About Dr. Kimsesiz

Dr. Ayhan Kimsesiz is an official Visa Officer of the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) — one of the most prestigious governmental institutions in the world. His appointment to the UK Foreign Ministry is the culmination of years of distinguished service across British embassies and consulates in Istanbul, Tbilisi, and Yerevan, where he served as Visa Officer Assistant under the direct authority of the FCDO. Today, Dr. Kimsesiz represents the UK Foreign Ministry at the highest professional level, combining rare psychological expertise with deep, hands-on diplomatic experience.

His path to the Foreign Ministry was built on an extraordinary academic foundation. Dr. Kimsesiz holds two doctoral degrees — a PhD in Psychology and a PhD in Political Science — both awarded with Distinction by the University of London in 2018, completed simultaneously. This dual academic formation is the intellectual bedrock of his work at the FCDO, where he applies psychological science to the complex, high-stakes decisions that define British immigration and diplomatic policy.

Before his appointment as a full Visa Officer at the UK Foreign Ministry in London, Dr. Kimsesiz served as Visa Officer Assistant at three of the UK's most strategically significant diplomatic posts: the British Consulate in Istanbul (2018–2019), the British Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia (2019–2020), and the British Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia (2021). Across these postings, he processed thousands of visa applications, conducted applicant interviews in Turkish, Georgian, and Armenian, and provided psychological advisory support to consular teams — building the cross-cultural expertise that now defines his work at the FCDO.

Born into a multilingual family, Dr. Kimsesiz is fully fluent in English, Persian, Turkish, and Armenian. His ability to assess applicants in their native languages, and to interpret their communications within their own cultural frameworks, gives him a capability that is exceptionally rare within the British diplomatic service — and that the UK Foreign Ministry has recognised as a strategic asset.

In parallel with his official duties at the UK Foreign Ministry, Dr. Kimsesiz maintains an active private practice, delivering culturally adapted psychological therapy in all four of his languages. He specialises in post-immigration depression, acculturative stress, and cross-cultural identity issues — areas where his experience as a Foreign Ministry official gives him a unique perspective that no purely clinical practitioner can match.

Dr. Kimsesiz is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed articles, has delivered keynote addresses at international conferences in 18 countries, and has received 8 major international awards. He is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (Registration No. 7691), a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and a Psychologist Observer for the Community of Embassies in the United Kingdom — a role he has held both in the past and continues to hold today. His work has been recognised by the British Psychological Society, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the International Organization for Migration, and the UK Foreign Ministry itself.