Should we apply for K1 now or wait a year?

[Tahlisha 28]

get married in Morocco? i think she has to convert into Islam for that purpose, or use her baptism.

She does not have to be muslim to marry him in Morocco... Nor does she have to show anything of her having been baptized, but she may not like the way she is described in her marriage contract if she is not muslim. I know of plenty of women who married Moroccan men in Morocco and were not muslim nor did they have to show anything saying they had been baptized.... I am Muslim but I have noting on paper stating I am muslim so when my husband and I got married the Adoul said I had to take a "muslim" name or they would say I was a christian in our contract... I know of someone who said she was described as a "spinster" in her marriage contract becasue she was not Muslim.... Being a muslim is not a requirment for a woman to marry a Moroccan MAN .....

[kristen_maroc 126]

Hey! Fellow RPCV here-- I was in Morocco 07-09 and then ended up staying with a NGO until 2011. Met my husband in Rabat, went the K1 route. I was in a Tamazight speaking area, though my husband isn't Amazigh.

Everyone else has given you good advice-- I am not a consular officer, but it sounds as if you have a stronger case than most. Some ideas I would have are:

- Don't stress about religious differences. As long as he can articulate in an interview why they aren't a problem for you, it should be fine for the interview. Good luck with that in the relationship though.

- As others have said, it seems like the biggest immigration hurdle right now is the employment issue-- making sure you either have a co-sponsor or having a job that makes 125% of poverty line, or having savings x5 years to make up the difference. In all honesty, with the K1 process you have time. I don't know what timelines are like now, but we applied for our K1 in December of 2010, and he didn't end up getting his visa/interview until July of 2011 and that seemed pretty typical. The visa was a 6-month visa, so from the time we filed until his K1 would expire, we had a full year for me to get a job that pays 125% of poverty line. I was actually living in Morocco until July... got a job that paid just above minimum wage within 2 weeks of being back in the States and could have swung it with savings. Luckily, I got a salaried position about a month after my husband moved to the States, so there was no worries about the 125% of poverty, but it was a risk.

A teaching job should be fine. Do you have savings? If so, something even like... okay, lets say you get a minimum wage job. If you work 40 hrs/week, 50 weeks per year, that'd give you $14500/year. 125% is about $19,000 for two people right now, so you'd have to have 5 times the difference in savings: $22,500. I believe-- and VJ, please check me on this!-- that if he has savings and can transfer that to you (which can be tricky), that can count towards the 5x difference, but his salary won't count towards making the money.

If you have that, I'd go ahead and apply now. It gives you a year to get a minimum-wage job, which seems doable even in this economy. It still gives you a year to get a job that pays $19,000 as well, which for an RPCV also seems as if it's doable.

Do you still have non-competitive eligibility? You can extend that up to 3 years from your COS date and get priority for any federal job you qualify for without going through a federal job resume process. If you don't really understand NCE, I'd call RVS in Washington at PC headquarters and ask to talk to them. I don't know if Jody or Kat are still working there, but they are both amazing. If you can swing a phone call with them, they can give you the scoop. And let me tell you-- I am really disappointed that I passed my 3-year mark without using it. A lot of people from my stage and others got awesome, cushy federal jobs with it and are now making double my salary. Most of them just had (fairly non-marketable) BAs before Peace Corps.

I don't know where you live, but the private RPCV listserv has new NCE jobs listed on a more than weekly basis, usually in DC, NYC, or California. Federal agencies as a rule love hiring NCE because it cuts down the amount of paperwork, time, red tape, etc for them as well so they can get people in faster.

As far as the visa process goes, I'd do more research about getting married in the US while he is on that visa as well. I don't know what is legal and not for that, or what would be seen as fraudulent, so I'm not going to touch that. I will say that it sounds like you have a strong case already to me, and that if he is here on a business visa and follows his original travel plans and does not overstay at all or break the law, you have an even stronger case. What you don't say anywhere is how many months you have actually spent together in-person.

I'd think about the following:

- Applying for a K1 now and working my you-know-what off for a job within the next 11-12 months.

- Applying for a K1 now and lining up a co-sponsor (iffy-- I'd never feel comfortable myself asking for a co-sponsor, but ymmv).

- Applying for a job in Morocco that can get you a carte de sejour residence card (somewhere like the American School)-- living in Morocco for awhile and doing direct consular filing. For this, you'd get married in Morocco, and when you have residency for 6 months, apply for a much faster and cheaper (?) process that is done at the consular level. The caveat here is that you have to have a residency card, and I am not sure honestly what you do about the affidavit of support.

- Moving to Morocco and doing some sort of teacher certification program online if they exist. Having more time with him in Morocco is never going to be a bad thing! You can either do the CR1 or K1 from there, but build up your relationship and an understanding of Moroccan culture while you're in school.

In any case, good luck!

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

A teaching job should be fine. Do you have savings? If so, something even like... okay, lets say you get a minimum wage job. If you work 40 hrs/week, 50 weeks per year, that'd give you $14500/year. 125% is about $19,000 for two people right now, so you'd have to have 5 times the difference in savings: $22,500. I believe-- and VJ, please check me on this!-- that if he has savings and can transfer that to you (which can be tricky), that can count towards the 5x difference, but his salary won't count towards making the money.

I would be wary of the idea of him transferring a large amount of money to her, unless they were already married. The consulate might look at this as a monetary deal for a visa. And I'm not sure it's an easy thing to do in Morocco, anyway.

[kristen_maroc 126]

I would be wary of the idea of him transferring a large amount of money to her, unless they were already married. The consulate might look at this as a monetary deal for a visa. And I'm not sure it's an easy thing to do in Morocco, anyway.

True... hmm... I didn't think of that! Can they use it though if she applies for a K1 if it is savings? I never really understood how that worked.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

True... hmm... I didn't think of that! Can they use it though if she applies for a K1 if it is savings? I never really understood how that worked.

If it's her savings, sure. If they were married, all their money is "theirs," so then it would be ok as well. But with the K-1, it's his money. So if he sent a large sum to her, it might raise suspicions from the consulate that this is a monetary deal. You know how Casa looks at things...

[gstrength 20]

He has a B1/B2 combined business/tourist visa. I was under the impression that if someone came to the US on a non-finacee visa and got married while in the US, it would be visa fraud?

As far as his exs, he has never taken any legal action to immigrate.

If you come to the states on a tourist visa with intent to marry and adjust status, that's immigration fraud, but, circumstances change and people change their mind all the time, they get married and, adjust in country; happens all the time.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

If you come to the states on a tourist visa with intent to marry and adjust status, that's immigration fraud, but, circumstances change and people change their mind all the time, they get married and, adjust in country; happens all the time.

Yes but there's now a public record that the intention is immigration....

Immigration officials at the consulates, etc. have been known to read this board, too, and they can often match up posts with specific cases coming across their desks. Tread carefully on this....

[berber_wife 90]

wife_of_mahmoud, I tend to agree with you on this. Our relationship has been public since it began (ex we've been FB friends since Sept. 2011 and "in a relationship" since Feb. 2012; he's also friends with my family and friends) and there's too much of a trail for me to mess around with this. I'd much rather have things take longer, but do it the right way, than risk being accused of immigration fraud.

ETA: There honestly was no intention of getting married when we planned his trip here, we just wanted him to visit, meet my family and spend time together. The thought of getting married this quickly never even occurred to me until I was reading the replies yesterday. But that would be hard to prove.

Edited December 28, 2012 by futureberberwife

[Shoot Em Straight 385]

I would be wary of the idea of him transferring a large amount of money to her, unless they were already married. The consulate might look at this as a monetary deal for a visa. And I'm not sure it's an easy thing to do in Morocco, anyway.

I dont believe you can transfer monies out of Morocco.

[SarAyouBliss 38]

SarAyouBliss...... Just curious, did your wife convert before you married her in morocco?

No, my wife did not convert, she is christian and the Adul asked us for the document of her baptism, the point here is the poster said she is Agnostic, I've all the time heard that only Jewish and Christians females can marry muslim males, but muslims females can marry only muslim males. someone can correct what i said.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

I dont believe you can transfer monies out of Morocco.

I think it is nearly impossible without quite a bit of subterfuge.

[mymarriagejourney 113]

You can get married here and adjust his status if that's what you decide. If you go that route, he cannot leave the US until he gets his green card. You absolutely will need a co-sponsor.

[msheesha 548]

Re: the religious documents needed to marry in Morocco - it's my understanding that most places do require some sort of certificate of religion. I believe it's on the DOS website list of things needed to marry in Morocco. It had been on the list in the past if it's not there now. Not sure I'd the op has any intention of getting married in Morocco, nut if so I would not listen to ppl who say you don't need it only because they did not need it. Different areas require different things there. And most ppl I've heard of needed that.

To the OP -it seems like your case is pretty strong. From what you describe the relationship does not sound like the stereotypical relationship they would view as suspicious and deny but it would help if yOu find as many of he pics and proof you have from previous time spent together in Europe and Morocco as you described.

You will need to get your financial requirements in order but it does not seem like a situation that requires you to move to Morocco to establish bonafides. That suggestion seems extreme to me.

[Shoot Em Straight 385]

You will need to get your financial requirements in order but it does not seem like a situation that requires you to move to Morocco to establish bonafides. That suggestion seems extreme to me.

It is not extreme to live with your love in another country outside of the U.S.

If it something that I suggested it was to honor his B1 visa, marry then go back... spend good quality time TOGETHER in Morocco while waiting out the visa. ...where OP said I just don't know if I could do another nine months of separation, especially when I want us to be able to start our lives together

Really agree they has a strong case with a K1 or CR1 and might not foresee problems getting approved if they do it right.

[berber_wife 90]

First off, BIG thanks to all who have responded. I still have TONS of questions (especially whether him entering on his business visa, marrying me and then adjusting status would be legal, illegal or just skating the line of legality-personally, I'm very skeptical, but lots of people seem to think it's no big deal) but I've started to get a handle on the process.

kristen_maroc , great to see another RPCV! I read your profile and our stories seem quite similar. Did you meet your husband during service or after when you were working? As far as NCE, I actually worked my butt trying to get a federal job and came thisclose to landing a fantastic position with the NPS (I have a background in historical interpretation so it would've been a natural fit for me) when the position was either eliminated or completely restructured. Yeah, I'm still a little bitter about that. Anyway, I have already passed the one year since COS and I was under the impression that it could only be extended if the RPCV went to grad school or entered military service-I don't think traveling for six months post-COS instead of going home and jumping on the job search would be considered a good reason to give me an extension!

As far as physical time spent together, we had two weekends in Sept. 2011, two weeks traveling Europe in Dec. 2011, three weeks in Morocco in Jan. 2012 and now, two and a half months in the US. So between 3-4 months total-not that long! But when we've visited each other/traveled together, we've spent pretty much every waking moment together and although we haven't spent consistent time together, our time together has been very constant/intense. I think that probably puts us in a similar or better place as far as getting to know each other as a couple who lives in the same city but don't live together and only see each other a few nights a week.

I had actually wanted to move to Morocco for a few years and teach English, but he's not crazy about the idea of me working for poverty-level wages when we could be saving money and getting our careers on track. I have to admit he has a point. He's turning 30 in a few weeks and I'll be 28 in the spring so we're not that young. But that's been another factor in me not getting a job yet-for a few months, I was not actively job-searching here because I was planning on getting my CELTA certification and moving to Morocco. But now that I'm getting going on the job search again, I think I can find something so I can qualify as a sponsor.

People had brought up an excellent point about Muslim men being required to marry "women of the book." I had heard that before. Despite my agnostic upbringing, I actually have been baptized Christian (appeasing religious grandparents/great-grandparents). I don't think we want to do the legal marriage in Morocco though-we're thinking about a simple civil ceremony in the US and then a big Moroccan "wedding" in the future after we have saved money for it.

On the topic of his exs, he had four chances before he met me to immigrate to Europe (or Canada in one case) for marriage, and in all four times, he was the one who ended the relationship BEFORE engagement or any immigration paperwork was filled out. In addition, he's traveled to Europe on a tourist visa many times (like 10 since 2009) and he has never overstayed his visa. Also, he obtained his B1/B2 at the beginning of 2010 (it's a ten year visa, although any one stay can only be six months) and he didn't visit the US until he came to visit this year-he said that he wanted to visit the US in the future but it wasn't a big priority. As you can see, he has had ample opportunity to try and immigrate to Europe, Canada or the US and he hasn't taken them.