Casablanca, Morocco CO

[ya falaha! 0]

Have you seen those ghey WTC coins they're selling on infomercials? Ridiculous.

[ Hell, this is tame in comparison to the sick Americans who try to sell pieces of the World Trade Center. This kind of thing happens everywhere.

[Michaela_Hassan 1]

I don't think that once the consulate re-opens they would try to catch up and process the cases any faster than before. The back log will probably just result in longer waiting times to get an interview date.

[aicha 0]

(the paying of money to send emails inside does not surprise me, Morocco capitalizes on any situation to make money) -

Now "Morocco" is capitalizing on this? Just because a couple guys are standing outside selling some emails, doesn't mean Morocco is capitalizing on this. Hell, this is tame in comparison to the sick Americans who try to sell pieces of the World Trade Center. This kind of thing happens everywhere.

Excuse my wording - and yes it is tame comparing to what a lot of Americans do to capitalize on a lot of tragedies in America or around the world for that matter - I have seen the amount of things that get sold over ebay from many tragedies and I think it is sickening! That is fine if people want to find a way to make more money here in Morocco - God knows they need to - life here is very hard. So my wording was wrong and for that I will apologize. What i was meaning to say is it is sad to see that another tragedy can make people money. I did not go into it and used the wrong words. My mind is just on the main issue at hand, not another discussion that could have a topic of its own.

[aicha 0]

I don't think that once the consulate re-opens they would try to catch up and process the cases any faster than before. The back log will probably just result in longer waiting times to get an interview date.

This is sad, but you are probably right in this one.

[morocco4ever 63]

[quote name='mybackpages' post='910510'

I understand that and believe me I know nothing is simple in doing anything when it comes to things of this nature, but it still is a temporary solution that could work. They obviously want to spend some time to make future security measures effective, this temporary solution would give them that time. And yes I do understand that they are two different functioning places and that it is not a public building - it does not mean it can not be done.

How can it be a temporary situation? You say you don't know if we've been to the embassy, but do you understand that it is ILLEGAL for a regular Moroccan to touch the grounds of the embassy? The perimeter and the building is US soil, not Moroccan soil. When there are security concerns the very last thing the US will do is open the embassy up to wider traffic. Spending time to be more secure in the future is not going to include making the embassy secure to let Moroccans in for visa business, when there is history of bombings. This makes zero sense.

Everyone is coming at this with the perspective of needing something from the government, but keep in mind, YOU are not the customer of the consulate during the visa process, the petitioners, your SO's, are.

Is that true? I though that I read that Moroccans are invited to apply for some jobs with the embassy, but I haven't done my research, so I'm far from certain on this.

[mybackpages 0]

[quote name='mybackpages' post='910510'

I understand that and believe me I know nothing is simple in doing anything when it comes to things of this nature, but it still is a temporary solution that could work. They obviously want to spend some time to make future security measures effective, this temporary solution would give them that time. And yes I do understand that they are two different functioning places and that it is not a public building - it does not mean it can not be done.

How can it be a temporary situation? You say you don't know if we've been to the embassy, but do you understand that it is ILLEGAL for a regular Moroccan to touch the grounds of the embassy? The perimeter and the building is US soil, not Moroccan soil. When there are security concerns the very last thing the US will do is open the embassy up to wider traffic. Spending time to be more secure in the future is not going to include making the embassy secure to let Moroccans in for visa business, when there is history of bombings. This makes zero sense.

Everyone is coming at this with the perspective of needing something from the government, but keep in mind, YOU are not the customer of the consulate during the visa process, the petitioners, your SO's, are.

Is that true? I though that I read that Moroccans are invited to apply for some jobs with the embassy, but I haven't done my research, so I'm far from certain on this.

Yes there are Moroccans who work at the embassy, but these are not regular Moroccans as peezy states. These jobs require a thorough background check. Not jsut any Moroccan can enter nor can any American.

[mybackpages 0]

I don't think that once the consulate re-opens they would try to catch up and process the cases any faster than before. The back log will probably just result in longer waiting times to get an interview date.

The postive spin on this is that Morocco has always been rather fast to schedule an interview. China, Manilla, London, Montreal all come to mind as taking longer to schedule the interview. At worse Casa waits will be more comparable to other consulates.

I know it doesn't help much, but it is the glass half full interpretation

[Michaela_Hassan 1]

I don't think that once the consulate re-opens they would try to catch up and process the cases any faster than before. The back log will probably just result in longer waiting times to get an interview date.

The postive spin on this is that Morocco has always been rather fast to schedule an interview. China, Manilla, London, Montreal all come to mind as taking longer to schedule the interview. At worse Casa waits will be more comparable to other consulates.

I know it doesn't help much, but it is the glass half full interpretation

You're right Morocco used to be one of the faster ones. I think we were lucky to get through just before this mess.

[tnh9479 1]

I am not sure if any of you have been to the embassy in Rabat, but this place is secure - it is just an option to speak about if it is needed - I am sure they are discussing it if need be - I do not think they would have to spend any money on securing Rabat for consular activities - they also do not need to do full service either and certain services can be scheduled for certain days - not every day of the week. You can very easily schedule these days - people and businesses do this all the time in America - you spend one day here and the rest at the other job site. There are several Consulate Officers and each week one could be the one to do services in Rabat. I have had to organize things like this before for government programs and they work very well. I just think that there can be temporary solutions to this instead of creating the amazing backlog that is becoming apparent. I figure they must do around 50 or more interviews a week and i am sure I am being conservative - the amount of time they have been closed now is creating an undue hardship on them as well as us - I would not want to be in their shoes when it is re-opened and their moods are going to be far from nice. The longer they take to make a solution, whether it be temporary or permanent, the longer the cases build up and then their jobs become enormous. I am thinking of them as much as us here. So I do not believe they would have to do a total re-organization - it is just a temporary solution that can be limited in the amount of time and staff.

To be honest, I don't think the Consulate really cares if there is a backlog. They will get stuff processed when they get stuff processed. All you have to do is look at the waits the Jordanian consulate had for a while. It is not a big deal to the consulate workers.

[aicha 0]

Okay - I have some good news and hopefully it will hold true. My husband's father knows a man who works with the offices of interior in Rabat and he called to tell us that the CO is set to open back up next week - I hope this happens and we can all get back on to our scheduled cases through the CO soon. If there is any more information before then I will continue to post it here for you all.

[patiently_waiting 0]

I got a call back from my senator friend. They told me that the consulate is due to open very soon. I asked what soon meant and I was told that we will be getting a new appointment within days. I'm going with them opening on Monday.

[doodlebug 3]

I really hope this is it for you guys and it opens up soon!!!

[Sofiyya 1,687]

The US consulate is American soil too. Admittance is not about American soil as much as it is about purpose. The embassy serves a higher, more ceremonial purpose and the consulate is for servicing the public.

[Malarie 0]

I got a call back from my senator friend. They told me that the consulate is due to open very soon. I asked what soon meant and I was told that we will be getting a new appointment within days. I'm going with them opening on Monday.

Incha Allah

[ya falaha! 0]

How about if everyone stops speculating and just make an announcement when the consulate actually opens? Speculation leads to ppl getting their hopes up which in turn leads to disappointment. Just a thought.