My name is Omar and my wife and I have been married since August of 2007. She is now 7 months pregnant and is due in April. My wife is born and raised in Morocco and I am a US Citizen. The US Consulate has told us that since I am a US Citizen my daughter will automatically be a US citizen also. I have to provide the consulate with my Marriage certificate, tax information, college transcripts and some other items. Has anyone here gone through this process before is what I wanted to know? We have to take our daughter to the consulate so she will be given a US birth certificate and Passport also. If anyone has had this experience please share your experience with me.
Assalamu Alaikum Omar, and Congratulations to the both of you,
I was a little confused when I saw this post because you say you are from Houston… Does that mean you used to live in Houston and are now resident in Morocco? I thought you were trying to make sure your daughter will have Moroccan civil status, but it seems you are concerned about making sure she has her American status legally covered and in proper order… but I am still not sure I understood you properly.
As for myself, I am a fellow Texan with four daughters who were all born in the US. We have not gone through the process of applying for Moroccan papers for the girls, although their father is from Casablanca. There aren’t any visas required to travel from here to there; I hope that won’t change, because the US does not allow dual citizenship.
How long have you lived in Morocco, if it be that you do live there? Were you married there? Has your wife ever visited the states? Do you speak Moroccan well?
Farewell, and good luck with your newborn. May the delivery be safe for both mother and daughter, Ameen.
Welcome to the forum, Omar. You can drop a line about you in the new comers forum, to get a proper mr7ba.
Ummaryam, I knew you were al-woman for this question. Omar, I am afraid ana b3da I can’t help.
So Ummaryam, waiting for Omar to explain better for you, here is what I understood: Omar is American, and his wife is not. They are in the US, and what he is asking about, is the process of him getting American status for his daughter, while his wife is not American. That’s how I understood the question. Was your husband American when you had your daughters? That’s maybe how you can help Omar.
How is it possible that you are not allowed double citizenship? You mean if you’re born in the US? Because when you’re Moroccan and go to the States, and get your American citizenship, you’re still Moroccan, ha?
I am sorry for the confusion but I am from Houston Texas and my wife is still in Morocco. I have filed for her and got her approved by homeland security already so the VISA process is happening right now. Our daughter will be born in April and I do not live in Morocco permanently. My wife and child will be coming to Houston Texas to live this fall. My wife spoke to the people at the consulate and our daughter will be registered with the Moroccan authorities because she has to have that done. The family book is what they called it and once she is registered we are to bring that information to the consulate as proof she was born in Morocco. She will get a passport and new Birth certificate is what the consulate has told us. I will inquire about the dual citizenship but Morocco and the U.S have very good relations which makes things easier. I took my Shahadda a few years ago and will raise my daugther and future children in a Muslim household in Houston. Inshallah, our family will grow again later this year.
ummaryam99, You are telling me that any Moroccan can just get on a plane and come to the US? If I read what you wrote incorrectly let me know but I do think they need a visa stamp.
Hello again, Omar. Stealth was right about what I meant; going from the US to Morocco does not require a visa of any sort. However, it is decidedly not the case for travel in the opposite trajectory. Moroccans often have a hard time obtaining visas to visit the US. With all of the constant change in the requirements for obtaining permission to immigrate, I don’t know what one needs to do in order to obtain a green card/citizenship/tourist visa for a spouse of Moroccan nationality. There is a K visa for engaged persons, but I think the rules are undergoing changes as we discuss it. At certain times it has been easier to have a fiancee come over than a spouse; other times, the opposite.
I am pretty confident that, if a spouse/fiancee/relative, comes over as a tourist and overstays his/her time limit it is a BIG problem. Often, when such persons visit their homelands and attempt re-entry to the US they are denied, and they find themselves in the position of having a black mark on their records, for it is assumed that they deliberately violated immigration law and will, given another chance, do the same in the future. Even if it takes a long time to get the papers in proper order, I strongly advise anyone who wishes to move to the US to make very sure that they dot all of their Is and cross every single t; the headaches that will be saved will be well worth waiting the extra time.
I know of one woman from Mexico who had lived in the US for many years, but her papers were not in order. Unfortunately for her, her mother passed away (Inna lillahi wa Inna ilayhi Rajioon) and she went home for the funeral. She had several citizen children who were quite young, and when she tried to come back they did not allow it. What a bad spot to be in.
Of course, Omar, I am not assuming that you would violate the laws. I am not even assuming that you wish to come back to the US and live here; many people prefer living in Morocco. It is often difficult to make a living there, however, and when your family starts growing you may wish to return to the US. If I were you, I would get the process of securing civil status for my wife underway yesterday, even if I did not think I would ever be in need of it. One never knows what the future will bring.
Congratulations on the upcoming birth of Bint Omar!!! I wish your family (and the rest of you out there) all of the joy and happiness that this world has to offer.
OOoopps; sorry Omar. I didn’t read all of the correspondence between my last two posts and completely missed your explanation that you live in Houston while your wife is still in Morocco.
That must be quite difficult, being separated while she is expecting. Will you be able to visit at the time of your daughter’s birth? I hope your wife is hanging in there.
As for my daughters, my husband had already been in the US for many years at the time of our marriage. He had a green card beforehand; I was married in the Masjid with a Wali, being a convert myself. I refused to entertain the idea of marrying anyone who did not already have a green card, for it was bad enough that I had no family to look in to the backgrounds of prospective grooms. I did not want to take a chance on marrying someone who saw me primarily as a means to an end. Unfortunately, it does happen that men (and women, to a lesser extent) enter into marriages with the intention of dissolving them when they get their papers in order. Only last week a friend of mine told me that it had just happened to her. Literally, just happened; the Iddah is about half over. Her husband, the day he got his papers, changed completely and announced that he was moving to another state. He is a Moroccan, I am shamed to say. He divorced her and got on a plane. No joke; I couldn’t believe it myself. She hasn’t told many people, and it is a big source of friction between she and her mother. She, too, is a convert, and a lovely, dedicated, religious woman. Her mom blames Islam, of course.
Anyway, I was very young and in a college town when I converted, so one of the ways I thought I could protect myself, to some degree, was to insist that any potential groom already have a green card or citizenship. Everyone who wants to get married has friends who vouch for his/her character, and I had no way of investigating in a thorough manner what the men were really like. I knew I wanted an Arabic speaker, so as to increase the probability of my children learning Arabic. I didn’t realize how far Moroccan is from MSA at the time, but it wouldn’t have made a difference had I known.
My husband obtained his citizenship soon after our first daughter was born.
I have got all the information from my wife who went to the consulate. I have to show that I am a US citizen and so they want to see tax W-2 forms, college transcripts, employment records, and things of that nature. My daughter will be receiving a birth certificate from the Moroccan authorities but the consulate will give her a birth certificate and passport since she is considered a US Citizen. All of you have given me some good information and if I could I would scan the papers needed for all to see. It is a long journey getting all this done but well worth it. The Muslim community in Houston is well organized but prejudice and ignorance can block progress. They are building a new Mosque in Katy Texas, which is really west Houston. Some are so opposed to it that the people who own the land next to the building sight have promised to have " Pig Races EVERY FRIDAY" so this is the mentality we face. Not all people are like this but I know that if a church was going up there would not be any problems. http://www.isgh.org/ is one site and Katy Islamic Association is caught in the middle of this mess. Here is the link to the news about the lost soles who dare to want to race pigs on our holy day: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16095716/ I will only pray for them all. Thank for all the help and I will keep you all posted on what happens. I will be in Morocco in April for my daughters birth.
I regret to inform you all that someone has hacked into the Katy Islamic Associations website. What I just saw was too much for me to bear but it just shows that ignorance and prejudice is still with us. My apologies to anyone who may have gone to the site and saw what I just witnessed.
Assalamu Alaikum Omar… are you there? I was just wondering how your wife is doing. She must be preparing to deliver your child right about now. Are you in Morocco yet? Did you get everything worked out? …Just thinking of you and your family.