MarocAEHabiby

Does anyone else notice the OP has been missing from the last few pages while the bickering continued on? Why not agree to disagree on the OP's wife and her reasons behind getting married and moving to the US. Regardless..I wish you the best of luck OP and I hope that you get to the bottom of your unfortunate situation sooner than later.

I have another odd question..for those ladies who live in Morocco and are paid in Moroccan dirhams can you have your salary direct deposited into an American account?? If not how do you pay any bills you may have in America (ie: student loans or credit cards)? I know this may seem to be a very stupid question but it's been on my mind for a bit...thanks!!

I would like to know some of the same information. I have read where people will use a moving container, like you see on a semi truck, and in most cases they will share it to save costs. Someone else told me that if you take your car, you have to pay heavy taxes on it when it arrives. Something to think about. I thought someone said you would be taxed on the original purchase price, but I am not sure that is correct. I would like to know if you were to open an account in the US with maybe Chase, would that help you get something going in Morocco since they are there too.

Best of luck in your future

I have read the same things regarding the containers and it can become costly, I've seen quotes as low as $1000 and as high as $5500, with the size of the container ranging from 20 to 40 feet. Also, I've considered taking my car to Morocco but I've been told its cheaper to buy locally, as you pay an arm and a leg on taxes to get the car in the country. The downside of course is if you drive an automatic vs a manual car, it may be difficult to find a automatic car as most cars sold in Morocco are manual or stick shift. The easiest way to start banking is to open an account in Morocco when you reach and set up some type of transfer (seems to be the easiest way unfortunately). Citi has a presence in Morocco but not on the consumer banking side, they are the back office/operations side which doesn't directly involve itself with money...which is unfortunate. I forgot about this site and haven't been reading much but I'm glad I came back.

Why cant you meet in one of the neighboring countries and do a K1. You could meet in abu dhabi and you dont need a visa to go there and its easy to stay in a hotel there.. dubai as well and there are some affordable plane trips there. I have been to Abu Dhabi and its very nice and the hotels were not that bad. Its very western and you can wear normal clothing. He could easily get a visa there,, you could have alot of fun and then you could go home and do a k1

That's great advice Hanging in there. Just make sure you behave appropriately in public, but I'm sure your fiancé being Egyptian already knows that. Good luck with your situation..

Congratulations!!!

Seven years and counting here.

Edited to say I'm a new member but I've been with the same cucoo MENA man since 2002.

I hope you aren't located in the area that was hit. Glad to hear your safe and let's keep all those who weren't so lucky in our prayers (whether they lost material things or loved ones).

Hey Moroccan love, nice to meet someone else who may be relocating. So far I haven't had much luck locating a job abroad but perhaps in time I'll come across something that suits my skill set (very limited French and Arabic) and I will def share. Have you tried to start learning the languages? What part of Morocco would you be moving to? Well keep in touch!!

prolly denied for a combination of the overstay, the arrests, and other life circumstances that would have been tallied by a social worker and presented to the judge before the hearing. lack of steady job or significant education, and subjective things like disposition of personality could be typical of negatives seen in such a report.

at this point, you should save your cash that you are wasting on your lawyer and plan on living in morocco, or maybe spain if he can get a visa to live there.

well i never been to spain,

but i've been to oklahoma.

oh they tell me i was born there,

but i really don't remember.

oklahoma,

not arizona.

what does it matter?

what does it matter?

Yeah, I am sure his past arrests are the biggest part of the problem, although job and education should not have been relevant (he had a good job and studied). We will apply for a waiver at some point because I don't want to live in Morocco the rest of my life and to be honest I am not too keen on moving there to begin with because of the lack of jobs. If a Moroccan can't find a job how is it that I will be able to find one (I don't speak Arabic or French) and many English teacher jobs look for someone who has a Masters and/or a certificate for teaching English. Thanks for your "advice" though...

Thank you so much for the thoughtful information...since our petition was denied I will be moving to Morocco in 3-6 months maybe sooner to be with my husband. I'm not really nervous but only anxious about being able to find a job in Casablanca hopefully before I get there. Hopefully at some point I will be able to contact you guys after reaching since my husband is the only one from his family who speaks enough English to understand me. Thanks again!!

That sucks. I strongly suspected that this would be the outcome, but it sucks anyway. I'm very sorry.

Thanks again for all your advice, I really appreciated it. Hopefully we will only go upwards from here.

Darrenju,

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it and I guess I don't feel so bad we were also denied even though clearly our case was worse. Are you back in the US or still abroad? I am hoping to return after a year although that may be wishful thinking. Anyways thanks again for the info and good luck on your case!

Just to post an update I have been told that our joint motion to reopen was denied as a matter of discretion on Friday but I didn't want to post until I got info from our atty who was speaking with the trial atty from immigration to confirm they knew of my pregnancy. The pregnancy didn't make a difference at all it seems...so it looks like I will be moving to be with my husband. Now it's time to get into the mode of selling our stuff and finding a job overseas. Thanks for the support everyone!

Well how do you find your standard of living in terms of buying food and clothing?? I remember from my visit 2 years ago that food was cheap, especially fresh food but clothing was really expensive. Also what do you do for fun? I stayed home most of the time on my last visit, barring the visits to Marrakech and Rabat. Also do you work? If so where if you don't mind me asking..I work for a company that has over 350 locations worldwide and I'm trying to determine if I'd qualify for a transfer. Last but not least, if you don't speak arabic or french how do you find day to day living? Thanks in advance for your responses :-)

Just wondering if any of the ladies on here live in Morocco and if so where?? I will have my sister in law and hubby's cousins (all 4-10 years younger than me) when and if I have to move back with him so it'd be nice to get some ideas of what I should be expecting if I have to move. I've been to Morocco once 2 years ago for nearly 4 months, but haven't been back since. Thanks!

By the way I am a US Citizen, as is our child.

Okay here's my take on it.

In the matter of Thomas the person appeared to not have actually been convicted of any crimes but instead was only arrested for them. The fact that the charges were dismissed doesn't mean that your spouse is a good guy... it simply means they didn't have enough evidence to convict him at that time. I think that's what they're saying by referencing Thomas, while he wasn't convicted they believe "his argumentative and confrontational behavior" is an indicator that he's not a good guy and that by being arrested five times (you didn't say if they were all at once or separate issues.. that I can remember) they had to have had at least enough evidence to arrest so that's still not good in their book.

And with Arai "A favorable exercise of administrative discretion is warranted where positive factors, such as family ties, length of residency, and hardship, outweigh adverse considerations". They've decided that the judge properly weighed his five arrests (and I think they're saying they think he's likely to be guilty but the courts couldn't prove it) and his "argumentative and confrontational behavior" against the positive factors and found that he's more bad than good.

I'm definitely thinking there's something in the arrest records or his interview records or whatever that's much worse than you think it is... Have you seen the arrest records to see what they say? That might help.

I've reviewed and re-reviewed his official arrest record and there is nothing there I haven't known about or previously discussed. His arrests are 6 years old and I hoped that we would have had a chance to pass the stupidity of his late teens/early twenties and not be in this position today. Unfortunately looks like we all may be relocating to Morocco if things don't work out in our favor.

Also, these are the facts in the Matter of Thomas: "The record reflects that on November 20, 1992, he was convicted following a trial by jury in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Kings, of murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the second degree, kidnapping in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. On December 11, 1992, the respondent was convicted in the same court, this time upon a plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. On January 7, 1993, the court set aside the respondent’s conviction for kidnapping in the second degree as a matter of law. The same day, the court imposed the following sentences for his other convictions: for second-degree murder, 20 years to life; for attempted murder in the second degree, 8 to 24 years; for second degree assault, 2 to 6 years; for criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, 5 to 15 years; for criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, 2 to 6 years; and, for criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, 1 year."

Although I understand that it is always a matter of discretion, I just wonder how the IJ/BIA can even draw comparisons between our cases, besides to say that negative things can affect how they use their discretion. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things work out...

.

we know this is a bad idea - and this is why im here asking this..

like i said - my parents wont let us married, and thatll be when ill graduate- in two years..

K-1 visa is for 90 days only

As someone who got married freshman year of college, I would have loved for someone to advise me to wait. Although I still would have married my husband three years later (he's my best friend and so much more), I think it's better if you can spend the next two years really getting to know each other. If your school will allow you to study abroad for a semester in Israel take advantage of that, and consider in your last semester of college seek the K-1 visa. If you really are in a rush try to take accelerated courses so that you may finish earlier, but I agree that you should finish school first. It will afford you a wealth of opportunities which will enrich both of your lives greatly and improve your future together.

This is an excerpt from the BIA denial after our appeal:

"We address the respondent's arguments that the Immigration Judge failed to properly weigh the evidence in denying adjustment of status as a matter of discretion. The Board reviews matters of discretion de novo. We disagree with the respondent that the Immigration Judge failed to give sufficient weight to the respondent's family ties in the United States, specifically his United States citizens wife and child. We also disagree that the Immigration Judge placed too much emphasis on the respondent's multiple arrests for criminal behavior, given that the respondent has never been convicted of a crime. See Matter of Thomas 21 I&N Dec. 20 (BIA 1995) (holding that an arrest can be considered as a negative discretionary factor)." and "While the respondent was never convicted of a criminal offense, the evidence of his argumentative and confrontational behavior were properly considered by the Immigration Judge. We agree with the Immigration Judge that the negative factors outweigh the equities. See Matter of Arai, 13 I&N Dec.494 (BIA 1970)."

Now here is the conclusion from Matter of Thomas:

We have taken into account the respondent’s favorable equities in this

country including his length of residence, family ties (lawful permanent resident wife, their 4-year-old United States citizen child, lawful permanent resident mother and half-brother), and employment history. We find, however,

that these factors do not outweigh the adverse factors presented by the record, including the respondent’s immigration history, probable guilt for murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second, third, and fourth degrees, and admitted use of drugs in prison, for which he was disciplined. Accordingly, we find that the respondent has failed to satisfy his burden of

establishing that he merits voluntary departure as a matter of discretion. Therefore, his request for voluntary departure is denied in the exercise of discretion. For these reasons, the respondent’s appeal is dismissed.

And the summary of the conclusion from Matter of Arai (I cannot copy and paste, as it is old scanned document):

A favorable exercise of administrative discretion is warranted where positive factors, such as family ties, length of residency, and hardship, outweigh adverse considerations.

So the first thing that I do not understand is why they chose to reference either of these matters, as my husband was never accused of drug dealing, killing someone, drug use, possession of a weapon (Thomas) or anything even in the same ball park. He was arrested for disorderly conduct, basically being a idiot and raising his voice arguing with stupid people. The second matter seems to be decision which should have helped us, as he had family ties (myself and child), 7 years in the US, and I was unemployed at the time and unable to support myself on my own.

That said, I really want to focus on my question which is whether or not anyone has had any experience with the joint motion to reopen, and if so what was the outcome-negative or positive. Thanks again all and please if you want to discuss anything other that my question feel free to PM me or not bother posting at all...thanks!

Arrested does not mean guilty. I made a local cop angry and he arrested me four separate times for a total of 18 charges ALL of which were dismissed.

Thanks Belinda, I appreciate your wisdom. For some of the arrests (three) he actually was with his loser friends and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I love how people presume guilty before proven. If he was such a terrible guy he obviously wouldn't have had the charges dismissed.

Arrested 5 times is ridiculous. I don't care what the reasons are. Evidently our government thinks he needs to go back to Morocco. Once again he has broken the law by staying. You made the decision to have 2 kids with someone like him. Can't really blame anyone but him and yourself. Probably not going to find much sympathy around here from MENA folks. Most of our significant others didn't have the best language skills either but they didn't go getting themselves arrested 5 times.

As I've asked ever so politely to other posters-if you have nothing constructive and/or pertinent to what I am asking refrain from responding. I don't wish or care to hear about your opinions or negativity.

Also just a note here. He committed five criminal acts which he was arrested for (no convictions you said) and just three years ago decided that being ordered deported didn't work for him and broke THAT law too. Certainly hasn't helped his "I'm a law abiding person" argument...

I agree completely with you on all your points and I am not making any excuses for him. He hasn't been in trouble with the law since late 2004 and although he was ordered deported it really put me in a rock and hard place because I don't speak Arabic or French and was unable to find a job in Morocco. He would have been completely unable to work to support us back home so we worked it out so he could stay home with our daughter while I worked to support us. Morocco wouldn't have afforded us the same luxury (minimum wage per hour is roughly $2). We also remained here based on the advice of another attorney who stated some relief would be available after 10 years of continuous residency. Anyways, I wanted to find out if anyone here has experience with a joint motion to reopen and if so what was that experience? I really appreciate all the feedback from you guys

FIVE arrests and still confused??????????? :help:

As I said, he was younger-we aren't talking about a 25+ year old getting into trouble. We met when we were 16 and 17 respectively and got married young. He hung out with the wrong crowd and got arrested for stupidity (such as shouting at a guy who insulted how he spoke-disorderly conduct) when he was under 21. I'm not making excuses for him, but I know it must have been tough coming here with no family and the many opportunities to fall into the wrong crowd. He's since changed, and according to immigration law he is eligible for AOS based on his marriage to me, although I guess the discretion of the IJ can deny any petition for AOS. That said, I don't mean to be snarky but how is your reply/comment constructive?

Thanks so much everyone for the advice, I haven't really explained everything in detail so I will start from the beginning:

-Husband entered the US in 2001 on B-2 visa and overstayed

-We met in 2002, got married in 2003

-Applied for AOS in 2004, filed i-485 with i-130 with an immigration attorney

-i-130 approved, husband ended up getting arrested and released on bond by immigration after finding out pregnant w/first child

-Attended immigration hearing infront of IJ after birth of child and ultimately AOS denied as a matter of discretion (no convictions/guilty pleas/probation), at this point went in front of IJ Pro Se which in hindsight was incredibly stupid

-Filed motion to reconsider and reopen, both which were denied, although was noted in reply that although he was statutorily eligible it was denied as a discretion, ordered deported in 2008

-Fast forward to today, husband is in ICE detention and we have an attorney (who is great, but I wondered if anyone else had a similar experience because we have no idea what is going to happen) applying for a JMTR, but I'm trying to figure out what will likely be the outcome. I've read on the DOJ EOIC website about cases much worse than his being reopened, and those which have criminal convictions being deported, but there aren't any cases on there where discretion was a basis for declining an application with no convictions.

I know he looks like a bad guy, but these arrests happened all while he was under 21, he came here and went from having parents coordinating every movement in his life (school, sports, home) to having complete freedom and picked up a really crappy group of friends from the inner city school he attended. With English not being his strong point when first arriving, he "had" to be tough to fit in and not get bullied, but now it's really biting us both in the ####. Thanks again to everyone who took the time to read and respond, I really appreciate any advice. We have a 5 year old and I'm pregnant going bonkers. BTW, I have been reading up on immigrate2us, but I haven't really found any direct information helpful to our case. Thanks again.