Dear Spouses of Moroccans

[caybee 21]

We were married here by a justice of the peace, and I am not Muslim. Has anyone registered their marriage successfully in Morocco under those circumstances? Thank you.

I submitted this question to the Moroccan consulate in New York. I'll post the answer when I receive it.

[sereia 0]

Agreed. Also if your spouses don't have the "new" National ID card you can get that too. I think they will be requiring it soon, that does take more time (they actually have to send the paperwork back to Morocco to get it).

My husband washed his new ID card in with his jeans a few weeks ago. The photo and number are visible but everything else washed away!

[Jenn! 918]

We were married here by a justice of the peace, and I am not Muslim. Has anyone registered their marriage successfully in Morocco under those circumstances? Thank you.

I submitted this question to the Moroccan consulate in New York. I'll post the answer when I receive it.

Thanks! This is our situation too, which is why we have never registered.

[MrsAmera 41]

Yes you can register your marriage even if you're not Muslim. But it does have to be witnessed by two Muslims and I'm not sure if there is anyway around that.

[sereia 0]

So what? Do we all have to get married all over again if Muslims weren't present?

[Jenn! 918]

So what? Do we all have to get married all over again if Muslims weren't present?

Yes, that was my understanding. Which is why we've been putting it off. I hate doing things just to satisfy government agencies. Already had to do it once with USCIS!

[sereia 0]

Well we were planning to have a wedding in Morocco anyway...but I was planning to have just a party. Does that count?!

[AlHayatZween 2]

Hmmmm... this is so frustrating, especially because my husband is not getting any answers at the local Islamic Center.

So if you are just married civilly here in the States, what does that mean exactly? That we can't stay in the same hotel room in Morocco?

Arrrrrghh... we have been trying to be legal for soooooooooo long!

hz

[sereia 0]

Hmmmm... this is so frustrating, especially because my husband is not getting any answers at the local Islamic Center.

So if you are just married civilly here in the States, what does that mean exactly? That we can't stay in the same hotel room in Morocco?

Arrrrrghh... we have been trying to be legal for soooooooooo long!

hz

Isn't that rule SO ANNOYING? We searched and searched for a riad for ages last time we were in Morocco because we didn't have proof we were married. Eventually you'd find someone who just wants the money, but it took a lot of searching!

[AlHayatZween 2]

Isn't that rule SO ANNOYING? We searched and searched for a riad for ages last time we were in Morocco because we didn't have proof we were married. Eventually you'd find someone who just wants the money, but it took a lot of searching!

Hi Sereia!!!

Yes! This is the story of our entire marriage... the religious marriage that we have no documentation for, and now we are in the States, civilly married, and now we need different documents..... i have called/e-mailed the consulate a bunch of times before we had our civil marriage here in New York. We only got one response: And that was to call the Consulate.

i just want to get this done, so we can be legal and married and sa fey!

Sorry.... venting....

hz

[star_dragon 0]

We were married here by a justice of the peace, and I am not Muslim. Has anyone registered their marriage successfully in Morocco under those circumstances? Thank you.

I submitted this question to the Moroccan consulate in New York. I'll post the answer when I receive it.

I'm curious about this (and confused). My plan is to marry civilly here.....hmm..

[MrsAmera 41]

My advice,

Do the civil marriage. You can have a seperate religious ceremony at a mosque. This satisfies most governments that have the "must be witnessed by 2 Muslims" clause. You will have 2 certificates, one from the mosque and one from the State of (wherever you live). If you are already civilly married, you can go to the mosque and do the religious ceremony quick and easy. If you do not have children yet, do this now!! Once you have children it throws a curve in, becuase they consider the religious ceremony the "binding" ceremony. So for us our religious ceremony was 2 months after our actual wedding (in May). Our son was born in December. They actually counted the months (based on the Islamic ceremony) to see if we were married when he was conceived. (I said he was premie...). When we tried to register in Morocco they tried to tell us we had to get married "AGAIN" in morocco to file or go back to the states and do it. If we "re-married" in Morocco then we would have to petition the judge to prove our son was born when we were legally married.

Basically it's confusing as he**. If you're not Islamically married, setup a time with the imam, spend the 30 minutes and do the ceremony. It will save you loads of headaches!

ETA: I've spent countless hours in the Moroccan embassy and consulate here in DC sorting this business out!!!

[star_dragon 0]

GEEZ!

Thanks for the heads up..I'm glad I read this thread. I would have thought of these things when it was too late.

[AlHayatZween 2]

My advice,

Do the civil marriage. You can have a seperate religious ceremony at a mosque. This satisfies most governments that have the "must be witnessed by 2 Muslims" clause. You will have 2 certificates, one from the mosque and one from the State of (wherever you live). If you are already civilly married, you can go to the mosque and do the religious ceremony quick and easy. If you do not have children yet, do this now!! Once you have children it throws a curve in, becuase they consider the religious ceremony the "binding" ceremony. So for us our religious ceremony was 2 months after our actual wedding (in May). Our son was born in December. They actually counted the months (based on the Islamic ceremony) to see if we were married when he was conceived. (I said he was premie...). When we tried to register in Morocco they tried to tell us we had to get married "AGAIN" in morocco to file or go back to the states and do it. If we "re-married" in Morocco then we would have to petition the judge to prove our son was born when we were legally married.

Basically it's confusing as he**. If you're not Islamically married, setup a time with the imam, spend the 30 minutes and do the ceremony. It will save you loads of headaches!

ETA: I've spent countless hours in the Moroccan embassy and consulate here in DC sorting this business out!!!

Thanks, Amera... i intend to take care of this this week, inchallah... will report back if i pick up any insight or make any discoveries along the way.

[venusfire503 54]

My advice,

Do the civil marriage. You can have a seperate religious ceremony at a mosque. This satisfies most governments that have the "must be witnessed by 2 Muslims" clause. You will have 2 certificates, one from the mosque and one from the State of (wherever you live). If you are already civilly married, you can go to the mosque and do the religious ceremony quick and easy. If you do not have children yet, do this now!! Once you have children it throws a curve in, becuase they consider the religious ceremony the "binding" ceremony. So for us our religious ceremony was 2 months after our actual wedding (in May). Our son was born in December. They actually counted the months (based on the Islamic ceremony) to see if we were married when he was conceived. (I said he was premie...). When we tried to register in Morocco they tried to tell us we had to get married "AGAIN" in morocco to file or go back to the states and do it. If we "re-married" in Morocco then we would have to petition the judge to prove our son was born when we were legally married.

Basically it's confusing as he**. If you're not Islamically married, setup a time with the imam, spend the 30 minutes and do the ceremony. It will save you loads of headaches!

ETA: I've spent countless hours in the Moroccan embassy and consulate here in DC sorting this business out!!!

Um... what if, like me, you're not Muslim but your Moroccan husband is?