Last week I posted an article about an interview with a Moroccan man. Through a series of questions we were able to see that the man was a scammer. He was basically looking for women to either help him to leave the country or provide him with money. His intentions were clear. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk to a few more Moroccan men. In this article I will have an interview with a Moroccan American. This interview with a Moroccan American took place in America. Like all the interviews I did, this one was supposed to be about learning Darija but quickly turned to life and relationships. I’ll be omitting the Darija portion and just focusing on the other questions.
Interview with a Moroccan American
Interviewee: Mr. Y
City of residence: Orlando, Florida
Tell me about yourself?
There is nothing much to tell you. I am a Moroccan. I recently came to America before 1 year.
Before coming to America, where did you live?
I was living in Agadir before. I lived in Agadir all of my life.
Why did you decide to come to America to live?
Well my wife, is from America. She sponsored me to come to live with her.
What is your opinion of America, after 1 year?
I like it a lot. There is a lot to see and do here. I’m still not working right now. It’s a little difficult to find work. My wife complains everyday for me to find a job.
Why is it so difficult to find work? I’m sure there are jobs available.
If I want to work at McDonalds or some other place like this, I can find a job. The problem is that they pay minimal wage. I would like to work in tourism. This is my field.
I briefly paused the interview with a Moroccan American. I have some family in Orlando that are working in the tourism field. I provided the contact information to this gentlemen. I’m not sure if he was able to get a job after the interview.
So I noticed your English is very good. Much better than other Moroccans that I have spoken to. Did you learn English in school?
Yes and No. In school we did learn English during our last 2 years of high school but it was a joke. I started to watch English movies, listen to English music and chat with people online. I was studying tourism in university and I knew that I need to improve my English to succeed in this career. My wife also helped me a lot.
So how did you meet your wife?
I met her on Facebook. I made a friend request with her. She accepted and we started to speak. Eventually we spoke everyday. She decided to come to visit me after 3 months. After this she came again after another 6 months and this time we decided to marry. I took her to visit my family. After another 6 months she returned and we did the process for Moroccan marriage. When she returned to America, she start the paper for marriage. I had to wait a long time to come to America.
How long did you have to wait before coming to America?
It was around 15 months. The papers take a long time to process. Especially in the American embassy in Morocco. The papers stayed there for 13 months before they called me for an interview.
How was the interview? I heard it’s difficult for some people.
Yes, it was difficult for me. They asked me a lot of questions about my wife. About her family, about her job, about her friends. There was a lot of things they asked me. I was in the interview for maybe over 1 hour. I was nervous Bro. I didn’t think they would accept me.
Why do you think that they would not accept you?
My wife is a few years older than me. Also she I Jewish and I am Muslim. I know a lot of Moroccans that do not get the visa for these reasons.
So why do you think that they accepted you?
This is only my idea(guess) but I think it is because we had a wedding in Agadir. Her sister and her friend came to the wedding. I spoke with her family a lot. When she sent the papers she sent all these evidence with her papers. I think this help me to get the visa to come to America.
How is life now that you are in America with your wife?
It is ok. She fights with me everyday to get a job. Also she does not like me to pass time with my friends in the night. She thinks that I do not want to work and continue to live with her supporting me. She tells me that I need to be working if we will start a family.
So you have discussed starting a family?
Yes of course I want to have a family. I speak to my wife about this but she want to wait after 2 years, I am working and we buy a house. I don’t really understand all these rules. I just want a simple life.
Have you discussed these concerns with your wife?
Of course yes. I speak about this but then she would start fighting. Mostly we fight about jobs but I think once I get a job, she will calm down.
Do you ever think about returning to Morocco?
You mean to live in Morocco? I will never return to Morocco again. When you live in another country and see the difference with people, you will not want to return. The people in Morocco are difficult. I don’t want to live like that again. My wife gives me this idea. She tells me we can live in Morocco because the cost is not expensive. I have to tell her that the cost is not expensive but the salary is also not good. The vacation is not the same as living in Morocco. I would return to Morocco to just visit my family.
Final analysis of the interview with a Moroccan American
At the time of the interview, I was in a hookah lounge with Mr. Y. We had to stop the interview because his friend joined us. Regardless, it seemed like a good place to end the interview. I ended up interviewing his friend later on. He seemed like a decent guy. I think the fact that he was willing to work through his issues with his was a good sign. After getting to know him, I really believe that he is just trying to get a job in his field and not trying to live off of his wife. In my opinion, I do not think he is a scammer.
Verdict: Non Scammer
There were a few red flags Mr. Y had with his relationship with his wife. Being of different cultures and his wife being older than him were the red flags I saw. However, in the interview. I noticed a few points that helped show Mr. Y to be a sincere person.
- Education – Mr. Y was educated and was looking for work in his field of study. He did not make the excuse that life is difficult like some of the other scammers usually say.
- Wedding- Mr. Y said that he had a wedding in Morocco. Weddings cost money and scammers are not happy to spend money on weddings. I do hear of some scammers having a wedding to show some sort of proof of their the legitimacy of the relationship but these weddings are normally regulated to the families home and only the family attends.
- Families knowing the relationship – Most victims of scammers keep their relationships secret, often not telling anyone until it’s too late. In Mr. Y’s situation, his wife’s family and friends knew of him and even spoke to him. Her sister and friend attended the wedding showing me that the relationship was public.
- Taking a long time before marrying – Mr. Y and his wife took 15 months before they were married. This may not seem like a lot of time but scammers like to marry quickly. 15 months is a long time for them.
Another thing I found interesting was his English. I found his English to be very good. Every scammer I have met had very poor English. I know that even fluent English speakers can be scammers but I felt Mr. Y tried to learn English for two reasons. To succeed in his career and to better communicate with his wife. None of those reasons are traits of scammers. Based on the interview, it seemed that he was having issues with his wife, especially when it came to work. These just seemed to be regular quarrels between married couples. I’m not sure what will happen to them in the future but even if he leaves his wife truly don’t believe it will be because of his lack of trying. The next interview will be with Mr. Y’s friend. He is an older Moroccan man.