Looking for insight on my plans for CR1 visa for Moroccan bf and Casa consulate

[Abigail Marshall 0]

Hey everyone,

I've been reading posts on this site for a few months now from those with Moroccan SOs about how tough the Casablanca consulate is and people's experiences with the K1 and CR1 visas. I wanted to present my plan to those who've been through the process or are going through it now and see what you guys think. Because of how tough the Casa consulate is, I'm strongly leaning towards doing the CR1 visa instead of the K1, as if I'm correct the CR1 doesn't expire and is more likely to be accepted/taken seriously. My plan is to marry on my 3rd trip, with each trip being about 3 - 4 weeks long. And obviously while the visa is being processed I plan on making more trips, but I read that it's important to front - load the I-130 application with a few trips. Is 3 trips a solid amount for that, and would 2 trips possibly be enough to frontload the application, if it was a total of 7 weeks? We will have been chatting for a little over a year before I visit him for the first time, and I'm 5 years younger than him (he's 29 and I'm 24) so no red flags with the age part. He's divorced but he was just married once to an Algerian woman (so not a Westerner). No kids on either side.

He's unemployed now and it's highly likely he will be through the visa process as well. He's always worked and completed a university degree in Graphic Design in Turkey, but the company he used to work for only stuck around in Morocco for a couple years and after that it's been difficult to find steady work. Also he needs to work a lot on his English so that's what we're focusing on now. Will his unemployment affect his chances of getting the visa? I've read before that this doesn't really affect things because the Casa consulate is well aware of the high unemployment rates in the region. Also I'll probably need a joint sponsor because I don't think I'll be meeting the minimum income requirements for 3 years before I file for the visa. Would this affect the chances of success? Again based off my research it doesn't seem like it will because they just care about someone being able to potentially be responsible for 10 years. But I have heard some conflicting stuff about that 

My last question for this post is, is the Casa consulate still as tough now as it was years ago, in 2015 or 2016 for example?

[JeanneAdil 6,217]

Abigail,

Casa is only hard on cases that they expect are fraud (or suspicious )

The man being older by only a few years is hardly like the young men marrying older women

The time spent with him is a big asset / make sure you include copy of boarding passes with your petition and keep future ones for him to take to his interview

the unemployment will have no effect either way

having additional education after  Baccalaureate (high school degree in Morocco) is a big plus

Make sure his divorce papers are all in order with needed court stamps and signature(s)

When u go to marry ,  photos of u and family (especially his mom ) are important

don't go overboard with photos / around 20 is plenty / i put 3 on 8 x 11 sheet to send in and wrote ID's under each photo with month and year

all 3 years don't have to be poverty level or above and u have 2 years to get that amount up to the standards but still lining up the joint sponsor is a great plan/will not affect your application

Casa hard -plenty make it thru the process with no issues

don't enclose any proofs with your petition that u send money to him

BUT its great to have him take English courses even if it costs u

Have him take driving classes in Morocco as its a lot cheaper than cost here 

 

Everything you need to know to marry in Morocco is on the following site/ the expensive part is the translation of your documents to Arabic ($10 a page can be normal -6 copies of each one)

and the travel there and around to Casa,  Rabat and back to his city

 

https://ma.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/marriage-information/

[Boiler 43,563]

Talking about marrying somebody you have never met is bound to raise queries.

[iwannaplay54 985]

15 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Talking about marrying somebody you have never met is bound to raise queries.

We never met until the day before we got married.  

That wuz:  Almost 16 years and two kiddos ago.  It happens and it can work dude.

[Boiler 43,563]

I did not say it could not work. obviously in some social systems it is not uncommon, I think it is fair to say in the US it is.

[Chancy 6,233]

*** Moved from DCF forum to the MENA regional forum, for Morocco-specific input ***