Semaphore

semaphorExample.m

[queue addOperationWithBlock:^{

    dispatch_semaphore_t semaphore = dispatch_semaphore_create(0);

    NSURLSession *session = [NSURLSession sharedSession]; // or create your own session with your own NSURLSessionConfiguration
    NSURLSessionTask *task = [session dataTaskWithURL:url completionHandler:^(NSData *data, NSURLResponse *response, NSError *error) {
        if (data) {
            // do whatever you want with the data here
        } else {
            NSLog(@"error = %@", error);
        }

        dispatch_semaphore_signal(semaphore);
    }];
    [task resume];

    // but have the thread wait until the task is done

    dispatch_semaphore_wait(semaphore, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER);

    // now carry on with other stuff contingent upon what you did above
]);