Ismael&Blair

Congratulations on your Dec. 1 marriage! I like your profile pic (KEEP CALM AND MARRY A MOROCCAN). Cute....but my husband told me that marrying a Moroccan is not easy to do. But it's definitely worth it!

This is a bump in the road through our journey, but we just have to deal and keep moving forward. I'm certain he's learn his lesson and will now take these cultural adjustments more seriously. As far as my humiliation goes, it is embarrassing when you've set a date, a time, people are coming and you have to explain " hey he's not coming for another year, sorry for the false alarm." and the fact that I wished the doctor to hell and moaned and groaned about why he didn't get his visa. It was his own fault and I blamed the doctor! Furthermore, Imad should be ashamed, because if he had listened to my advice instead of citing his family and friends, culture, and disbelief that murphy's law is alive and in full effect i.e. don't be around marijuana point blank period, if you're not smoking it, we wouldn't be in this predicament now. He screwed up and now we have to pay the price for it.

I am glad that you both are taking this in strive & the fortunate thing is that he wasn't permanently banned.

I say in many ways that this is a blessing in disguise in terms of giving you and him more time to learn about each other's personalities and see how much of a compromise you both will give & take in your relationship with each other.

I have to say that from my personal experience with my dear Moroccan husband, we fell madly in love in the beginning and it was a whirl wind romance between us online. We being in two different continents with different cultures and customs during our courtship. But we also knew we have more similarities and it would be worth it when he is here. He told me that he would listen to my advice (since I'm older than him & I'm established here) where he would expect that I listen to him and follow his customs when I'm in Morocco. But I am admitting that I learned a lot about marriage overall (married for 2 1/2 years and my hubby being here 1 1/2 year and us getting ready to file the removal of conditions on his green card).

The main thing is that you cannot change anyone or expect that person to change them in a marriage. You have to accept them for who they are because if you don't, the marriage will be a bumpy one. And this goes for any marriage whether it's marrying someone from the US or any other country, you will not know truly know the quirky person's habits until you live with that person.

But like in any marriage, it takes love, communication, compromise & effort to make it all work. So good luck and best wishes! Keep us posted because I would love to read your update & the happy final arrival!

My advice is for you to go to the Moroccan Consulate section and read all of the reviews. I mean read ALL so you familiarize yourself with the actual process. Then you and your husband need to practice on how to answer all of the questions. Go over and prepare for all of the questions with him so he will be comfortable on how to answer all of questions.

Sorry to hear about the prior denial but the good thing is that you guys are together for the long run. And when he is approved, the positive thing is that he will qualify for the 10 year visa versus the conditional 2 year one.

Best wishes and keep in touch to let us know how the interview went.

It took our petition from start to his interview approval in 9 months (November 2012 to August 2013) & his arrival on the 10th month (Sept 11, 2013).

We got our NOA2 in 4 months with no RFE. We got ONE checklist during the NVC part.

Good luck!

If you need a good certified translator that is approved by the US Consulate in Rabat, drop me a note and I'll go through my papers to get his his name and contact information. He was friendly, spoke English and works at the same building as my hubby's family member.

For my employment, they needed both our marriage certificate and his social security number to be added to my health medical (doctor, dental & vision) insurance. However, in terms of life insurance, NO, they don't need any proof.

Sorry to read this. Your fiance being a student and not independent from her parents means that it will be a tough road for you.

Even if you and her are on good terms & she is able to go visit you, she will probably not be able to financially petition you without a sponsor.

But good luck and best wishes. You and her need to have a good discussion about the relationship.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I've read some stories here on VJ about people that have had the same age difference and most of them said it wasn't mentioned in the interview but like you all said to be prepared for everything. What would you answer if the CO asked you "why didn't you marry an Egyptian girl in your age" ?. Love is not always convenient for them!

First of all, I want to say that age difference is not a Red Flag issue (My Moroccan husband and I (US Citizen) are 18 years apart and I being the older one) but for you asking for standard answers on how to answer questions for the interview will be a Red Flag.

I remembered when I started the process and I called the Customer Service number to ask for clarification on what to submit with the petition. The person didn't tell me exactly what I can submit. She told me to submit what "I FELT THAT WILL BEST SHOW PROOF OF OUR ONGOING RELATIONSHIP".

And for you to ask for "boiler plate answers" (other people's answers) here on VJ already shows me personally that you may not know your fiance well enough to know why you want to marry her instead of marrying an Egyptian girl your age. ONLY YOU WILL KNOW THE ANSWER WHY YOU WANT TO MARRY YOUR FIANCE.

So my sincere answer for you is that you communicate with your fiance and you both should come up with the answers that fit both of your relationship. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what other couples' answers are but your relationship answers.

I hope this comment makes sense. There is NO ONE CORRECT ANSWER. The Consulate are pretty good to figure out if one's relationship is forthcoming. I think the best thing is to read the consulate interview reviews and start from there. But good luck and best wishes. Keep us posted.

Woot hooooo! I am so happy for you two! Yes, you are now in the final stretch!

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. I still remember my marriage to my Moroccan husband in Morocco like it was yesterday!

If you need a name of a translator in Rabat, I can supply you one. He was the one who did all of mine and he is one of the approved translator for the US Consulate.

Just be patient, persistent, and get ready to run away and wait too. Make sure your husband is convincing like my husband to get things moving. And if that doesn't work, having some bills in hand will help.

you will be sent a notice of intent to revoke that includes a statement of the facts and evidence and you will have the opportunity to respond.

What do i do? You need to respond to the statement of the facts and evidence. Did they put down on the 221(g) paper and/or check on the reason WHY they are suspending your case and now in the initial revocation proceeding? Ask your spouse what questions exactly were asked at the both interviews. What were his/her answers to those questions and then check your answers that were written on your petition to see if they actually match. Somehow, there may be discrepancies to make them not believe him/her.

what's the nest step? You should find out asap what they found out on the beneficiary and the reason why they didn't approve him/her.

Should i hire a lawyer? If you can afford one, you could hire a lawyer to help you. But the main problem of your petition is that NVC discovered something and/or suspect that the beneficiary does not qualify for immigration to the US. Until you have the facts and evidence to counter their facts and evidence, hiring a lawyer may not result to anything.

Anyways, if possible, perhaps the spouse should move to Morocco and let time go by before filing another petition. This way if the reason for denial was not believing the relationship was valid, this would prove them wrong in the future petition. Hope this makes sense, but good luck and best wishes.

To ease your worries about the interview. When my husband was there for his interview, the person at the Consulate who checked in my husband when he arrived asked what language my husband was comfortable to do the interview in. So don't worry. The people that work at the place are fluent in many languages (Arabic, French & English). Best wishes!

And Ramadan Mubarak to you too!

I wanted to make a correction and say that YOUR FIANCE (since you won't be able to be there at the interview) better be ready to explain what you guys had submitted to show a bonafide relationship you two have.

Just make sure you guys read all of the consulate interview reviews and be familiar of how the interview/ questioning process may go and it should go smoothly.

Good luck!

I want to let you know that I didn't send any actual chat logs on our conversations either. We mainly chatted in person via Skype. I did send screen shots of what we posted on each other's Facebook wall.

I would say not to stress out over this because if your relationship is a bonafide one and you sent what you felt illustrates your relationship, then it should be good.

When I first started the process, I remembered calling the Immigration and asked them actually what I needed to submit. The person on the phone said it's up to what you have to show a bonafide relationship. What one person has will not be the same as for another. Every relationship is different. There is NO set formula on what to do. Be positive and be ready to explain what you have submitted to show about your relationship with your fiance.

Good luck and best wishes!

If wife has nobody in the U.S. and she has been living with you in Morocco not working .... WHO is sponsoring you on the VISA? This will be an important factor even if the expidite for an interview is granted.

I feel your words of love for her in all your posts but If it is so serious (Ovarian Cancer? stage 4 you wrote) Then VISA approvals should take second or third priority over your wife getting medical help.

I agree with Inluv and everyone else about getting your wife medical treatment asap. That should be a priority.

But there are two questions that you both need to answer on your petition. If you don't have a convincing answer for them, then it will be denied again.

1) Who will be your wife's co-sponsor? I am assuming since she has been with you in Morocco, she hasn't been working or have a steady income source to show for the AOS. Who will take care of her and you in America?

2) Does she even have a place in the US that she calls home? She would need to establish a place of domicile. Where would you both call "your home" when you both arrive in America?

Good luck & best wishes to you two. Speedy recovery for your wife too!

I totally agree with you! I get suspicious every time I hear of people planning to marry before they even know how bad their partner's farts stink.

hahaha...I agree with the stinky fart test. If both can tolerate those farts, then it's the perfect match lol

Well, it's what you can afford the trips and if you have the time to take off, you can go now and then go again when it's Ramadan. Well, sometimes you think the NVC will go fast but actually it can be delayed too. I tried to plan it out because our NOA2 was approved in March. I thought he would get interview in June or July. But by the time it got transferred and submitted the stuff. We got a checklist to resubmit something else. Plus it was Ramadan and they have limited hours. So it ended up they didn't schedule his interview until in August.

Personally, I think you should go because of your relationship and not because of the petition process. They will know it's the quality of your relationship and not the quantity. But I would have to say quantity would help because it will show that you two had more face to face time. As long as you are able to prove and show that you two have a "real marriage". Then don't worry about the so-called "red flags".

Believe me, if you knew the details of me and my husband's relationship. On the surface, someone not knowing us could judge us and say we have a lot of red flags considering that I am not Muslim, we met online through Facebook, and we have a big age gap too. But we love each other and that was what shined through.

Good luck and just be prepared with getting your evidence ready to illustrate what that your relationship is about.

congratulations!

congratulations!

My husband misses the sardines too. He talks about them all the time.

We were able to buy some canned sardines and tuna (red one) from GELSON'S. They are the kind you would find from Morocco since they are products from Morocco.

I will have to take a pic of them and post next time so you can see what brand they are.

Anyways, good luck! We are in the Los Angeles area too. Every month, we try to eat at a Moroccan restaurant so my husband doesn't get so homesick. The best one so far is La Mamounia in Orange County. We think that place has the best Moroccan food by far. I love the bastilla the best.

Congrats!

Yes, the cost of the airfares is outrageous. I felt the same way too. My husband was able to find a 1 way ticket within 1 month of departure through ROYAL MAROC for about $1100 leaving from Casablanca straight to NYC. It was the best price for September 2013 within 1 month of purchasing it for departure.

The price may be high now too because of Spring Break and especially if you don't book 3 month ahead.

Anyhow, congrats to you & your husband reuniting!

I believe the other comments above are incorrect. You better double check with NVC and also have a sponsor ready & available because if I remember correctly, I hope other people who already went through this process, can also comment. They want to know proof of a current employer, current position & current income too.

Be prepared for a CHECKLIST/RFE to show how is your spouse going to prove that she will support you when you arrive to America if she is currently unemployed?

Getting here is one thing but the important reality is it takes time to get things in order to secure a job. It is now 6 months since my husband's arrival and just yesterday he found a job. Hamdollah

Good luck & best wishes

Congratulations!

I believe your wife needs to be currently employed in order for you guys to qualify for the financial requirements. If there is no current income for 2014, your wife will need to get a sponsor to meet the financial requirements.

Good luck!