KittyPollitt

Enjoy the time off. Seriously. Once you start working in America, you will do so until you die. That's the American way these days.

You thought a topic about visa fraud in the mena forum wasnt controversial? Im laughing. I knew it would be entertaining as soon as I saw it. Lol.

I guess it is the big hairy gorilla in the room here in MENA.

Settle in over in Nigeria. You'll get used to it.

I swear my topics always get out of hand. I really thought this one was going to be ok.

I think Sarah was saying it sux things like this happen. Not that they got caught.

I think Sarah was saying it sux things like this happen. Not that they got caught.

Why is this not good? You do not want frauds to be caught? Strange.

I grew up in a place where rattlesnakes were common. Every so often we would kill one up near the house and my sisters would proceed to tip toe around for a few days looking for snakes everywhere. I would ask "why are you walking so stupid?" Because you killed a snake here yesterday. "yeah, but...one less snake now that two days ago"

Morocco is rife with visa fraud. when they learn to catch the bad guys it will be easier for the good guys.

Gary, it's not good that it happened at all. It makes me sick. I agree with you that they need to learn to catch the bad guys, but more likely than not, this news making event will cause more blanket denials out of Casablanca. And that sucks for honest couples. Not good at all.

Even if there was such a visa, a Moroccan would never get it. He'd be lucky to get a visa if you were already married with a steady income.

Two words: naked webcam. That is all.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/10-Busted-in-Sham-Marriage-Scheme-131293359.html

Ten people in Connecticut have been charged with setting up fraudulent marriages to help Moroccan nationals come into the United States.

Federal Homeland Security agents began an investigation into the marriage scheme in November, 2010.

According to court documents, Fouad Elhadiri, of Waterbury, arranged a fraudulent marriage between his brother, a Moroccan citizen, and Stacey Brooks, of New Haven.

Brooks received several thousand dollars in 2007 and a trip to Morocco in exchange for marrying Elhadiri's brother, according to U.S. Attorney David Fein.

During the immigration process, Brooks allegedly provided letters claiming a long-term online relationship between the two. She even showed pictures from her trip to Morocco as proof that the couple had a relationship, Fein said.

Brooks married Elhadiri's brother in New Haven in May 2008, but never saw her husband again after the day of the wedding, according to court documents.

Federal investigators said the alleged scheme went on for more than 12 years with others involved.

Bahija Saadoun, of West Haven, is accused of entering into a sham wedding in 1999. Investigators said she also helped arrange marriages between her brother, Rachid Saadoun, and Ebony Kashann Jaynes, of New Haven, as well as arranging a fraudulent marriage between her sister, Fatima Saadoun, and Gino Kousa, of Bridgeport.

Also arrested were Khalid Kassem and Dawn Peck, of Madison, charged with entering into a sham marriage that Bahija Saadoun set up, investigators said. Saadoun's second husband, Hamid Kassem, was also charged with helping to orchestrate the marriage.

Brooks, Peck and Jaynes all took money and a trip to Morocco in exchange for marrying the foreign nationals, investigators said

All of the suspects face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

If she's already here in the US, she doesn't need a visa. You could marry her right now, and she could file to adjust her status (get a greencard) based on your marriage. Read this for how: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

@JoannaV Thank you so much for this information it helps clear somethings for me. I will be staying with him for like 3-4months and he has extended his Student Visa for another 2 years. This this mean I can file Can you explain a little more about the CR-1 visa? First time I hear about that. And when you said a "time-stamped photo of the two of you (with newspaper?)" How I go about that? Can I send it to the U.S. or the U.K. too, both at the same one or I have to pick one, the paper work?

Thank you! God Bless!

@JoannaV Thank you so much for this information it helps clear somethings for me. I will be staying with him for like 3-4months and he has extended his Student Visa for another 2 years. This this mean I can file Can you explain a little more about the CR-1 visa? First time I hear about that. And when you said a "time-stamped photo of the two of you (with newspaper?)" How I go about that? Can I send it to the U.S. or the U.K. too, both at the same one or I have to pick one, the paper work?

Thank you! God Bless!

A CR-1 visa is the spousal visa that replaced the K3 when it became obsolete some time ago. It takes just a bit more legwork on your part during the process, but it's worth it, as the intending immigrant gets a greencard shortly after entry into the US. You're not going to be able to file in the UK. The process takes well over 6 months, and they discontinued direct consular filing recently. You can begin filling out your papers while you're in the UK, and send them to USCIS while you're there, but you'd need someone reliable to receive your mail in the US, in the event that more evidence is requested, and for when the packet reaches the National Visa Center. here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

do you believe she is inaccurate with what she is saying?

I believe she may have sugarcoated things a bit regarding the level of scrutiny a couple is placed under at Casablanca.

That particular person, Nahal Kazemi, is no longer the NIV Chief at Casablanca.

Buy a phone with your current provider. Then call their tech support and tell them you will be traveling overseas and would like to unlock the phone for use with a foreign sim card. Note that this will not work with a Verizon or a Sprint phone, only ATT, Cricket, or Tmobile. Otherwise, you'd have to buy an unlocked phone off of Ebay. The phone has to be unlocked to use with a network other than the one it was originally assigned to. Unlocked phones are usually more expensive to buy, that's why I suggest you get one from your provider if you can. When you send it, make sure you have it insured for the full amount it's worth. He'll have to pay a tariff to get it out of customs, but at least if it's lost or stolen, you'll be covered.

Try calling the Embassy in DC. They'll know what's going on.

In order to even qualify for the waiver, you'd need to exhaust all the ways you could possibly meet without her traveling to Morocco. Meaning, you'd need to apply for, and be denied a visitor visa, and you'd have to show them that you made attempts to meet in other countries near the US. And her medical papers would have to be tight. Even then, the chances of being granted a waiver are very slim.

Sorry this happened to you. Casa is hard. They will be harder the next time you go in. Go to the MENA forums and read up about it. You're certainly not alone.

Yeah I guess you are right... Mexican food is my fav and about a month into my visit the cravings were insane :0) We went some where for pizza... The worst pizza I ever had....

Their Pizza Hut and Domino's over there is better than here. Beef pepperonis!!

The bread my inlaws made in the house always seemed to turn out harder than the stuff sold on the street. I guess there's more than one way to make it?

Hey everyone,

I'm new to this site but I am trying to get information on the process of getting a visitor visa for my friend from Morocco.

My mother and I are inviting my host mom from Morocco to visit us for the Holidays. I am a college student and recently studied abroad in Morocco this past spring/ summer and stayed with my host mom for about 7 months. We became really close and now she's like family. Since I am a college student my mom is sponsoring her trip and has agreed to cover airfare and all expenses while she's in the US.

Some info about her: She's 50, but unmarried and doesn't speak English (I speak Arabic and my mother speaks French which is how we communicate). She lives with her older sister, her family owns the home but her name isn't on the deed, she has a bank account and a car though. She's employed as a host mother with an American school affiliated with the government but the work isn't always steady.

She has filled out a sponsor affidavit form and we're going to send her last tax return as well as a copy of her birth certificate, passport and pay-stubs. We've also sent a letter to the consulate inviting my host mom as well as a letter addressed to my host mom inviting her.

I was wondering if anyone who had experience getting a visitor visa from morocco could offer some advice as well as explain the general process. Will my host moms documents need to be translated into English or do they speak Arabic/French at the consulate? Does the consulate contact my mom before her interview to verify information?

Any information would be appreciated. Thanks a lot/ chukran bazaf!

She may not have too much trouble getting a visitor visa, as she is an older woman with a steady job to come back to. As the previous poster said, it may not be a good idea for her to directly give your mom's affidavit and tax info to them directly. She should keep it with her at the interview, however, in case an affidavit of support is requested, as is sometimes the case. I hope she has success.

I have a friend who brought his wife here that he married through proxy. They were a couple before he came to the US on a diversity visa- he was unable to afford to return to visit her right away, so they married by proxy when he'd been here in the US for 4 years. About a year after, he returned to his country after saving money for the trip and she became pregnant. They did not have a ceremony then, as legally, they were already married. When he got his citizenship that year, he decided to petition her to come join him. It took him 2 years of legal wrangling to get her here, but now they are together. Everyone's circumstances are different, but it is possible to use a proxy marriage for immigration purposes- I've seen it happen.

It is true that your petition will most likely expire before it is reviewed. Filing an additional K1 petition isn't going to solve the problem, however, if none of your circumstances have changed. You really should try to figure out why your first attempt at a visa was denied, and address that issue before filing another petition. If not, they will just deny you again.

I think it is interesting that no one has mentioned age as a factor. I am 40. Every minute is a tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick for us. We are not kids, nor even "young adults". If we are here, in the US together, the time to begin trying is NOW. But, we are not. Every cycle means the odds are much less. No woman in my family (that I know of) has ever been pregnant after 38.

FYI-Statistic: A women at 30 has 50% of the same chance of pregnancy as a woman at 25.

Every 5 years pretty much halves a woman's chances. At 45, the odds are low enough that if a couple wants a child by that point, they need to START with an infertility medical workup.

For us, if he can't (for whatever reason) be here with me, then we will live together there. Would that suck? Maybe. Maybe not. Would it be completely worth it to turn my life upside down to go and be with him, of course. He is worth it. And he is absolutely willing to do that for me, so it is only fair that I offer the same, if need be. If we do have a child, that child is part of the package-deal.

Anyone who assumes that the child would grow up without both parents is assuming that couples who are filing the K-1 don't actually have serious enough commitments to be together and it is very telling about the writer's own commitments to his/her future spouse.

My reasoning exactly.

OP- I hope you remembered to keep your receipt. Argentina doesn't take hot chicks back after 90 days without a receipt.

No I am not sick in the head. I saw that OP who seemed offended by the Post had in the past created a post and advised others regarding marriage plans and tickets. Its no different with a child in my mind. The day your child is born is right up there with your wedding in terms of being one of the most important and significant days in your life and one which naturally one desires to have their beloved spouse or fiance in attendance. So doing that in the middle of the VISA process when one is not even sure the potential beneficiary can ever even set foot in the country seems ill advised and risky to use mild terms. You can never get that day back you will have missed it forever and if there is complications and your spouse needs assistance you will not be able to be of assistance. Are there better plans...? Perhaps.

Having seen almost a hundred or so posts over the years of someone who comes on the board and for their first post out of the shoot asks about an expedite because they are preggers is more akin to "trolling" than the original post. And most of the posts sound so arrogant as if they somehow deserve to jump the line ahead of people who have planned their lives a little more cautiously. They want to get senators and congressmen involved etc. etc, and then are shocked when they get a "hey back of the line bub" answer in the forum.

My posts advising people not to purchase tickets and make wedding plans can be backed up by advisory notices on government websites regarding visa issuance.

It's not the decision for people to get pregnant during the process that's a problem. It's people's choices after the fact that causes issues. I never, ever expected to have our case expedited or his visa approved because of our daughter's existence. If he had been denied, I would have stayed there in Morocco with him. Indeed I moved there so that our family could be together during the process.

Why make a blanket statement on the subject and condemn us all as fools? When one of these people comes on the board whining and bemoaning their situation post pregnancy test, take THAT opportunity to berate THEM.