Marriage in Morocco

[Afrohanfi 15]

After trying for the visa two times:

-The first time we were denied

-The second time we never received the paperwork after calling and calling to have it resent i still never received the RFE. Ended up getting

denied after they said we abandoned it. Went to the USCIS office told them how i never received anything if there was anything I could do. The

woman was so rude (not because she said there was nothing I could do) but basically just rude how she spoke to me. Like I was scum.

-So we decided lets get married in morocco and try it that way. This distance as everyone here knows it takes its toll and its been four years for

us. So we are getting everything ready and I got an email from USCIS telling me your address has been changed and is in initial review again!

WHAT! I feel so messed with!

-We still arent sure if we are going to get married in the next month and a half or keep in process with this visa. We are going to wait for the

paperwork I am hoping to receive with information on it. I am praying they allow us to keep going with our current visa application.

If not I was wondering if some of you who got married in Morocco could help me understand the process of paperwork and cost that it takes to get married in Morocco. I have read the american embassy website, but just wanting people to let me know how it was. Time wise as well.... I know Morocco and paperwork are not good combinations lol.

Thank you for your help

[msheesha 548]

It took us just under two weeks. But time frames are generally dependent on where in Morocco you are getting married. Also my husband had prepared ahead of time. I scanned any paperwork needing to be translated to Arabic to him and he had it ahead of time. Also went directly from airport arrival to consulate to get papers I needed there. Your husband needs to know the process there and have a plan that is the most time efficient for the process.

[abbi627 43]

It took us 29 days to get married in Morocco. The first thing your husband needs to do is go to the court there and get a list of required documents. It varies depending on where you get married. The Judge in the village where we married had never done a mixed marriage before and it turned into a bit of a difficult process. I have heard it is faster and easier in the cities.

Your husband will have a list of documents he needs to get.

You will have a list of documents you will need to bring from US:

Police record check

employment letter (probably good idea to bring copies of pay stubs too)

birth certificate

if divorced - copy of divorce certificate

passport sized photos

(there may be others I am forgetting and there may be others required by the court depending on where you get married)

once you get in Morocco you will need to:

Go to the US embassy in Casablanca to get a Certificate of Nationality and Eligibility to Marry

and a notarized copy of passport. These cost $50 each for a total of $100. You can make the appointment online. Best to do this as soon as you arrive in Morocco

You go to Rabat to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get a stamp on this document.

Also in Rabat you go to the Ministry of Justice for a police record check on you. I went early and gave them copies of my birth certificate and passport and then came back late that afternoon and picked it up.

Take all documents that are in English to a translator to have them translated to Arabic. Make sure the translator is accepted by the courts.

You will both need to get medicals done in Morocco. I think this experience varies from place to place too. But ours was basically paying the fee and the doctor listened to our hearts and asked if we had any illnesses and then signed our documents. I have heard some require bloodwork. I have heard some require pregnancy test. But that was our experience.

Once you get all of your documents you file it at the court and the fun begins.

We were interviewed by one Judge and then our papers were sent to the police station for an investigation.

After that investigation we were sent to a second Judge who decided to make our life as difficult as possible.

It was extremely frustrating to say the least but finally he signed our permission to marry and we took it to the adoul who drew up our marriage contract and we signed it.

I am probably leaving out something important but I can't remember it all right now - probably best sometimes to just forget about all the stress and drama (LOL). It was very stressful. And if you don't live near Casablanca or Rabat you will have to do some traveling. I felt like for a while I lived in taxis and busses. We didn't organize our time and spent extra time running back and forth for things we could have done in one trip if we were better organized.

Oh and after you are married you need to have your marriage contract translated into English. You will need it for the petition.

If you have any other questions about this process let me know. We were just married on April 17 of this year.

[you & i 16]

well my opinion is to cancel the k1 visa if it is still processing in the uscis and get married in morocco instead and file for i130 marriage visa....as for marriage in morocco it deffers from city to city some it took them a month and some 2 weeks and some a month and 2 weeks from my experiences from some friends of mine in morocco who went through this but if you get a better ideas you can contact everyone who got married in morocco and learn from their experiences and you be ready for it but i would advice you to have at least 2 months vacation or a month and half because this process would take alot of time and hard working.....good luck

[Happytobe 164]

here's Abbi627's experience http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/431147-our-process-of-getting-married-in-morocco/

Here's mine from December http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/405347-the-first-few-days-in-morocco-for-marriage/ It took us about 9 days. For setting up the appointment at the Consulate, you can do that on-line before you go. I had that set-up and we went straight there after my flight landed (I flew into Casa that trip).

Good luck and feel free to ask questions. There are a few topics where we discussed prepping for our trips as well (i.e. the documents both needed, translations, etc)

[Afrohanfi 15]

Thank you!

This was very helpful. I was not aware that I could make an appointment!! We will try to make it the same day that I arrive great idea!! I was wondering if someone could let me know about how much it was to translate all the paperwork was?

What is the difference between going to the foreign affairs and the ministry of justice? And the stamp?

I am getting married in Fes so would I see a judge in Fes and two judges?

This process sounds so stressful! I am very hopeful we can get this process done quickly so we can enjoy the rest of our time there. I am hoping we have enough time. I am only able to get a month off of work!!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE AGAIN!!!

[abbi627 43]

I'm not sure how much it cost to translate the paperwork. My husband took care of that. But I know we visited several translators before we decided on one and the price did vary quite a bit so you might want to shop around.

Some of the expenses we had were: the translation of the documents, the documents I needed from the US Embassy ($100), medical exams, court fees, fees to the adoul for the marriage contract, and numerous bus rides and taxis. I think altogether we spent about the equivalent of

between $500 and $600 total.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs you take the document you get from the embassy and you buy a stamp and get it certified there.

At the Ministry of Justice you (the US Citizen) will have a criminal record check done for Morocco. You have to do this even if you have never been there before.

I am not sure what the process will be like in Fes. Hopefully someone here will come along that was married in Fes and give you some more information. From what I understand the process varies from place to place.

I wish you good luck and I am happy to answer any other questions you might have. I know some people were able to get married in a week or two. It took us 29 days but we didn't organize our time very well and also the second Judge gave us a lot of trouble and that caused delays. I was fortunate to be there for three months. You will only have a month so be sure to organize your time. And make sure your husband gets a copy of required documents from the court in Fes. You don't want to get there and find out they need a document that you didn't bring with you from the US.

[Simo-Britt 0]

Ask your husband if he knows anyone in government/ministry because it's all about bribes and who you know. We were able to do this in 2 1/2 weeks and that's us knowing people in the police/ministry but we had the advantage of living in Rabat.

My advice to throw in with the others:

-Definitely shop around for translators, ours is great and does stuff severely discounted because most don't mind to scam a westerner also you will need stuff translated in the future and make sure to TELL that guy this so that things will get cheap. If you are in Rabat and need a document translated I have just the guy.

-Take the max time you can afford/have off. The reason is you two will be running around in the completely unromantic rat-race of paperwork...that you don't want to go there marry, do paperwork and feel like you never even enjoyed time together. A lot of us MENA people don't get to go there often and you never know when you will go next. Also it looks better the longer you stay there.

-Be aware of religious differences, alhamdoulilah I am Muslim American so it was easy but the judge still drilled us on religion, not sure if that was particular to our case but I've heard them even asking how many surahs you know. Some judges don't like mixed religious marriages fyi but this maybe just my experience.

-Cancel the process start of with CR1...besides it being not super expensive since you are re-applying you have a higher rate of success. Also the advantage of the green card on entry is very nice compared to buying that expensive card later, also the 2 year conditional status ...well just all-in-all there is much more benefit to marriage. Also (if you are Muslim) it makes everything halal and Allah ta'ala blesses the marriage as you will be halal for each other.

I'm sorry it's been a 4 year process but mashAllah to your patience. I thought I was whiny going on almost a year with my process and 2 months in AP but alhamdoulilah at least I have my husband. May Allah ta'ala help and make it easier for you and of course bug any of us for help.

[Happytobe 164]

We were married in Fes in December. We have a translator there that we still are using and the Adoul was close to the courthouse. Pm me if you have ?'s

[MKA092211 4]

The advice you are reading is about the same as what my husband and I went through. Took us 2 weeks but we had all the paperwork ready ahead of time. Still it takes a lot of work, traveling between all the different offices and so on.

We are now fighting a newer battle with our process and inshallah you will not have any issues other than time from applying to approval.

I wish you boht the very best!

[Afrohanfi 15]

Thank You So Much!!

I apprectiate everyones help!! I have been MIA getting ready to go!