Sponsoring husband from Morocco

[FamilyMan]

Hi All,

Been a while since I was on the forum. Nice to see some new folks. I wanted to share some good news. After a three week trip to Morocco (which was originally booked as "visit"), I have returned with my wife Mounia and everything was smooth except for 1 thing - had to deal with lost luggage issues. This included her carry-on which for some ridiculous reason, they took from her at the boarding gate citing a "full flight" when in fact it was only half full.

Since I had already booked my ticket months ago, in booking my wife's ticket, I was only able to get her on the same flight from Casablanca to Paris and we left on August 5th. But in Paris, she had to go to Terminal E and get onto an AirFrance flight to Toronto and I had to go to Terminal A and get onto an Air Canada flight to Montreal and then to Toronto

From the moment we parted to go to our respective terminals - my anxiety level was way up. I had given her a temporary blackberry phone but for some reason it did not work in Europe and mine did. So for the next approx 8 hours - I had no idea if my wife made it to the terminal and onto her flight since we both had literally half hour to catch our connecting flight due to a late arrival (12:50pm) and get onto our next flight (mine was leaving at 1:30 and hers at 1:35). I boarded my plane at 1:20 so you can understand, I had no idea if my wife made it.

Mounia's flight landed in Toronto at approximately 4:50pm at Terminal 3 and mine landed at 5:10pm at Terminal 1

As soon as I landed, I made a quick call and found out that she was in the middle of getting her papers processed. Huge relief. I shuttled over to Terminal 3 and she was out in a matter of minutes with a "Welcome to Canada" greeting and a smile.

So as I mentioned earlier, none of our 5 pieces of checked-in luggage as well as her carry -on showed up. All that we had was my carry-on thus we were heading straight to Niagara Falls - with literally nothing. The strange thing was we didn't even care at that point because I knew the minute Mounia stepped out of the airport, the Immigration Saga was over. My wife was in Canada with me. No more waiting and worrying. Lost luggage was the last thing on our minds.

So, here is where I need some help. When can she expect to get her PR Card? Or is this something that she needs to apply for?

 

[Leon]

If she did her paperwork at her landing and gave your address, she should get the PR card in the mail in 4-8 weeks. She can go apply for a SIN right now if she wants to start looking for work. She just needs her landing papers and passport for that.

 

[FamilyMan]

If she did her paperwork at her landing and gave your address, she should get the PR card in the mail in 4-8 weeks. She can go apply for a SIN right now if she wants to start looking for work. She just needs her landing papers and passport for that.

Just what I needed to know. Thanks Leon!

 

[rjessome]

Welcome to Canada FamilyMan and Mounia! Great story. Hope you find your lost luggage!!! In 2008, I lost my luggage 6 times BUT it always found it's way home to me eventually.

FamilyMan, start researching some immigrant settlement services. My husband liked the ESL classes and job assistance they provided. It was all free. It also helped getting him to our local mosque right away. He was able to make friends quickly and feel like a part of the "community". Best of luck to you both.

 

[dair2dv8103100]

Congratulations Familyman!!!

This is such an encouraging story for me. I wish you and Mounia all the best!!

 

[Lois Lane]

Welcome back FamilyMan, congradulations to the both of you!

all the very best!

 

[FamilyMan]

rjessome, Lois, dair2dv8 - Thanks for the advice and kind words

dair2dv8...I have something that may be of assistance to you that I managed to dig up in my computer archives.

I had the wildest experience during my travel to Morocco to get married so fortunately I compiled a memoir of my trip and a lot of what happened is very accurate since it was written at least a day or 2 at most after I experienced it.. It’s over 11 pages long but I provided an abridged version here to help you as a guide on what you will need and what to expect when you go down.
All this happened in July of 2009 which is just over 1 year ago so I am hoping process and requirements have not changed much since then. Secondly, I have heard some aduls are picky and some aren’t so a few of these steps may be unnecessary but plan it as if you got the most anal adul and have everything in order.

Before flying out, I had to ensure that the following documents were with me:

a) Passport
b) Birth Certificate
c) Divorce Certificate (if this is not your first marriage)
d) RCMP Criminal Record Clearance Certificate (ensure this is stamped by Canadian Foreign Affairs)
e) Employment Letter (wages, title and what you do)
f) Request for marriage (1 paragraph written in Arabic and notarized saying who i am, and who i would like to marry)
g) Proof of Religion (in Arabic and notarized, a letter by an Imam stating my religion)
h) Request for Capacite de Mariage & Attestation de Nationalite (a document to be typed up in French according to a standard government template and notarized)
i) Several Passport sized photos (6 to 16 – don’t ask why the wide range, nobody knew. Take 16 to be safe. I did)

Get the employment letter, proof of religion and request for capcite all notarized in Canada – for some reason, Moroccan officials love stamps, certificates and embossed letters.

Here is the chronology of how my days went since I woke up had my coffee and get set to tackle this complicated mixed marriage process:

Thursday July 2 (Day 1):
A) Visit Canadian Embassy in Rabat with: Request for Capacite de Mariage & Attestation de Nationalite
Note: Need your passport to enter Embassy and just hand in the request and leave. The need 48 hours to process the info so you need to go back there 2 business days later

B) Visit Judicial Ministry in Rabat to get a criminal clearance
Note: This is a criminal clearance for the Canadian Spouse – not Moroccan.
The Judicial Ministry is located a walking distance from Rabat Ville Station close to the medina. I filled a piece of paper, then asked to go for lunch and then came back after lunch and clearance was ready. Head home and while you wait for the 48 hours, visit a translation company and get your employment letter, proof of religion letter, birth certificate, passport and anything else that may be in English translated into Arabic. Actually, I believe for the Aduls, even the French papers needed to be translated to Arabic. Way cheaper to get this done in Morocco. In our case, we hired a lawyer in Morocco and she took care of visiting the Adul and doing the translations.

Monday July 6 (Day 5):
A) Visit Canadian Embassy in Rabat to pick up 2 documents:
a. Capacity of Marriage
b. Attestation of Nationality
Note: Technically I could have picked this up on Day 3 but the Embassy is closed on Sat/Sun

B) Visit Moroccan Foreign Affairs office to get the 2 documents you just picked up stamped.
Note: Long line-up. Some said the wait was 5 hours. For us it was 1hr. There are two lines – one for men and one for women. I lined up on the men’s line and my wife lined up on the women’s line and basically, whichever moved quicker, that person took the sheets to get them stamped. You do not need an appointment so don’t be fooled by anybody offering to get you in quicker.

Tuesday July 7 (Day 6):
Trip to Aduls office to Draft up a whole new Proof of Religion letter since they felt the one I brought from Canada was insufficient. It almost seemed liked I was entering the religion all over again.
Note: This may not be required for people of Faiths other than Islam.

Wednesday July 8 (Day 7)
Trip to Local Police Headquarters in the city the Moroccan spouse resides to obtain another police clearance for both husband and wife. In my case it was Kenitra Police Headquarters.
Note: Please don’t ask me why we needed a RCMP Clearance from Canada, A Police Clearance from Rabat and a Police Clearance from Kenitra…I just wanted to get married so I didn’t give a crap how many more clearances they wanted from me. So they interviewed my wife and I and then issued a clearance later in the day (with a little bit of “financial assistance” if you get my drift)


Friday July 10 (Day 9):
Received a call in the afternoon from the lawyer telling us that all the bribes...sorry all the paperwork went through and that we needed to meet at the Aduls office at 11am the next day to get Nikah (Islamic wedding) performed.

Saturday July 11 (Day 10): D-Day.
We both got ready and went to the Aduls office and after half an hour, were married!!!

The official marriage certificate took a few more days to be completed but I was still in Morocco for another week and a half so that was no problem. However, in case vacation time runs out and you need to leave – this could be translated and then mailed to you since for the sponsorship process, you will need a translated copy as well as a copy of the original.

At the beginning, I made a note that the RCMP Clearance needed to be stamped or certified by the Canadian Foreign Affairs department. This needs to be done before you leave Canada. The Canadian Embassy in Rabat use to do this but not anymore.

I was fortunate since the lawyer I hired was also the daughter of an Adul so that may have been a factor in speeding things up. I spent a combined of $700 for all translations and legal fees for what would have easily cost me upwards of $3000 in Canada.

Let me know if you need any clarification on what I mentioned.

Good Luck!

 

[dair2dv8103100]

Greetings FamilyMan, (if anyone else can answer these as well I would appreciate all responses)

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I do have a couple of questions.

1. You make special mention of the RCMP check and having it stamped by Canadian Foreign Affairs. How do I go about this? How long did this take? When I called the RCMP they told me to call the local police and ask for a CPIC? Then I called the local police and they told me that I could go in and have the CPIC in 10-15 min. Can you tell me if this is the right police check they are talking about? Can I have it notarized along with the rest of my papers or I have to have it done with Canadian Foreign Affairs?

2. You mention in f) a request for marriage...I am confused about this because no one else has mentioned it. I know people have said that once I am there my fiance and I will have to make something like this. Even my fiance mentioned it...so I am just confused about why I would make this here. Is this something different for a man than a woman??

3. Proof of religion...ok...the church I was baptized in was very small and has since closed. I contacted the pastor and he said they did not keep records because they were so small. So I have no baptismal record. Now some people have mentioned that I can get a letter from my pastor stating my profession of faith and I would have it notarized. But my fiance told me that the adul he spoke with said we simply need a letter that can be written even when we are there and I just sign it and he will accept it. I am a little leery of this...it sounds too easy...lol so I plan on getting the letter from my pastor and having it notarized to be safe. I hope this will suffice for the adul??? But if they are all different...I don't know...this part makes me nervous.

4. How much "financial assistance" are we talking about and to whom? The Police I get but did you also "have to pay" the Judicial Ministry, Moroccan Foreign Affairs, the Adul???

I have an immigration lawyer in my church that has agreed to assist me so I am not worried about getting whatever I need notarized. I will be sending some papers ahead of me for translation before I get there (to save time). My fiance told me tonight it might cost 13500 Dh for the Adul...is this an accurate figure? Hoping others can also answer this. He said they charge crazy amounts because it is a mixed marriage and they know we need them to make it for us so we have no choice but to pay it.

Both my fiance and I are trying to save whatever we can and want an idea of what amount we are looking at. (He says I will not pay anything...and if I try to give him money he will return it before I leave.. lol) But I want to make sure we really do have all we need because I only have 3 weeks to make all this happen and get married and then come home. I don't want any problems or delays so I figure extra money can't hurt 8)

Thank you for your assistance...

 

[FamilyMan]

Greetings FamilyMan, (if anyone else can answer these as well I would appreciate all responses)

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I do have a couple of questions.

1. You make special mention of the RCMP check and having it stamped by Canadian Foreign Affairs. How do I go about this? How long did this take? When I called the RCMP they told me to call the local police and ask for a CPIC? Then I called the local police and they told me that I could go in and have the CPIC in 10-15 min. Can you tell me if this is the right police check they are talking about? Can I have it notarized along with the rest of my papers or I have to have it done with Canadian Foreign Affairs?

2. You mention in f) a request for marriage...I am confused about this because no one else has mentioned it. I know people have said that once I am there my fiance and I will have to make something like this. Even my fiance mentioned it...so I am just confused about why I would make this here. Is this something different for a man than a woman??

3. Proof of religion...ok...the church I was baptized in was very small and has since closed. I contacted the pastor and he said they did not keep records because they were so small. So I have no baptismal record. Now some people have mentioned that I can get a letter from my pastor stating my profession of faith and I would have it notarized. But my fiance told me that the adul he spoke with said we simply need a letter that can be written even when we are there and I just sign it and he will accept it. I am a little leery of this...it sounds too easy...lol so I plan on getting the letter from my pastor and having it notarized to be safe. I hope this will suffice for the adul??? But if they are all different...I don't know...this part makes me nervous.

4. How much "financial assistance" are we talking about and to whom? The Police I get but did you also "have to pay" the Judicial Ministry, Moroccan Foreign Affairs, the Adul???

I have an immigration lawyer in my church that has agreed to assist me so I am not worried about getting whatever I need notarized. I will be sending some papers ahead of me for translation before I get there (to save time). My fiance told me tonight it might cost 13500 Dh for the Adul...is this an accurate figure? Hoping others can also answer this. He said they charge crazy amounts because it is a mixed marriage and they know we need them to make it for us so we have no choice but to pay it.

Both my fiance and I are trying to save whatever we can and want an idea of what amount we are looking at. (He says I will not pay anything...and if I try to give him money he will return it before I leave.. lol) But I want to make sure we really do have all we need because I only have 3 weeks to make all this happen and get married and then come home. I don't want any problems or delays so I figure extra money can't hurt 8)

Thank you for your assistance...

1. RCMP Clearance: I went here: http://www.commissionaires.ca/national/en/services-personal/personal-police-clearances Fortunately there was an office near my workplace. Filled out forms, showed ID and within three days – went back to pick up my certificate. As for the Canadian Foreign Affairs stamp – well for me – I really lucked out because it was the RCMP liaison at the embassy in Rabat who told me they do not certify it there any longer but he after he saw the desperation and after waiting outside the Embassy for 4 hours – he decided to make an exception. You could try the same but instead what he told me was that this needs to be done in Ottawa which sounds a bit crazy to me but I guess it can be mailed into them and they can mail it back. That is all I know concerning this. At a minimum though, I would at least get the RCMP clearance done while looking into the foreign affairs bit.

2. Request for Marriage: I guess it can be made in Morocco itself but the reason I made it is so that I could get it notarized by my lawyer before I left. I am pretty confidant it would be ok to have one drafted and notarized in Morocco before presenting to the Adul

3. Proof of Religion: To be on the safe side, I would definitely go with your recommendation - Get the letter from your pastor and get it notarized. Then you can send it over to get it translated. At least you did what they asked for (which is what I did). Since in my case, they did not accept it, they just did another one up at it only took a half hour.

4. The only department that my lawyer in Morocco advised me to compensate to expedite requests were the local police. Nobody else. I beleive the amount was approx 200 dirhams

5. 13500 dirhams?? Wow. That is almost like over 1600 for the adul alone. I have to revise my earlier statement b/c I spoke to my wife since I could not remember how much we paid for everything but we gave one amount to the lawyer for all services and that amount was 6700 dirhams (translation, legal fees and I would assume Adul fees). So not sure if they have gone up since then but that was exactly what I paid.

 

[rjessome]

We did NOT have to have my police clearance authenticated by Foreign Affairs in Canada OR at the embassy in Morocco. This is the first time I've heard that for anyone. The only thing we had to have stamped by Foreign Affairs was my divorce certificate and then stamped again by the embassy. It didn't cost anything.

The police clearance I got was from a local detachment of the RCMP and it was a "name search", not the fingerprints. It worked. And since it was in both French and English, did not need to be translated.

I've heard the letter thing before. I think it is written by your fiance stating that you are a Christian. In any event, your plan sounds good enough.

NO WAY is the Adul charging that much. We didn't hire a lawyer and we paid the Adul 600 dirhams for his fee. I know another couple that paid about 1000 dirhams for their Adul. Remember, there are many aduls in any city. If one is quoting that much then go to another!

Yes, the baksheesh (bribes) was with the police and with the court clerk to "move" our file. I think our total was around 500 dirhams in baksheesh.

 

[FamilyMan]

We did NOT have to have my police clearance authenticated by Foreign Affairs in Canada OR at the embassy in Morocco. This is the first time I've heard that for anyone. The only thing we had to have stamped by Foreign Affairs was my divorce certificate and then stamped again by the embassy. It didn't cost anything.

The police clearance I got was from a local detachment of the RCMP and it was a "name search", not the fingerprints. It worked. And since it was in both French and English, did not need to be translated.

I've heard the letter thing before. I think it is written by your fiance stating that you are a Christian. In any event, your plan sounds good enough.

NO WAY is the Adul charging that much. We didn't hire a lawyer and we paid the Adul 600 dirhams for his fee. I know another couple that paid about 1000 dirhams for their Adul. Remember, there are many aduls in any city. If one is quoting that much then go to another!

Yes, the baksheesh (bribes) was with the police and with the court clerk to "move" our file. I think our total was around 500 dirhams in baksheesh.

I also want to say that all I did was the name search and not a fingerprint; they don’t require that for Moroccan mixed marriage.

For the foreign affairs part for the clearance certificate, I must admit that in all my research, I had never heard of this either. All they told me was get the clearance. When I got there, I was asked to get it translated to Arabic. When it was sent in, it was returned by the Adul because it did not have a Canadian Foreign Affairs stamp for which I was told I could get at the embassy. When the RCMP liaison told me this needs to be done in Ottawa – I flipped! I asked him if he expected me to fly out to Ottawa, get the paper stamped and fly back just because the embassy made a decision to no longer certify RCMP documents at the embassy. He made some calls and decided to make an exception but I thought the whole thing was ridiculous. Honestly, I guess I was dealing with an adul who had some trust issues. I support that statement by the fact that even though my name is “Islamic” and my Dads name is Mohammed – I mean how much more Islamic can you get – my letter from the Imam, written by him in Arabic and providing my, name, my fathers name and my grandfathers name and stating my religion – just didn’t cut it for the Proof of Religion letter. So they called me in to “re-profess” my faith and asked me if I prayed and I was asked to take the Shahadah over again. I joked with my wife that I should try making my case more compelling by saying I take bribes and sit around puffing a sheesha pipe all day long – am I Muslim enough now? And now I remember very clearly, the whole purpose of this ridiculous exercise was to draft a new letter – which was free and this letter needed to be typed up – which was also free but they knew I needed the letter and I needed it before I got married – well for that there was a cost to expedite it. Of course there was. It amazes me to this day how sophisticated these bribery tactics have become. However, I just laughed the whole thing off cuz to be honest, corruption is a global epidemic and comes in various forms but just a bit disconcerting when you see religious authorities engaged in deceitful behaviour.

As for the translation, I could never be sure when I was being told the truth or when I was being had in terms of what was required but what wasn’t but one thing that I heard from both the lawyer and at least one other person that many of the aduls are neither French or English speaking and that is why I was requested to translate all docs that the adul required from English and/or French, into Arabic.

As for the adul fees, now that rjessome mentions it, I do recall the lawyer making some reference to the adul fees being definitely under 1000 dirhams – I paid mainly for legal and translation fees.

Hope for the best but plan for the worst. That’s really the best way to go

 

[dair2dv8103100]

We did NOT have to have my police clearance authenticated by Foreign Affairs in Canada OR at the embassy in Morocco. This is the first time I've heard that for anyone. The only thing we had to have stamped by Foreign Affairs was my divorce certificate and then stamped again by the embassy. It didn't cost anything.

The police clearance I got was from a local detachment of the RCMP and it was a "name search", not the fingerprints. It worked. And since it was in both French and English, did not need to be translated.

I've heard the letter thing before. I think it is written by your fiance stating that you are a Christian. In any event, your plan sounds good enough.

NO WAY is the Adul charging that much. We didn't hire a lawyer and we paid the Adul 600 dirhams for his fee. I know another couple that paid about 1000 dirhams for their Adul. Remember, there are many aduls in any city. If one is quoting that much then go to another!

Yes, the baksheesh (bribes) was with the police and with the court clerk to "move" our file. I think our total was around 500 dirhams in baksheesh.

Ok, this is good. I have never been married so thankfully I do not have to worry about this.

I am so confused about the police check because when I called the local RCMP, they told me I must call the commisioniers (sp?) (the link FamilyMan gave), Then when I called them they told me to call the local police detachment and get a record from them??? When I called the local detacment they told me I could come in and have a check in 10-15 minutes. I was specifically stating that it must be RCMP search and NOT a regular police search. I am a little worried about this because I want to make sure I have the correct document. I was told that I needed a CPIC by RCMP and this is what I told the local detachment and her response was to pay $40 and get it in 10-15min. Does this sound accurate to you? The Commisioniers site says at least a few days...

My fiance said that yes they told him he could just write a letter. But I will still proceed with the letter from my pastor as a precaution....as FamilyMan says...hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

I told my fiance that you have all said that the Adul is charging anywhere from 600 - 1000. He was quite relieved..and so am I!!

As for baksheesh...I can handle 5 or 600 to speed things up. Whatever it takes for it to be done within our time frame and hopefully a little time for "honeymoon".

Thank you for all your help. I have started looking over the sponsorship papers as well and also started a diary.

Phew...the things we do for love!!...LOL

 

[rjessome]

I am so confused about the police check because when I called the local RCMP, they told me I must call the commisioniers (sp?) (the link FamilyMan gave), Then when I called them they told me to call the local police detachment and get a record from them??? When I called the local detacment they told me I could come in and have a check in 10-15 minutes. I was specifically stating that it must be RCMP search and NOT a regular police search. I am a little worried about this because I want to make sure I have the correct document. I was told that I needed a CPIC by RCMP and this is what I told the local detachment and her response was to pay $40 and get it in 10-15min. Does this sound accurate to you? The Commisioniers site says at least a few days...

That sounds about right. I paid $50 for mine but it differs depending on the detachment you go to. Mine also took a couple of days. The commissionaires do a digital fingerprinting which takes a few days but you don't need that for marriage purposes in Morocco. I know others who went to their local detachment and had it done very quickly. You're on the right track.

 

[hoping75]

Hi,

I went to a local RCMP office, and it took about 15 mins to get my clearance report. Another office said they needed to order it and it would take 6 weeks.

It really depends on the location.

Good luck with everything

 

[hopeful_waiting]

Ok, this is good. I have never been married so thankfully I do not have to worry about this.

I am so confused about the police check because when I called the local RCMP, they told me I must call the commisioniers (sp?) (the link FamilyMan gave), Then when I called them they told me to call the local police detachment and get a record from them??? When I called the local detacment they told me I could come in and have a check in 10-15 minutes. I was specifically stating that it must be RCMP search and NOT a regular police search. I am a little worried about this because I want to make sure I have the correct document. I was told that I needed a CPIC by RCMP and this is what I told the local detachment and her response was to pay $40 and get it in 10-15min. Does this sound accurate to you? The Commisioniers site says at least a few days...

My fiance said that yes they told him he could just write a letter. But I will still proceed with the letter from my pastor as a precaution....as FamilyMan says...hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

I told my fiance that you have all said that the Adul is charging anywhere from 600 - 1000. He was quite relieved..and so am I!!

As for baksheesh...I can handle 5 or 600 to speed things up. Whatever it takes for it to be done within our time frame and hopefully a little time for "honeymoon".

Thank you for all your help. I have started looking over the sponsorship papers as well and also started a diary.

Phew...the things we do for love!!...LOL

dair2dv8103100

I went to the RCMP in London Canada on Dufferin St. I asked for a police clearance and told them I was getting married they said that some countries ask for more detailed RCMP police clearance with fingerprints that can take 6 weeks for clearance .. I said the name police clearance is good and it only cost me 40 dollars and I waited 15 min max ... Morocco accepted just the name clearance from the RCMP it was yellow piece of paper with RCMP logo and signatures on it and clearance info on it ... Now keep in mind this RCMP clearance is only good for certain amount of time I believe it is 3 months..

As for abdul we only paid 1000dh and yes bakeesh police and court clerk ..

Hope this clears up somethings Take Care