 45-50 Lira. 

Doctor Approval that you both are able to marry: 150 Lira

(this is usually done at 8 in the morning and don't eat after midnight before you go, the one test you need will take the next day, 3 pm, but there are more tests they do that take about 3 weeks, so, ours was fast, you might want to give it time especially if you live in a smaller city. Bride and Groom needs them)

Professional Pictures of you both, you tell them it is for your Red Book and they will do it. 

Then you take everything to the City Hall where they have the Marriage Justice. They will ask you what day you want to marry, and you will tell the day, and then you give them all your papers. 

Well, you are supposed to have a choice of the wedding day, unless you live in Çorlu and the woman at the City Hall is jealous of you and does not want you to marry on the Wedding date you planned. At which point we said, "Ok, that is fine we will marry on July 4th which is a Thursday." She got more annoyed and said That because I am a foreginer, I have to have proof that I am living here and that my itkemetkah is not valid. We said, OK and we went to a few places and got a verification of my physical address, and then we had it stamped by the notary so it was official, and we rushed it back to the woman (mind you the Justice is the very woman that is supposed to marry us) on which case she said she did not want it that way, and there is no other way she could get it. But, you know when we were in there the first time she was really really rude me to and even went as far as telling me I did not know how to write, and I did not know how to talk Turkish. She said some really very rude things and it made The Loıng Rock super angry. We had all the papers we needed and she put all our papers in her very own purse and asked for The Long Rocks Phone number and house number and said she lived two streets down from us and that she was going to call us. We have not heard from her. She did however, allow all the people that went ahead of us int he line to chose their wedding dates, and even told them, yes, see you then, and the couple that was behind us when we left the first time to get more papers, and still she had not given us any indication of allowing us to marry and was continually rude to me and The Long Rock. At one point she yelled at me and was asking me my name, but, when people yell at me and put me under stress I can't talk and even I start to stutter. And so I was not able to answer her because I got really clammed up. She was more rude to me and I was trying to be really nice to her. It was a horrible expereince and we both realized when we came home we should have made copies of EVERY THING before we took everything to this crazy person. We doni't know if she will take everything and not give it back or what she will do iwth the papers. 

Indeed we are really upset with her. If we don't hear from her tomorrow, Monday we will go into Mayors Office and we will complain.

This is another reason, my dear American friends why you really ought to be aware of where you marry outside the USA. It helps that if you are marrying a foreigner, one of you know the language you are marrying the country. And know your rights. 

If it is two Americans marrying in Turkey and you want to marry here, I would highly suggest you know where to go and what to do BEFORE you come here and you need to have all your papers ready to go at least a few weeks before the big day, because sometiems people think that there is not much to it and later, you will be extremely disappointed. In our case, we wanted to marry on  Sunday, July 7th. We tried to find a Salon with another date, but we were not able to. So, we settled for this date. Well, problem is that the person that can marry us did not want that wedding date for us. She said she did not want to come out on that day, and so we will marry on the 4th of July, and we will have our Reception on the 7th of July and they are both at different places. Some Justices that will marry you will be willing to come out to your wedding place, and others are not, and she refused to marry us in the Reception venue. We have to go to her Office. So keep that in mind when you are looking for places to marry, as well. Especially if you are will ing to marry outside the USA. Oh, and Don't marry in Çorlu. The She Devil is not a nice lady. 

July 4th and we're ready to get hitched then! Woot!