Nervous about the interview..

[Jenn! 918]

True that a child is not proof of anything and there are never any guarantees, but after seeing many cases go through Casa, the child along with your extended stays in Morocco bode well for an approval. Your case is much stronger than many "lesser" ones that go off without a hitch. JMHO.

[Batta 6]

Yeah.. We didnt get married legally in Morocco but we did have a religious ceremony when I got there.. We announced it to all of his family and all in his neighborhood know us as married in Islam.. I know the consulate in Morocco is very hard on the men, and I know some of the Interviewers are very rude about some things... My fiances english is good to me, but maybe a few words are hard for others to understand.. We have alot of proof and alot of pictures with his family from both of my trips..

HI,

I am not sure if any one caught the mistake you mentioned in your post, but you should NEVER mention that you had a ceremony, because K-1 is only a finace application. If your partner mention this word in the interview or someone from the consulate visit this website and catch this post your case will be at trouble.

Remember K-1 is a finace. Therefore you recieved a RING and no documentation of a wedding or cermoney at any point.

I hope this will help.

Batta

[amysaid 9]

I think that the idea that meeting on the internet is a huge red flag is diminishing as time goes on. More and more people are meeting online these days, it's not as uncommon as it once was. What is more important is what you have done AFTER you met on the internet-- how much time you have spent together in person, what you did with your time together, the amount of time you've spent with family, etc. In my husband and my's case, we met online two months before I flew to Egypt to meet him. We got married on my first visit there, and I visited once again before he interviewed, and when he interviewed we had already booked tickets for my daughter and I to come visit over the summer. The interviewer did not put any emphasis on why we had met online, or how our relationship had progressed online, she was more interested in what happened *after* we met in person. Of course every interviewer is different, and every relationship and case is different, but I would not be that freaked out about that aspect of it. It's 2009 after all, chances are most of these consulate officers use Facebook and blogs to keep up with their families back home while they are living abroad.

[amysaid 9]

Yeah.. We didnt get married legally in Morocco but we did have a religious ceremony when I got there.. We announced it to all of his family and all in his neighborhood know us as married in Islam.. I know the consulate in Morocco is very hard on the men, and I know some of the Interviewers are very rude about some things... My fiances english is good to me, but maybe a few words are hard for others to understand.. We have alot of proof and alot of pictures with his family from both of my trips..

HI,

I am not sure if any one caught the mistake you mentioned in your post, but you should NEVER mention that you had a ceremony, because K-1 is only a finace application. If your partner mention this word in the interview or someone from the consulate visit this website and catch this post your case will be at trouble.

Remember K-1 is a finace. Therefore you recieved a RING and no documentation of a wedding or cermoney at any point.

I hope this will help.

Batta

Not necessarily true. If they were not legally married, then they are not legally married. It sounds like they just had a religious ceremony to enable them to be able to live together, but they are not officially married. There have been cases out of Egypt of people that had Orfy marriages while applying for K1 visas, and reported them to the Embassy during their interview (to explain why they were living together while unmarried) and they had no trouble at all. YMMV.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Morocco doesn't recognize urfi (fvcking paper) marriages and neither does Islam. Having a baby out of wedlock, whacking up and believing that a fake marriage males your relationship legit actually all raise red flags in that they show gullibility and a deep lack of knowledge about the culture and what is considered proper there. A lot of stuff guys will do with a western woman would be considered ####### behavior with a Moroccan woman.

I'm not saying this to be cruel, but to be real. I grew up in Morocco and I'm very surprised that a child out of wedlock didn't shame the family. However, if you and he don't represent yourselves as married, but as tryingtomake a love relationship whole by marrying and raising a family together, you should be successful in getting a visa.

Good luck!

Morocco doesn't recognize urfi (fvcking paper) marriages and neither does Islam. Having a baby out of wedlock, whacking up and believing that a fake marriage males your relationship legit actually all raise red flags in that they show gullibility and a deep lack of knowledge about the culture and what is considered proper there. A lot of stuff guys will do with a western woman would be considered ####### behavior with a Moroccan woman.

I'm not saying this to be cruel, but to be real. I grew up in Morocco and I'm very surprised that a child out of wedlock didn't shame the family. However, if you and he don't represent yourselves as married, but as tryingtomake a love relationship whole by marrying and raising a family together, you should be successful in getting a visa.

Good luck!

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Sorry for typos and double posts. My PDA is a problem today.

[bquillera30 0]

prepare to do a dna test if u put u had a child ith him they will do a dna test and it will be expensive

[amysaid 9]

Morocco doesn't recognize urfi (fvcking paper) marriages and neither does Islam. Having a baby out of wedlock, whacking up and believing that a fake marriage males your relationship legit actually all raise red flags in that they show gullibility and a deep lack of knowledge about the culture and what is considered proper there. A lot of stuff guys will do with a western woman would be considered ####### behavior with a Moroccan woman.

I'm not saying this to be cruel, but to be real. I grew up in Morocco and I'm very surprised that a child out of wedlock didn't shame the family. However, if you and he don't represent yourselves as married, but as tryingtomake a love relationship whole by marrying and raising a family together, you should be successful in getting a visa.

Good luck!

[Resha 1]

Yeah... I didnt ask if what I did was wrong.. God will judge us as he sees fit if what we did was wrong... I am just asking for advice which will aide me in providing the best case I can... Thanks to everyone who has done that! Edited December 14, 2009 by Resha~Adnan

[sandinista! 1,816]

morocco isn't egypt, there was never a ban on marrying foreigners, etc. i'm really interested in how this will go down with the consulate there because i don't know what the precedent is for it. and i hate that women keep getting talked into this #######. it's demeaning.

[Resha 1]

"getting talked into this #######"... what "#######" are you suggesting?

Edited December 14, 2009 by Resha~Adnan

[sandinista! 1,816]

being "married" without having any recourse or recognition under moroccan law. you have zero status there. you have no rights to maintenance for yourself or your child, no right to inheritance, nothing. personally, there is not a man on this earth who could ever talk me into forsaking these God given rights because he or i couldn't wait to have a registered marriage. this is largely considered to be demeaning there.

the consulate knows the moroccan perception of it. be prepared for it to be an issue just in case. i would not consider his family or neighbors to be in approval of it unless they would freely admit to not being opposed to their own sisters/daughters, etc. to be in the same situation. if they wouldn't allow it for them, and chances are highly likely they wouldn't, then something's not right there. you deserve all of your rights just as much as they would.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Yeah... I didnt ask if what I did was wrong.. God will judge us as he sees fit if what we did was wrong... I am just asking for advice which will aide me in providing the best case I can... Thanks to everyone who has done that!

Please don't take offense. We are advising you about how to make the best case, because before God judges your behavior, the consulate will. In order to help you, we have no choice but to give you advice based on your particulars, including the negatives along with the positives. While things may smoothly, insha'allah, it is best to be prepared for consular skepticism. You have made mistakes in going thru a fake marriage, living together out of wedlock and having a child out of wedlock. Those are not Moroccan cultural norms, the consulate knows it, and they can set off red flags that your SO is planning to take advantage of you for marriage fraud since he didn't do anything to protect your reputation, as he would have been expected to do with a Moroccan woman.

Morocco may seem progressive, but it is still quite conservative in its norms. A Moroccan woman whose family is protective of her would not be treated the way he has treated you, nor would his family allowed it to happen without dissent. We're just telling you to prepare, because your lack of knowledge about how Moroccan culture works has raised red flags that can affect the consulate's view of your SO's motives. Things are not the same in Morocco as they are in Egypt, where urfi is in legal flux. Morocco has not sanctioned it for mixed marriages, and that has left you vulnerable to exploitation, as sandinista has noted. Those of us who are familiar with the culture do question why an honorable man would suggest an urfi marriage to a foreigner unfamiliar with custom. You will need to strengthen your positives so that the negatives are not so glaring. It can be done, and visa success is still possible.

[KittyPollitt 284]

Yeah... I didnt ask if what I did was wrong.. God will judge us as he sees fit if what we did was wrong... I am just asking for advice which will aide me in providing the best case I can... Thanks to everyone who has done that!

Please don't take offense. We are advising you about how to make the best case, because before God judges your behavior, the consulate will. In order to help you, we have no choice but to give you advice based on your particulars, including the negatives along with the positives. While things may smoothly, insha'allah, it is best to be prepared for consular skepticism. You have made mistakes in going thru a fake marriage, living together out of wedlock and having a child out of wedlock. Those are not Moroccan cultural norms, the consulate knows it, and they can set off red flags that your SO is planning to take advantage of you for marriage fraud since he didn't do anything to protect your reputation, as he would have been expected to do with a Moroccan woman.

Morocco may seem progressive, but it is still quite conservative in its norms. A Moroccan woman whose family is protective of her would not be treated the way he has treated you, nor would his family allowed it to happen without dissent. We're just telling you to prepare, because your lack of knowledge about how Moroccan culture works has raised red flags that can affect the consulate's view of your SO's motives. Things are not the same in Morocco as they are in Egypt, where urfi is in legal flux. Morocco has not sanctioned it for mixed marriages, and that has left you vulnerable to exploitation, as sandinista has noted. Those of us who are familiar with the culture do question why an honorable man would suggest an urfi marriage to a foreigner unfamiliar with custom. You will need to strengthen your positives so that the negatives are not so glaring. It can be done, and visa success is still possible.

Would it not be prudent, in a case like this, for the beneficiary to point out to the interviewer that he has chosen NOT to marry a Moroccan woman and live in Morocco. and thus the "cultural norms" of his country don't necessarily apply to his relationship? I ask this because I am in a very similar situation, and this is how my fiance and his family have chosen to approach our child out of wedlock. Albeit, his family is very progressive and have a history of association with America and this may contribute to their easygoing attitude. And the joy of welcoming a grandchild into the family, when as a poor man, they feared my fiance might never find a decent woman, has far outweighed any negative viewpoints they may have had. I'm just saying, isn't this something that can be explained, if the man has tact? In our case, living in Morocco may actually have been an option for us, until I returned home and discovered that I was pregnant, and which time our child's future became our first priority and it is important to both of us that she reap all the benefits that living in the states can provide her, as opposed to living in Morocco.

Are some of these things points that my fiance, and perhaps the OP's SO, point out during the interview that may make things a little smoother?

I'd appreciate your opinion..

Sarah

[Staashi 371]

Yeah... I didnt ask if what I did was wrong.. God will judge us as he sees fit if what we did was wrong... I am just asking for advice which will aide me in providing the best case I can... Thanks to everyone who has done that!

Please don't take offense. We are advising you about how to make the best case, because before God judges your behavior, the consulate will. In order to help you, we have no choice but to give you advice based on your particulars, including the negatives along with the positives. While things may smoothly, insha'allah, it is best to be prepared for consular skepticism. You have made mistakes in going thru a fake marriage, living together out of wedlock and having a child out of wedlock. Those are not Moroccan cultural norms, the consulate knows it, and they can set off red flags that your SO is planning to take advantage of you for marriage fraud since he didn't do anything to protect your reputation, as he would have been expected to do with a Moroccan woman.

Morocco may seem progressive, but it is still quite conservative in its norms. A Moroccan woman whose family is protective of her would not be treated the way he has treated you, nor would his family allowed it to happen without dissent. We're just telling you to prepare, because your lack of knowledge about how Moroccan culture works has raised red flags that can affect the consulate's view of your SO's motives. Things are not the same in Morocco as they are in Egypt, where urfi is in legal flux. Morocco has not sanctioned it for mixed marriages, and that has left you vulnerable to exploitation, as sandinista has noted. Those of us who are familiar with the culture do question why an honorable man would suggest an urfi marriage to a foreigner unfamiliar with custom. You will need to strengthen your positives so that the negatives are not so glaring. It can be done, and visa success is still possible.

Would it not be prudent, in a case like this, for the beneficiary to point out to the interviewer that he has chosen NOT to marry a Moroccan woman and live in Morocco. and thus the "cultural norms" of his country don't necessarily apply to his relationship? I ask this because I am in a very similar situation, and this is how my fiance and his family have chosen to approach our child out of wedlock. Albeit, his family is very progressive and have a history of association with America and this may contribute to their easygoing attitude. And the joy of welcoming a grandchild into the family, when as a poor man, they feared my fiance might never find a decent woman, has far outweighed any negative viewpoints they may have had. I'm just saying, isn't this something that can be explained, if the man has tact? In our case, living in Morocco may actually have been an option for us, until I returned home and discovered that I was pregnant, and which time our child's future became our first priority and it is important to both of us that she reap all the benefits that living in the states can provide her, as opposed to living in Morocco.

Are some of these things points that my fiance, and perhaps the OP's SO, point out during the interview that may make things a little smoother?

I'd appreciate your opinion..

Sarah

Sister, that is the red flag - huge banner-waving red flag. The Consulate will see this as a poor man could not find a decent Moroccan woman - so, he did the next best thing to improve his situation in life with the raving approval of his family - he found an American woman who could be his meal ticket, and theirs too. Typical MENA families will never approve of a child born out of wedlock with some MENA female, so why should they approve of him having knocked up his American girlfriend - the consulate knows this and they will be mightily skeptical when they are doing the interview.

Please know, I'm not judging you or Resha...I'm judging the bonafides of the relationships and they are causing me concern on both your parts.

Edited December 15, 2009 by Staashi