My Daughter Needs a Residence Permit
I met my husband at the University. We were friends at first and it never occurred to me in three years he would become my husband. I used to consider him as a “foreigner”, this is why I was surprised when he proposed.I was convinced, at the time, that my husband would become Moroccan by his mere marriage with me. Had I been aware of the difficulty, or even the impossibility to acquire citizenship, I would have given the matter a second thought. I might have changed my mind, despite the profound harmony that existed between us. I did not examine the matter, however and was not given any advice.
The consequences of the marriage were numerous and had a great impact on my life and my family’s life. My husband could not find a permanent job in his field of specialization despite the high degree he obtained. Instead, he found himself working temporary jobs here and there. As a result, I had to take on the responsibility of earning more money, so I went back to school. I was driven by ambition, of course, but I also wanted to guarantee a given standard of living for my family. I also knew that I could never ask my father for help. Luckily, the relationship that binds me to my husband is a source of inner peace which smoothes material problems away.
The biggest shock came with the birth of my daughter. I had thought she would be registered in the civil status register upon her birth, but this was not the case. I was overcome by a feeling of distress. She was my daughter but at the same time, she wasn’t really my daughter in the eyes of my country. Immediately after the birth, my husband paid the relevant fee for obtaining the Moroccan nationality and we are still waiting. We have been waiting for fourteen years.
As for my children, they are foreigners in their own country. They hold the same passport as their father. When we travel, I have to obtain a return visa of no more than three months with the security services. My children seldom travel because of the burdensome and humiliating formalities they have to endure. But this is not the only problem. With respect to education, if my daughter graduates from high school before reaching the age where she can apply for citizenship, 19 years old, she will have to rely on being accepted into public institutions according to the quota specified for foreigners (5% in the Faculty of Medicine, for example) even if she maintains the best of grades.
I was recently told that my daughter who will turn 15 must obtain a residence permit and that I should prove, being her mother, that she is my dependent, can you imagine that? My daughter who has only been in Morocco, who was born here and who lives here, needs a residence permit! My children struggle daily against psychological problems because their country does not recognize them. The denial of the Moroccan nationality affects them seriously.
Thanks to Association Democratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM), I started to participate in the working group which undertakes advocacy with public authorities in order to change the Nationality Law. It was no longer only my problem, but that of many other Moroccan women married to non-nationals. I did not feel so alone.
The solution lies in changing the law. The Nationality Law must allow Moroccan women married to non-nationals to transmit their nationality to their children. Meanwhile, we could come up with measures that can alleviate the sufferings of children, such as reducing the naturalization age from 19 years to 15 years and seeing to it that the process becomes automatic.
Entry Filed under: Countries, Testimonies, Morocco