Getting Married In Morocco

[alygirl92 1]

Hello I will be traveling to Morocco this summer/fall to marry my fiance. The problem is that my fiance is having trouble getting any time off from his job. He lives in Sidi Slimane and he said we will need to go to Rabat or Casablanca to get the papers for our marriage. A friend of his told him it will take 2 weeks to get the papers and we'll have to stay in Rabat or Casablanca until we get them.

 

My questions are:

 

1. Is it true that we'll need to stay in Rabat for two weeks to get the marriage papers or is it possible we could just go there and file the paperwork, return to Sidi Slimane, and come back later to collect the papers?

 

2. Is there any way to speed up the process so we wouldn't have to remain there for two weeks?

 

Because his boss won't give him any time off work it's going to be really hard for us to move to Rabat or Casablanca for two whole weeks.

[RJandHamid 1,133]

Seeing as Sidi Slimane isn't too far from Rabat (looks like its a little under 2 hours train), I don't see why you couldn't receive the required documents from Rabat and return back as needed. You will need to go to Casablanca once to get an Affidavit of Nationality and Eligibility to Marry and your US passport notarized at the US Consulate. This requires an appointment, which can be can be hard to come by, so that's where advanced planning can help reduce the processing time.

 

Honestly, 2 weeks to collect and submit all of the required paperwork sounds rather quick. Reading through some older posts on this forum, it seems like marriage in Morocco takes around 3-4 weeks time on average. It could be that they are starting to speed up the process a bit. I think the only way to really speed up the process is to have a good understanding of the marriage process and to know what documents you need to get and know where to get them. 

 

The US Embassy/Consulate website lists everything you need to collect and where to get it: 

https://ma.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/marriage-information/

 

 

[alygirl92 1]

Thanks! My head is spinning reading through all the requirements! It's such a long and confusing sounding process...

 

[B&Z 201]

My husband applied a lot of pressure to people when we were going through the process to get married (fall 2011). We got everything done in just a week (because that's all the time I had before I had to go back home - we got married a few months later on another trip I made to Morocco). Perhaps if you're annoying/persuasive enough, you may be able to get things moving quicker...the most limiting factor may be the time you have set aside each day to put into getting everything done.

[Happytobe 164]

I think I've probably mentioned before... but have your fiancé line up as much as possible beforehand. Scan documents over to him before so the translations can be started. Have him speak to people at the offices where things need to be done so that there's a head start on things if possible. I had my consulate appointment set for a few hours after I landed, then we headed straight to Salé to start the documents needed there. I think my hubby had the Moroccan Police Interview lined-up and knew someone to help that document pass through the channels quickly. I think we only had to "encourage" one person.... also, my hubby spoke with the Imam that his family Typically uses for these things so that he was of better assistance and was able to let my hubby know the exact documents needed and the odd ones that "might" be asked for. (I've seen one or two people be given a specific list, only to discover at the last minute that some odd document was wanted just as a "pain-in-the-butt" kind of move.) for example for proof of US Citizen work, originally being asked for paystubs only to them be told they needed an actual letter; which is usually too difficult to get from the states on such short notice.... check as many lists from various areas as you can, for any possible needed documents. The larger cities tend to process the mixed marriages faster. Best of luck

[Medcol 0]

It was wonderful time we had together I feel so bad and sad now that's u left me!!