Visa Delays Prevent Moroccan Father from Attending Child’s Birth in Spain

Maria has just returned from her summer vacation in Casablanca where her Moroccan partner, Rachid Dahdahi, a dressmaker with whom she has been in a relationship for two years, resides. Eight months pregnant, she should give birth in a few weeks. The couple decided that the child would be born in Spain. Unfortunately, the 40-year-old Moroccan will not be able to see his child at birth because he "has not been able to get a visa appointment at the Spanish consulate in Casablanca," regrets Maria to El País.

"There was never any availability: when the deadline opened for a few hours a day, all the places were already taken or the system was blocked. And he meets all the conditions [at least 100 euros per day and a bank account credited with at least 3,000 euros, an invitation letter or a declared place of residence], but he didn’t even get his chance," fumes the Valencian woman.

The young woman denounces this "unfair situation". "I can buy a plane ticket to see him whenever I want, but he can’t," she laments, adding that her mother has already made several trips to Morocco to meet Rachid and his family and speed up the marriage procedures, initiated several months ago. But the process is taking time due to Rachid’s Moroccan origin.

The other problem the couple is facing is that they will not be able to register the baby under the family name of the father. The teacher plans to give the child her own name as a single mother, pending the outcome of the procedures. A "regrettable" situation, she complains. "We want our child to have both the Moroccan and Spanish cultures, to speak the languages of both countries. We just want to live in peace and together once and for all," she insists.