Where to start? Marriage in Morocco

[Rkhassal 0]

My fiancé (Morocco) and I (US) want to get married this summer in Morocco and honestly I have no idea where to start. I’ve read a lot of the government stuff but it’s a little confusing and overwhelming. And then I read through some things here and find out little tidbits of info that add to the confusion. So I hope I’m in the right place to ask some questions?

 

My questions so far are:

 

- aside from the documents listed on the US embassy page, what are other documents the Casa embassy sometimes asks for? (like paystubs, work letters, military papers, proof of relationship documents?)

- I’m from Indiana and my local police station sent me to an online portal to get my “records” but it is basically just a page that says there was nothing found on me. Is this acceptable as the police report for the embassy or am I just asking the wrong thing of our police station?

- how many passport photos do we need in total (I’ve read 2 and 4)?

- does his family/family member need to accompany us to these appointments so we are not alone? for example can it be me, my fiancé, and his mother? (I read that in Rabat you cannot be alone together for some of the papers, is it the same in Casa?)

- how long should we expect this process to take?

- once we are married, if I want to stay and live there for a while, will this cause problems? I won’t be working, and will probably not have a job in the US but I’m worried if we decide to stay that applying for his visa to the US later will be more difficult.

 

I know this is a lot but I really appreciate anything and anyone who can help and point us in the right direction! 

[Boiler 43,397]

Do you have a Joint Sponsor lined up?

[Rkhassal 0]

Just now, Boiler said:

Do you have a Joint Sponsor lined up?

I am planning on asking my grandparents, as they are the most financially stable in my family. They are retired but get income from their retirement savings + social security, is this okay? I have been a student in the last few years + one year of leave from school for health reasons, so we already knew we needed one but didn’t know if me being unemployed for a time would make this even harder. Thanks! 

[Crazy Cat 39,192]

15 minutes ago, Rkhassal said:

My fiancé (Morocco) and I (US) want to get married this summer in Morocco and honestly I have no idea where to start. I’ve read a lot of the government stuff but it’s a little confusing and overwhelming. And then I read through some things here and find out little tidbits of info that add to the confusion. So I hope I’m in the right place to ask some questions?

 

My questions so far are:

 

- aside from the documents listed on the US embassy page, what are other documents the Casa embassy sometimes asks for? (like paystubs, work letters, military papers, proof of relationship documents?)

- I’m from Indiana and my local police station sent me to an online portal to get my “records” but it is basically just a page that says there was nothing found on me. Is this acceptable as the police report for the embassy or am I just asking the wrong thing of our police station?

- how many passport photos do we need in total (I’ve read 2 and 4)?

- does his family/family member need to accompany us to these appointments so we are not alone? for example can it be me, my fiancé, and his mother? (I read that in Rabat you cannot be alone together for some of the papers, is it the same in Casa?)

- how long should we expect this process to take?

- once we are married, if I want to stay and live there for a while, will this cause problems? I won’t be working, and will probably not have a job in the US but I’m worried if we decide to stay that applying for his visa to the US later will be more difficult.

 

I know this is a lot but I really appreciate anything and anyone who can help and point us in the right direction! 

I would suggest that, while you are living in Morocco, you study the spousal visa process for immigrating to the US.  Morocco has been a difficult consulate for some cases.....luckily, actual time together in Morocco will be of great benefit...good luck.

Edited January 10, 2020 by missileman

[Rkhassal 0]

4 minutes ago, missileman said:

I would suggest that, while you are living in Morocco, you study the spousal visa process for immigrating to the US.  Morocco has been a difficult consulate for some cases.....luckily, actual time together in Morocco will be of great benefit...good luck.

thank you, i will save that link! is there anything you recommend to read for the process of just getting married there? we stay with his family, so I want to figure if we have to warn them someone may have to come with us. thank you!

[RJandHamid 1,128]

The marriage page on the consulate website is pretty accurate. I believe the requirement is 4 passport photos. The timeline will vary based on location, how prepared you are, any holidays slowing things down, and just general slow Moroccan office staff... Some people get everything done in under a week, and for others, the same process can take over a month.

I suggest having your fiancé ask around and find out what specific documents you need marry in the city he lives in. The more prepared you are, the smoother the process will be.

And you don't need to be accompanied by anyone during the process...

 

If you/your fiancé have a Facebook profile, message me and I can give you the names of some groups that are specific to the marriage/visa process in Morocco. It can be a confusing and frustrating process.

[Rkhassal 0]

4 minutes ago, RJandHamid said:

The marriage page on the consulate website is pretty accurate. I believe the requirement is 4 passport photos. The timeline will vary based on location, how prepared you are, any holidays slowing things down, and just general slow Moroccan office staff... Some people get everything done in under a week, and for others, the same process can take over a month.

I suggest having your fiancé ask around and find out what specific documents you need marry in the city he lives in. The more prepared you are, the smoother the process will be.

And you don't need to be accompanied by anyone during the process...

 

If you/your fiancé have a Facebook profile, message me and I can give you the names of some groups that are specific to the marriage/visa process in Morocco. It can be a confusing and frustrating process.

Thank you! He is apart of several groups so I will have him ask and look things up. We do have facebook profiles so that would be much appreciated, thank you so much! 

[JeanneAdil 6,190]

54 minutes ago, Rkhassal said:

I am planning on asking my grandparents, as they are the most financially stable in my family. They are retired but get income from their retirement savings + social security, is this okay? I have been a student in the last few years + one year of leave from school for health reasons, so we already knew we needed one but didn’t know if me being unemployed for a time would make this even harder. Thanks! 

if this is your first time meeting in person and first trip,  do not marry now

you need to establish a longer history of meeting and face time 

 

I did marry in Morocco  and no one does it in a week

you have to travel to Casa to the US embassy,  then to Rabat to the office of foreign minister,  then to a tranlator with all your documents (takes several days to get this done) and then to his home town for your medical exam and interviews with the police and judge,   then they send the papers to Rabat to get the marriage license issued and you wait for it to come back.

 

 as for documents the criminal clearance for Morocco needs to be within the last 90 days of POE in Morocco

 

casa will not accept retirement and SS as that is not earned income

it would be best to marry as planned and return to the US (to have the US residency and a job)

any birth certificates of kids is needed

proof of income ( i took last year IRS tax return but a letter from employer will do)/ Morocco will protect its residents also and need to see you have the money to marry and file for him

proof of residency here

any divorce or death of spouse

 

you can not stay in the same motel room but you can register in separate rooms

and they are required to  check passports at the desk in the motel

at the Office of Foreign Minister in Rabat ,  you stand in line for women and he stand  in a line for men so it is nice to have a Moroccan woman from the family with you

traveling with an older woman of his family does protect you in many ways 

wait till you are in Morocco to get your passport photos done/  much cheaper there

 

marry this summer?   does not give you a full year of work history for the 2021 interview

if you can ,  marry this spring and return to work here

claim him as married filing joint return with form w7 on your 2020 taxes in spring 2021

 

most of all you need to meet him one time (at least)   return to marry ,  have a job,   be able to provide health care insurance thru your work for him or afford it on your own

 

expect the entire process to marry to take about 4 to 8 weeks (this depends on the proficiency of him and your local offices as you need interviews with the local police department and  judge

Edited January 10, 2020 by JeanneAdil

[Rkhassal 0]

13 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

if this is your first time meeting in person and first trip,  do not marry now

you need to establish a longer history of meeting and face time 

 

I did marry in Morocco  and no one does it in a week

you have to travel to Casa to the US embassy,  then to Rabat to the office of foreign minister,  then to a tranlator with all your documents (takes several days to get this done) and then to his home town for your medical exam and interviews with the police and judge,   then they send the papers to Rabat to get the marriage license issued and you wait for it to come back.

 

 as for documents the criminal clearance for Morocco needs to be within the last 90 days of POE in Morocco

 

casa will not accept retirement and SS as that is not earned income

it would be best to marry as planned and return to the US (to have the US residency and a job)

any birth certificates of kids is needed

proof of income ( i took last year IRS tax return but a letter from employer will do)/ Morocco will protect its residents also and need to see you have the money to marry and file for him

proof of residency here

any divorce or death of spouse

 

you can not stay in the same motel room but you can register in separate rooms

and they are required to  check passports at the desk in the motel

at the Office of Foreign Minister in Rabat ,  you stand in line for women and he stand  in a line for men so it is nice to have a Moroccan woman from the family with you

traveling with an older woman of his family does protect you in many ways 

wait till you are in Morocco to get your passport photos done/  much cheaper there

 

marry this summer?   does not give you a full year of work history for the 2021 interview

if you can ,  marry this spring and return to work here

claim him as married filing joint return with form w7 on your 2020 taxes in spring 2021

 

most of all you need to meet him one time (at least)   return to marry ,  have a job,   be able to provide health care insurance thru your work for him or afford it on your own

 

expect the entire process to marry to take about 4 to 8 weeks (this depends on the proficiency of him and your local offices as you need interviews with the local police department and  judge

it isn’t our first time meeting in person, we have already met before and i’ve traveled to morocco before. can he have the documents translated before i get there? 

 

it is their retirement savings that they put away from when they were working, so it comes out of that every month and they have to pay taxes on it like an income... i can look into this further. they also have a lot of assets they can claim too. 

 

i live with my mother so that is my residency. and I have a job currently and have had a job for the last 6 years. I have had my job now for 2 years that i will still have when I return, my question was more of if I choose to stay and live in Morocco with him, then I will not have my job anymore.

 

we will not stay together/in any hotels, we stay with his family. 

 

nice to know about Rabat, I am sure that his mother or one of his sisters would be able to come with us. 

 

thanks for your help!

[JeanneAdil 6,190]

16 minutes ago, Rkhassal said:

it isn’t our first time meeting in person, we have already met before and i’ve traveled to morocco before. can he have the documents translated before i get there? 

 

it is their retirement savings that they put away from when they were working, so it comes out of that every month and they have to pay taxes on it like an income... i can look into this further. they also have a lot of assets they can claim too. 

 

i live with my mother so that is my residency. and I have a job currently and have had a job for the last 6 years. I have had my job now for 2 years that i will still have when I return, my question was more of if I choose to stay and live in Morocco with him, then I will not have my job anymore.

 

we will not stay together/in any hotels, we stay with his family. 

 

nice to know about Rabat, I am sure that his mother or one of his sisters would be able to come with us. 

 

thanks for your help!

elhamdo lellah

it is best to have the job and have the 2020 tax returns for the 2021 interview 

 

and retirement is not earned income so let's hope their assets are adequate/ it is a 1099R provided for tax purposes not a W 2 as is SS a 1099

 

the  documents to be translated have to be originals (like your birth certificate,etc) and if he knows the translator,  they may be willing to do it but most will not

don't forget one of the documents needed for translation has to come directly from the US embassy in Casa (Affidavit of eligibility to marry) before it is taken to Rabat

BTW translations cost $10 per page and you need 6 copies of all yours and his

 

after your marriage ,  you can travel and stay together but wait for the marriage certificate to come and take it with you

get at least 3 originals of the marriage certificate with 2 of them translated into English  (one for the CR1 process and one for your files) the Arabic one for whatever u do in Morocco

 

while you are there for marriage,  get him to do a POA and gather the documents needed for the CR1 , fill out the I 130 and I 130a while you are with him in case u have any questions / u can mail it from there if you plan on an extended stay

keep copies of everything

like boarding passes,appplication and other proofs right up till he gets his citizenship and reports that to SS office

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rkhassal 0]

11 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

elhamdo lellah

it is best to have the job and have the 2020 tax returns for the 2021 interview 

 

and retirement is not earned income so let's hope their assets are adequate/ it is a 1099R provided for tax purposes not a W 2 as is SS a 1099

 

the  documents to be translated have to be originals (like your birth certificate,etc) and if he knows the translator,  they may be willing to do it but most will not

don't forget one of the documents needed for translation has to come directly from the US embassy in Casa (Affidavit of eligibility to marry) before it is taken to Rabat

BTW translations cost $10 per page and you need 6 copies of all yours and his

 

after your marriage ,  you can travel and stay together but wait for the marriage certificate to come and take it with you

get at least 3 originals of the marriage certificate with 2 of them translated into English  (one for the CR1 process and one for your files) the Arabic one for whatever u do in Morocco

 

while you are there for marriage,  get him to do a POA and gather the documents needed for the CR1 , fill out the I 130 and I 130a while you are with him in case u have any questions / u can mail it from there if you plan on an extended stay

keep copies of everything

like boarding passes,appplication and other proofs right up till he gets his citizenship and reports that to SS office

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thank you so much for all of your help! i appreciate it so much 

[Oliversmom 250]

Hi.  We got married in 2013 so it has been a while.  Ask your fiancé to ask at his local court as they should be able to get a list of the documents you need.  You already know about the documents you need to get in Morocco.  The ones that I had to bring with me from the US was:  local police background check, birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce certificate, and employer letter showing how much I make.  In Morocco we got the Certificate to Marry from US Embassy, Police check from Rabat, and we had our medical/blood tests done.  I will tell you we were one of the ones where it took a LONG time to get married.  We got married in Zemamra and we got a Judge who did not like it that my husband was marrying an American woman.  He kept telling us each day to come back tomorrow.  This went on day after day week after week.  My husband said he probably wanted money.  One day when he told us to come back tomorrow I sort of snapped and started yelling at my husband to just give him some money!  Well he did and guess what?  The Judge signed the papers.  After that we were able to get married.  I was so tired after all of this that when we signed the marriage papers I asked my husband "ok what's next" and he said "that's it.  We're married!"  

 

We were not accompanied by any family members when we traveled.  But we never stayed the night anywhere.  We would travel by bus and then travel back to his family's house that night.  It was very tiring!

 

I want to wish you the best of luck on your journey to get married and your journey to get your fiancé to the United States.  It seems like the process lasts forever but it will go quickly and he will be here.  Sometimes I can't believe how fast time has gone by since my husband got here.  He is a Citizen now and settled in to life in the United States.  I stay on Visa Journey to try to help others, especially others from Morocco.  When I first came here I was given a LOT of help and I want to do the same.  So feel free to ask me any questions.  

 

[Rkhassal 0]

6 hours ago, Oliversmom said:

Hi.  We got married in 2013 so it has been a while.  Ask your fiancé to ask at his local court as they should be able to get a list of the documents you need.  You already know about the documents you need to get in Morocco.  The ones that I had to bring with me from the US was:  local police background check, birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce certificate, and employer letter showing how much I make.  In Morocco we got the Certificate to Marry from US Embassy, Police check from Rabat, and we had our medical/blood tests done.  I will tell you we were one of the ones where it took a LONG time to get married.  We got married in Zemamra and we got a Judge who did not like it that my husband was marrying an American woman.  He kept telling us each day to come back tomorrow.  This went on day after day week after week.  My husband said he probably wanted money.  One day when he told us to come back tomorrow I sort of snapped and started yelling at my husband to just give him some money!  Well he did and guess what?  The Judge signed the papers.  After that we were able to get married.  I was so tired after all of this that when we signed the marriage papers I asked my husband "ok what's next" and he said "that's it.  We're married!"  

 

We were not accompanied by any family members when we traveled.  But we never stayed the night anywhere.  We would travel by bus and then travel back to his family's house that night.  It was very tiring!

 

I want to wish you the best of luck on your journey to get married and your journey to get your fiancé to the United States.  It seems like the process lasts forever but it will go quickly and he will be here.  Sometimes I can't believe how fast time has gone by since my husband got here.  He is a Citizen now and settled in to life in the United States.  I stay on Visa Journey to try to help others, especially others from Morocco.  When I first came here I was given a LOT of help and I want to do the same.  So feel free to ask me any questions.  

 

thank you so much for responding!

 

I think I have most documents ready for when I return but my police report from here is the biggest... confusion? for me. It just looks (to me) like it wouldn’t be correct. Did you get yours directly from the police office? Mine sent me to an online portal to get one, but filling it out, it just seemed it gave me a list of the info I inputted for myself and “no information found” on the “report.” So it seemed weird to me. I wondered if that was normal. 

 

I’m hoping ours won’t be long but preparing for anything to happen at this point! And I’m hoping his local judge will be kind! When I was there, I even got greeted by all the neighbors and heard that a couple other people there had been through the process already so I’m hoping that means it all went well and it will be easy.

 

I’m grateful for all your help; thank you so much! 

[MoroccanEscape 31]

Hello,

 

I lived in Morocco for a year and worked and married my husband there. It can be done but at some point, you will have to come back to the US and carve out a life for you and your husband if immigrating is what you intent to do. Because I came back to the US mid 2015, and we filed for the CR1 visa in November 2015, I did not meet the income requirement for 2015 and we had a to either find a co-sponsor, or wait, let our petition expire and start over again when I had a full year's worth of income to show. It didn't matter that I had a letter from my employer showing what I would make per year, which more than met the income requirement. They wanted the proof in W-2's and in income tax filed. We did end up getting a co-sponsor, a close friend of mine so that we didn't have to wait. My suggestion for you is this, if you are going to ask your grandparents to act as a co-signer, you need to ask them now. Don't wait until you are in Morocco, married and wanting to come back to the US and start the visa process. Make sure they understand completely what they are agreeing to. They will be responsible financially for your husband for 10 years. The visa process is not for the faint of heart. It's going to be a long and arduous process. You will be separated from your husband for a long period of time while you go through the process. However, it can be done. You have to be prepared, completely. Be detail oriented and keep meticulous records and plan ahead. If you need any help, or just a word of encouragement, feel free to message me. My husband has now been here in the US for over 3 years and has just completed the removal of conditions on his green card and has applied for naturalization. We are almost at the end of this process. Good luck to you both. 

[DesertVixen 0]

My biggest and best advice is Apostle Certification… Seriously any thing you have that is from USA need to have the appropriate Apostle Certification from what ever state is necessary.  This is one of those areas that a lot of the places that approve the marriage will insist on. Also be sure to have your FBI report they asked for that several places. Start on that soon as it can take some time to get done. Congratulations and good luck, I regret nothing and my husband and I have been married only2 years and I can only imagine another 60. 🙂