ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Middle East and North AfricaInterview Questions moroccan only
There are also multiple ways of answering the CO's questions, truthfully.
There's some debate over whether or not it's best to answer questions as concisely as possible, or expound.
Like answering "8 months" vs "I met my fiancé 8 months after opening on account on that site. We started talking about blah blah blah, when we both commented on so and so's profile, and started to get to know each other better from there."
Some people are way more comfortable and sound less nervous offering narratives than when they answer direct questions . Other people sound weird, rehearsed and shady. It all depends.



sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-12-28 17:17:00
Middle East and North AfricaInterview Questions moroccan only
Yes, translators are available at interviews. No, it is not a good idea to do a visa interview in Arabic if English is the only language shared and used by a Moroccan guy and his American fiancé or wife though.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-12-28 17:05:00
Middle East and North AfricaAny MENA spouses get a tourist visa?
Wa salaam
You specifically said, in the two threads that got shut down by mods, that you were asking about work and tourist visas because the actual visa that's appropriate to your situation takes too long. Visas don't work like Burger King, where you can have it your way. Unless he is really truly most definitely absolutely just visiting, which everything you've posted recently says that isn't the case, then get in line like everyone else is/has done.

Edited by sandinista!, 27 December 2013 - 06:16 PM.


sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-12-27 18:16:00
Middle East and North AfricaAny MENA spouses get a tourist visa?
I didn't read anything about a job offer, just that the tourist visa would be quicker than CR-1, but be used to adjust and stay, but yeah, still totally fraudulent. And, like, haram.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-12-17 18:37:00
Middle East and North AfricaHow tough is Moroccan Consulate on Muslim/Muslim Marriages?
Religious similarities or differences are part of the overall big picture the consulate in Morocco will look at. They may be much more interested in the particulars of the website you met on, your ages, and other demographics more so than shared or different religious beliefs.
How well you know each other, how much time spent together before and after marriage, and why, if it was a decidedly quick marriage without much time spent together for example, things like that.

Edited by sandinista!, 22 January 2014 - 11:21 PM.


sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-22 23:19:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....


I showed this forum to my fiance last night and he laughed and laughed and asked "Is this what you're doing when you're not working?"All these feelings lol

But does he have any advice??
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-29 17:24:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....

The woman whom I quoted in my earlier post was harshly criticized by a lot of forum members and so her thread was locked of any further comments as I am pretty sure those kind of comments are not really helping anyone and they certainly are not going to help the one who created the thread. Attacks rarely help anyone from what I can tell. But now I do understand why the ladies and men that have gone thru the visa process and had a bad experience DO NOT come back here to share with others. If you have already been beaten up emotionally by a bad relationship...why come to a board or forum like this and have people attack you??????? I am sure there are hundreds of people if not thousands whom have gone thru this process and could offer valuable experience to those with questions and needs or support, but they would be afraid to open themselves up to SOME people that I do not need to name because they are obvious. You can attract more fly's with honey than vinegar and I am sure whether you are Muslim, Christian or any God based religion you know that loving each other is the best way to get your point across. I am sure even this post will draw the talons and teeth out of someone here.


No one criticized her though for not getting married in the first place. No one should get married, if they're not feeling it, 110%. That lady's situation was STUPID. She screwed up, and had no business petitioning a visa in the first place. But that horse was already out of the barn. At least she didn't compound the drama by getting married anyways.
I gotta appreciate the absurdity of platitudes about fly's [sic] and vinegar, and God based religions and love from the OP who dropped the nonsense you did from your very first post, and random nonsense about MENA culture and socio norms. Applause.
And anyone calling you out on your BS is just a big meanie, who needs to get a life. Awesome coming from someone spewing what you have, just awesome. I'll take being a non candy coated realist over being someone trying to spread ####### all over anyone married to a moroccan because you chose a loser.
You can come here and talk about how you were wronged, and how sad it is this didn't all work out for you. Very few people will criticize that. But leave other people out of your own individual messes.




sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-27 17:31:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....

If you read my posts you will see that I too was so sure I made the right choice. But when he was with me here I saw that he was NOTHING AT ALL like the man he portrayed to me all those mos. I uncovered so many things. The very first was he kept taking pictures of himself around my house and in my yard, also when we went places together all he seemed to want to do was photograph himself for his family and friends, Not us together. I had to ask for that. Also he cared nothing about life here or building our life together here. He only cared that I cook his moms meals and where's the nearest Mosque. And that was only the start. Sorry if you want to defend him but remember that in phycology it says "if something bothers you...than you should examine your own life to find out why.

Minus the totally small, irrelevant detail that this woman knew something was up, and took action immediately, as opposed to staying married to the guy for SEVEN YEARS.
No one here is defending your ex husband. No one knows him. You brought this whole mess here to talk about, and that's what people have done. In discussing what you've shared, some people have raised other possibilities to explain various behaviors, or what may have happened. That's the thing about marriages in MENA, they're extremely diverse, complicated, and all kinds of things play into why they work or not. But you've done nothing but try to pigeonhole this diverse experience, shared by lots and lots of people here, into whatever defense mechanisms and 'universal truths' about MENA people and marriages your brain has concocted. Punctuated with some feeble explanation about the sociology of MENA people's sex lives and whatnot that borders on being straight up racist. Not everyone here is down with that, regardless of what some Iranians randomly share with you.

sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-27 14:28:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....
So much reading comprehension FAIL.
She didn't allude that you are any of those things. Nobody here has any idea what happened in your marriage. No one knows if he was scammy, scummy, or both and more. What is known is that your first post here was a screechy whine about a marriage you inexplicably stayed in for seven years, and what you thought was some earth shattering proclamation from some Moroccan doofus in a weird as heII position of having multiple women sharing their bad drama with a Moroccan with him. Yawn. Everything about this is absurd.

not making any "claim" I am stating the "facts" of my own personal experience that I am very qualified In explaining :).
I am in no way prejudice or using a blanket statement about " all Moroccans" . My husband just happened to be 100% Moroccan. Im not a hater, definately have no prejudice against any persons or sexes. Just a woman willing to share an experience that I paid for, invested in, suffered thru and am now sharing in the event that others will consider it whilst embarking or thinking of embarking on visa journeys.

On a side note "sierrasunset" and I hope you done take this wrong or find it offensive but, I don't see anything in my post that you highlited reflecting anything resembling "stereotyping" although you did refer to me as ignorant several times as well as hateful and allude to the assumption that I am or was cold, stubborn selfish lol......for a teacher well I hope your kinder to those you are trying to teach especially about " world religions" :)





sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-26 13:42:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....
Of course the people posting "matter", and the validity and overall background of who is saying what should be addressed. Not all advice or postings are equal in helpfulness, regardless of tone. Rosesarered, you've been nothing but mostly polite here, but I'm just not seeing exactly what's supposed to be so informative or profound about the random opining of some Moroccan guy only you know, or the constant reminders in the thread that you are REALLY ATTRACTIVE so it's so totally shocking that you ended up in a crappy marriage for 7 years with a guy you bought a car for. But opinions on that will vary.
Cheers.

sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-13 02:53:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....

If you can't see why anyone would take offense to a comment with that attitude, then you have nothing further to say to me. That's called being rude and I won't put with it from you or anyone else on this forum. You set the tone with that sarcastic response when I only asked you to politely direct me to the forums you referred because marriage makes me nervous. I have said my piece with and have nothing further to discuss with you until you can have decent conversations without being ugly. Have a good night.

http://www.visajourn...ky-for-newbies/

also, you really should apologize to Nigeriaorbust. racist, bigoted comments aren't allowed here, and won't go ignored when you ask for advice or feedback anywhere else here.


sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-12 15:26:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....

That's a much better response than that ####### you posted above. Good to know you feel like a know it all since you've been through the process. Good for you. I'd rather have doubts and wait before entering a marriage than go blindly into without without stopping and thinking more on it, especially when everyone you know is against the marriage in the first place which they have no problem expressing. So what do you know? Nothing. Nothing about me or us enough to sit behind a keyboard and hand out judgement based on a comment on a public forum. A single sentence comment. Really ma'am? Realy? In that one comment you have determined my whole relationship with my fiancee? I asked for advice on using the best judgement on ensuring that you're not marry someone using you for a green card not ridiculing me for having thoughts of paranoia occasionally after reading the post above. Especially one coming from the same country I'm marrying a man from! You have a good night ma'am, and I hope in future when people seek advice from someone who has been through the process, particularly those coming from Morocco, you will have the decency at least find something positive to say than being a negative Nancy. Unless you have something nice to say that's contributing to the better of the overall movement of any particular post I suggest you keep your rude and mean comments to yourself!

Case in point. Nothing here has anything to do with what I actually posted. No, i didn't ridicule you for having doubts or paranoia. It does not sound promising, but that's hardly ridicule deserving. But it is flipping crazy to be talking about and actively planning immigration in regards to someone you expressed having those kinds of feelings about.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-09 19:55:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....
You set the tone for how your question was responded to. You. And no one else. Your responses to AmyWrites and Nigeriaorbust in your B2 thread, when they were being completely honest and helpful, and not the least bit rude, were APPALLING. That's the foot you started off on here, and what you were given back. The background info you've provided is all that people have to work with when answering your posts, and it shouts big red flags. Yes, it's great to hear feedback from people in similar situations with immigration and SOs from the same places. No, no one is obligated to sugarcoat or alter the way they word things to fit your personal whims or try to figure out your totally random hysterics here.

 
 
Well for one, I haven't stated the branch of service or position I work in because it's irrelevant to the discussion. Second, my fiance and I have decided to postpone marriage until I'm more comfortable with it. If I can't listen to the criticism from family and friends without harboring some of the doubt projected, then I, for myself need more time. I'm sure there is a lot of great immigration information coming from some individuals who have been on the forum a lot longer. However, I also believe there is a way that constructive criticism can be given without being rude or nasty to other individuals posting on the forum. Reading a lot of the comments, the good and bad, have made me more comfortable about pausing because I want to be sure and 100% ready for my one and only marriage when it does happen.



sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-09 19:45:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....
This website serves a bigger purpose for a lot of people in international relationships than just visa stuff, and that's great. But time after time there's just so much cart before the horse. K-1 visas are not trial offers. A) because, they aren't. And B) because, especially in high fraud countries like Morocco, they are extremely difficult to acquire when people are approaching them like they're trial offers. As it should be. It's actually probably not hard enough though, considering. People with paranoia or doubts or questions about the intentions of their MENA fiancé are not even remotely close to be even starting to think about anything to do with visas and immigration. That has got to be addressed before anything else, IMHO. People often get so wrapped up in all the visa stuff, which is so stressful anyways, that they're in no position to be scrutinizing relationship stuff adequately, clearly, and fairly. And while that's an ongoing process, in any relationship, the time and place for addressing the bulk of it is so very, very far before thinking about immigration. Much less having those concerns about a guy who is chomping at the bit to get over here already, abandon his lifelong citizenship and loyalties to the country of his birth and pledge military allegiance to a whole new place he's never even visited before, let alone lived in. I'm sorry, that just sounds flipping crazy. But what the heII do I know, high horsed wife of foreigner that I am...

Edited by sandinista!, 08 January 2014 - 07:34 PM.

sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-08 19:32:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....

 
Please point me in the right direction so that I can stop being paranoid before I marry my Moroccan man. . .  

the guy who wants to get here asap so he can join the air force, you're having doubts about? Smdh.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-07 13:58:00
Middle East and North AfricaA Moroccan man just gave me some advice...you may not like it tho....
Plenty of people respond to or at least look closer at their situations when offered good advice here. It's not all heads in the sand all the time. Plenty of long, interesting threads on this exist. There's a difference between some of the really good dialogues that have taken place, and throwing out random thoughts from some random Moroccan guy talking out of his ####### like it's gospel.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-01-06 17:13:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens
If I could get outside during a dry moment I would---it's been really soggy lately. And cold. I did see a deer though, about 5 blocks from my house on Sunday. There's woods by the library, he must have came out of there.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-05-28 12:58:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens
I have purpley black tulips right now. My husband calls them the flowers of doom.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-05-24 16:19:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens
That looks perfect WOM! My husband could probably build the hoops, and cut some panels. I'll think about the plastic sheeting too Nasturtium. I'm more interested in yummy food coming out of there and into my kitchen than aesthetics there!
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-02-20 19:06:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens
Intriguing.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-02-20 10:26:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens
So being a planner, and having to plan well in advance if I'm going to get my husband to do the labor for me, I'm thinking I need some kind of structure this year to protect my still growing veggies in the planter bed from being destroyed when the fall rain comes. Last year so many things were still coming along, and ripening, and then rain destroyed them. We had nice sunshine into October but occasional, heavy rains :(
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-02-20 02:37:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens
I had some caprese salad with tomatoes my mom grew today-delicious!
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2012-07-08 00:09:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens

Fresh from the garden is the way to go :thumbs: I know you can do tomatoes if you try, and they are soooo worth it :)

I am trying six different tomatoes this year. I'm still probably a month and a half from having any ready to eat though. Last year I was able to use tomatoes from our garden for a few pots of harira, but Ramadan might be a bit too early for that this year.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2012-06-15 02:32:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens
my dahlias are blooming! when it's not grey and rainy, i might have to take some pictures of them, they look so cheerful and pretty.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2012-05-22 13:50:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Gardens
Tomato research is still ongoing, I'm not going to plant for another couple weeks. Last year's turned out nice, so I feel like I can experiment a little more, being a little more confident. We will have some more basil, and rosemary, zucchini, strawberries, peas, and peppers too. Ayah is excited to get her little shovel out to help soon :)
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2012-04-29 22:40:00
Middle East and North AfricaNo military records need exepmt form ??
No idea, but digging up a 4 yr old thread about Algerian military exemptions to ask in regards to your Portuguese fiancé is as good a place to start as any. Boa sorte!
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-02-21 02:13:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA K1 "Vent"
No, not that kind of refugee. They're essentially embassy refugees because of even more dangerous and complicated political situations than Egypt's, and I would say that they're being put out a whole lot more by, like, everything than perhaps slightly longer wait times for Egyptians and their American petitioners.
Family members will get interviews when the embassy is ready for them. The abundance of DV interviews this month does not mean they have priority, it's just what they've scheduled. Having a spouse or children does not confer special snowflake consideration. The people getting diversity visas are no less a priority than someone who married an American, or whatever else.

sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-03-05 15:41:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA K1 "Vent"
well the refugees are kinda emergent. cause, like, refugees.
i don't know that it's fair either to discount diversity visas as being somehow less worthy of schedule time.

sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-03-05 02:44:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA K1 "Vent"
That's terrible, awful news, and I hope you find a way to help your children and hang on to your house. This is a difficult enough process to crumble under without all the other problems landing on you right now, I hope you can catch some kind of break with all of this. And very, very soon.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-02-10 20:48:00
Middle East and North Africa6 days til the new journey begins...or the journey really starts
Happiest of reunions! And hoping you have a totally chill, relaxed as possible adjustment time for your family. You guys are going to do great.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-03-07 15:27:00
Middle East and North AfricaLet's hear it from spouses of Morocco whose marriages are working!
I'm sorry to hear about your medical issues too. Best wishes for good outcomes for you.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-02-08 14:44:00
Middle East and North AfricaLet's hear it from spouses of Morocco whose marriages are working!
My husband more or less doesn't care if he knows any Moroccans here. There are a few guys he's met that he'll talk to occasionally, but they're not a major component of his social life. This may change as the kids get older, and he has more time for socializing outside of family, but maybe not. But other Moroccans weren't really a factor at all in his settling in here.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-02-07 17:49:00
Middle East and North AfricaLet's hear it from spouses of Morocco whose marriages are working!
My sugar muffin honey bunny Moroccan husband remains decidedly lovable. Our 7th anniversary is coming up, and we plan on making it as saccharine an affair as possible. Or maybe just go to the beach.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-02-02 20:56:00
Middle East and North AfricaOlder American woman Younger Algerian man

For the first time in 11 years of marriage, my husband got me a valentines gift. We dont exchange gifts for these thing so I had to let out a huge chuckle when he gave me dill flavored cheese curds and said happy valentines. He picked them up ar a truck stop in wisconsin on Thursday. It was hilarious.

yum, lol
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-02-15 18:49:00
Middle East and North AfricaOlder American woman Younger Algerian man
It's great to hear you had such an amazing visit and are off to a great start. Wishing you all the best.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2014-02-14 13:05:00
Middle East and North AfricaOlder American woman Younger Algerian man
MENA VJ archives. Read 'em. You don't need a time traveling Delorean, just learn how to use advanced search, or go back a few hundred pages in MENA (there's a little tab above where it shows what page you're currently viewing that lets you plug in any random page number you want). It's kind of interesting to travel back and see what people's mindsets were, and how they are now, and how or why that changed. And how and why some things are exactly the same, and that's ok. MENA VJ paleontology can be informative in all kinds of ways.

Edited by sandinista!, 29 October 2013 - 01:37 AM.

sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-10-29 01:36:00
Middle East and North AfricaOlder American woman Younger Algerian man
Ack, a triple A. I hope he has a safe surgery, and an easy recovery. Have a good dinner and visit!
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-10-23 16:13:00
Middle East and North AfricaOlder American woman Younger Algerian man
This is just my random opinion, but I viewed my participation in the immigration process to bring my then fiancé over here not only in terms of "ohmygosh I love him and want to be with him night and day", but also in terms of his character, ethics, and morality as a boon to the society I live in. My actions, petitioning for him to move here, affected more than just myself, and my family. Beyond if he made a good husband, father, I felt like it was my social responsibility to ensure to the best of my ability that the person I was helping move here would not be detrimental to anyone else here. Others, obviously, disregard that.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-10-23 13:09:00
Middle East and North AfricaOlder American woman Younger Algerian man

 
Well yeah, I certainly agree with that, especially your last sentence. Which is why I always encourage people to take things slow and really get to know their partner. But I feel like sometimes there's an implication from the veterans that being in a MENA relationship is so inherently risky that there is nothing you can do to negate the risk. That the taking it slow, getting to know him, spending lots of time together, talking about expectations mean nothing because after all, MENA men are the best actors EVAH and can go on scamming for years and years without showing a single sign that he's anything but the world's most perfect partner. Or he'll become a completely different person once he gets over here/becomes a father/turns 40/whatever and he'll no longer bear any resemblance to the man you actually married.  
 
I don't think that's what's happening in this thread, FTR. I've found this thread INCREDIBLY helpful, despite the random spurts of bickering. But if you're already proceeding with caution, keeping your eyes open, being smart about it...eventually you do have to let go of some of your fears and the words of the naysayers, or risk losing a good relationship.


Those are all good things, what you recommend. I've read lots of helpful things you've written, and appreciated your clearheaded approach. And you're right, at some point you've got to chill a bit, and let stuff happen, and take risks, and see where your life takes you.

There are, however, varying degrees of quality to those assessments. And those assessments have been analyzed for many years on VJ, and will probably continue to be, because there are no hard and fast answers that are always correct, in every situation, all of the time. Some people's ideas of what putting their SO through a scrutinizing ringer consists of can be really off. Some people's perceptions of "this action TOTALLY means he loves me forever and ever" are just, no. Some of that is just difference of opinion/values/personalities/priorities. And some of it is just #######. All kinds of opinions on this exist on the board.

Sometimes a guy from MENA is genuinely quirky, and stuff he'll say is totally incongruent culture wise, but that's just him. Other times, he's reciting perfectly rehearsed BS. Does the American in this scenario know enough about the place this guy comes from to know what he's saying is weird for there? If so, does she know enough about him to tell whether or not he's being a big poseur for her sake, and investigate or discuss the matter more in depth with him?

The consulates assess these relationships all day, every day. Even they get it wrong. There's couples denied the first go around that are together years and years later, and ones they've let in that have left me, as a reader, with my jaw hanging open. So obviously it's a hard thing to assess. And without just shouting at people to "respect the consulate's authority and experience !!!!!", there is something to the fact that MENA ones are difficult. And that they far more often err on the side of handing someone a visa who really shouldn't have one, as opposed to blocking legit people.
Some people don't err as much on the side of "they're probably totally legit" with their opinions here. Oh well. Who cares? People are just talking to each other here. The ones who don't err on that side with their opinions usually didn't arrive there out of nowhere. Or out of just not liking women that are older than men in MENA relationships.







sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-10-21 18:22:00
Middle East and North AfricaOlder American woman Younger Algerian man
There's more to it than "all marriage is risky". Humans driving cars is risky too. But there are degrees to risk, and things that come into play when assessing risk. When my son starts driving a car in a few years, there's a reason why his insurance premiums won't be the same as mine, with my long term, safe driving record. And there's a reason why some of the situations that come up on this board look like major risks, and reckless, and others look more in control.
sandinista!FemaleMorocco2013-10-21 13:46:00