{"site":"Bab Lblad","language":"en","checked":"2026-10-08","source":"https://bablblad.com/en/","guides":[{"id":"passport","section":"papers","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_passport.html","title":"Renew or get a biometric passport","summary":"Apply in person at a consulate after an online pre-application. Adults get five years.","facts":["Valid 5 years for adults. It cannot be extended, only renewed.","Issued at any age. Under 12, it is made from the birth certificate. From 12 to 18, the child's fingerprints are taken at the consulate.","A new generation of passports has been rolling out since August 2026. Your current passport stays valid until the date printed on it.","A parent can apply for a minor child's passport without the father's prior consent, unless a court has ruled otherwise."],"steps":["Check that your consular registration shows your current address.","Fill in the pre-application on passeport.ma and print it.","Book a slot on rdv.consulat.ma. Since 2024 you can choose any Moroccan consulate.","Go in person with your documents. A minor comes with a parent or legal guardian.","Keep the receipt. Track the file on passeport.ma, then collect the passport with the receipt. Collection needs no appointment."],"documents":["Printed pre-application form from passeport.ma","CNIE, or the receipt of your CNIE application, for adults","Your previous passport","For a child: birth certificate and the parent's or guardian's CNIE, original and copy","Photos and the stamp fee: the exact format and amount are on passeport.ma and at your consulate"],"watchOut":["Summer is the busy season. Renew in autumn or winter, well before you book tickets.","Many countries and airlines ask for a passport valid three to six months after your trip.","Lost or damaged passport: declare it at the consulate when you apply for the new one."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.passeport.ma/","https://rdv.consulat.ma/","https://www.consulat.ma/en/delivery-biometric-passport"]},{"id":"cnie","section":"papers","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_cnie.html","title":"National ID card (CNIE)","summary":"Compulsory from age 16, valid ten years, requested in person at the consulate or in Morocco.","facts":["Valid 10 years. Compulsory from 16. A child over 12 can get one when applying for a passport.","You can also apply in Morocco at a police (DGSN) office with the same documents, including your consular registration certificate.","The receipt you are given is needed to collect the card."],"steps":["Get your consular registration certificate with your current address.","Book on rdv.consulat.ma and go in person. Fingerprints are taken for a first card or a replacement.","Keep the dated receipt and come back with it to collect the card."],"documents":["Consular registration certificate with your current address","First card: a copy of your page in the family booklet, or a full copy or extract of your Moroccan birth certificate less than six months old, with names in Arabic and Latin letters","First card: four recent colour photos, 3.5 × 4.5 cm, white background, face uncovered, no dark glasses","Renewal: two photos in the same format and your old card, which you hand back","Lost, stolen or damaged card: a declaration made at the CNIE desk, plus the documents for a renewal","Change of name or date of birth: the administrative or court documents that prove it"],"watchOut":["Lost the receipt? You can still collect the card: declare the loss at the consulate on the day. A small fee applies.","Moved house? The card must be updated with your new address.","Children born before 2 April 2007 to a Moroccan mother and a foreign father need their nationality document for a first card."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.cnie.ma/","https://rdv.consulat.ma/","https://www.consulat.ma/en/renewal-id"]},{"id":"registration","section":"papers","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_registration.html","title":"Consular registration and appointments","summary":"Registration opens the door to every other service. It is done once, in person.","facts":["Only registered Moroccans can get a CNIE, a passport and most certificates from a consulate.","You receive a consular registration certificate. Most files ask for it as proof of where you live.","Appointments are booked on rdv.consulat.ma, where you can also attach your documents in advance.","No appointment is needed to collect a CNIE, a passport, an adoul deed or a family booklet, or to request the transfer of a body to Morocco."],"steps":["Book a registration appointment on rdv.consulat.ma.","Come in person with the documents below. Children come with their legal representative.","Ask for the certificate with your current address, and ask again each time you move."],"documents":["Passport and CNIE, originals and copies. For a child without a CNIE: the Moroccan family booklet or a birth certificate less than a year old","Proof of legal residence: residence permit, visa, or the ID or passport of your country of residence","Proof of address if your permit does not show it: lease, utility bill or certificate of residence","Two colour photos, 4 × 3 cm"],"watchOut":["Arrive on time with your confirmation: a missed slot is cancelled.","Mobile consulates visit cities far from a consulate. Each consulate announces its own dates, so follow its page or social media."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://rdv.consulat.ma/","https://www.consulat.ma/en/consular-registration"]},{"id":"birth","section":"papers","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_birth.html","title":"Register a birth abroad","summary":"Have the local birth certificate transcribed at the consulate so your child exists in Moroccan records.","facts":["The transcription is made at the consulate that covers the place of birth.","It can be requested by the father or the mother, then the guardian, a brother, a nephew or anyone given a mandate.","A child born to a Moroccan mother and a foreign father is Moroccan. If born after 2 April 2007, the birth is transcribed directly. If born before, a certificate of Moroccan nationality is needed first.","The consulate then enters the child in your family booklet and can issue Moroccan birth certificates."],"steps":["Get a full copy of the birth certificate from the local town hall or registry.","Bring it to the consulate with your family booklet and your registration.","Ask for the child to be added to the family booklet and request a few birth certificates for later files."],"documents":["Consular registration of the parents","Moroccan family booklet","Full copy of the child's local birth certificate","Parents' CNIE or passports"],"watchOut":["Do it in the first months. Consulates long applied a time limit for births abroad, after which a court judgment was needed. The legal guide of the Hassan II Foundation now says the law sets no time limit. Ask your consulate which rule it applies.","Need a Moroccan birth certificate without travelling? Order it on watiqa.ma. Users reported outages in 2026: the fallback is the consulate where the birth is registered, or a relative at the commune in Morocco with your power of attorney.","Birth certificates for a CNIE must be less than six months old."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.watiqa.ma/","https://www.consulat.ma/en/birth-transcript-register-civil-status-and-family-record-book"]},{"id":"death","section":"papers","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_death.html","title":"When a loved one dies abroad","summary":"The consulate issues the authorisation to bring the body home. Insurance usually pays; the State helps families who cannot.","facts":["The authorisation to transfer the body is requested at the consulate that covers the place of death. No appointment is needed.","Costs are paid by the family or by repatriation insurance, often included with a Moroccan bank account for residents abroad.","For a person without insurance whose family cannot pay, the ministry in charge of Moroccans abroad can cover repatriation. The request goes through the consulate.","The body must be met at the Moroccan border by the person who signed the commitment."],"steps":["Call the consulate and a funeral home. The funeral home handles the local formalities.","Give the consulate the details: identity, date, place and cause of death, burial place in Morocco, arrival date and border post, and who pays.","Collect the authorisation with the documents below. Two sets travel with the coffin.","Afterwards, have the death transcribed in the Moroccan civil register at the consulate."],"documents":["Death certificate","CNIE or Moroccan passport of the deceased, or failing that the CNIE or passport of a close relative","Certificate from the funeral home that the coffin is hermetically sealed","Medical certificate of no contagious disease","Local authorisation for the body to leave the country","For State support: proof of the family's lack of means, proof that the deceased lived abroad more than six months, and a signed commitment to receive the coffin"],"watchOut":["Check today whether you and your parents have repatriation insurance. It costs little and spares the family a collection at the worst moment.","The consulate emergency lines are in our Directory."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/authorisation-transfer-body-remains-inhumation-morocco","https://www.consulat.ma/en/request-moroccan-authorities-pay-cost-repatriating-cases-families-need"]},{"id":"poa","section":"papers","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_poa.html","title":"Power of attorney","summary":"For property, only a deed drawn up by a notary, an adoul or an authorised lawyer is accepted.","facts":["Since 14 September 2017, the land registry rejects any property transaction based on a private power of attorney, even one legalised at a town hall.","For other matters, such as collecting a document or handling a file, your signature can be legalised at the consulate.","A power of attorney for a car that is not in your name must be legalised where the owner lives abroad, or at the consulate."],"steps":["Write down exactly what the person may do, on which property or file, and until when.","For property, have it drawn up by adouls at the consulate or by a notary.","Send the original to Morocco and keep a copy."],"documents":["Your CNIE and consular registration","Full identity of the person you appoint, with their CNIE number","References of the property: land title number and address"],"watchOut":["A general power of attorney lets someone sell or mortgage in your name. Give a specific one, limited in time.","Cancel it in writing as soon as the job is done."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/power-attorney-real-estate-transactions","https://www.ancfcc.gov.ma/"]},{"id":"otherdocs","section":"papers","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_otherdocs.html","title":"Criminal record, apostille, life certificate, driving licence","summary":"Four documents that come up again and again, and the fastest way to each.","facts":["Criminal record extract: request it online at casierjudiciaire.justice.gov.ma. Born in Morocco, you collect it at the court of your place of birth. Born abroad, it comes from the national centre in Rabat. A consulate can also take the request with a copy of your CNIE and a 10 dirham stamp.","Apostille: since August 2016 a Moroccan public document only needs an apostille to be used in most countries, with no chain of legalisations. The list of countries is on apostille.ma.","Life certificate: issued at the consulate on presentation of your registration, family booklet and ID. It is free for pensioners.","Driving licence: once you settle back in Morocco you may drive on your foreign licence for one year. After that you exchange it, where an agreement exists, or pass the Moroccan test."],"steps":[],"documents":[],"watchOut":["A power of attorney legalised at the consulate lets a relative collect your criminal record in Morocco.","Driving in your country of residence on a Moroccan licence is only allowed for short stays. Long-term residents must convert it under local rules."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://casierjudiciaire.justice.gov.ma/","https://www.apostille.ma/","https://www.consulat.ma/en/driving-license"]},{"id":"car","section":"travel","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_car.html","title":"Bring your car on holiday","summary":"Temporary admission is free and needs no paperwork in advance, but the 180 days are strict.","facts":["180 days per calendar year, in one stay or several. The period cannot be extended.","No form to fill in beforehand. Customs officers register the car on board the ferry or at the border and give you a temporary admission slip.","Once a car has used its 180 days, it cannot come back that year, even driven by someone else with a power of attorney.","Anyone who lives abroad may drive it, with the registration document, the slip and proof of foreign residence. A resident of Morocco may only drive it when you are in the car.","Since 2026 a car on a provisional registration can be admitted with a power of attorney from the certificate holder."],"steps":["Before leaving, check that your insurance covers Morocco. If not, buy border insurance at the port.","At the border, show your residence permit and the original registration document.","Keep the temporary admission slip in the car for any roadside check.","Take the car out before the last day. You can check your record on douane.gov.ma/at."],"documents":["Original registration document","Passport, and residence permit or other proof that you live abroad","Insurance valid in Morocco","Car in someone else's name: power of attorney legalised abroad or at the consulate","Rental car: the contract must say the car may go to Morocco"],"watchOut":["Lending, selling or leaving the car to a relative who lives in Morocco is a customs offence.","Urgent return by plane? While the admission is still valid you may leave the car in a garage of your choice, but nobody may use it and you must take it out yourself before the deadline.","You cannot bring a second car until the first has left or been cleared through customs.","Seasonal workers must show at least six months of stay abroad."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.douane.gov.ma/web/guest/mre","https://www.douane.gov.ma/at/","https://www.consulat.ma/en/temporary-admission-cars-morocco"]},{"id":"customs","section":"travel","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_customs.html","title":"What you can bring through customs","summary":"Gifts for the family are duty-free up to 25,000 dirhams a year, with a few firm exceptions.","facts":["Family gifts: duty-free up to 25,000 dirhams in total, once per calendar year. The whole amount cannot go on one kind of item.","The allowance is for gifts. Customs has separate tolerances for your own clothes and personal items.","Not covered by the allowance: mopeds, adult bicycles, furniture, more than one carpet, household appliances new or used, televisions and similar sets. Duty is due on these.","Forbidden: weapons and ammunition, drugs, counterfeit goods, material contrary to public order, and some plants.","Need formalities: drones, hunting weapons, pets, and animal or plant products.","Tax refund when you leave: purchases of 2,000 dirhams or more made the same day in one approved shop. Show the goods, the invoice and the refund slip to customs before boarding."],"steps":["Keep receipts or a rough list of values for the gifts you carry.","Have your residence permit and proof of work or status abroad ready: they prove your right to the allowance.","Declare anything outside the allowance and pay the duty. You get a receipt."],"documents":["Residence permit or other proof of residence abroad","Work contract, payslip, trader's card or long-stay visa","Pets: a health certificate from an official vet issued within three days before boarding. A 10 dirham inspection fee is charged per animal"],"watchOut":["Cannot pay the duty on the spot? Leave the item in customs storage and collect or re-export it within 45 days. After that it is treated as abandoned.","Quantities that look commercial are taxed as merchandise, whatever their value.","Keep medicines in their boxes with the prescription."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.douane.gov.ma/web/guest/mre","https://www.consulat.ma/en/introduction-pets"]},{"id":"cash","section":"travel","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_cash.html","title":"Cash at the border","summary":"Bring as much foreign currency as you like, declare large amounts, and leave your dirhams in Morocco.","facts":["Foreign currency comes in freely, with no limit, as notes, cards, cheques or transfers.","Declare notes and bearer instruments worth 100,000 dirhams or more on arrival. Customs gives you the form.","Dirhams: no more than 2,000 in or out. Above that it is an exchange offence.","Leaving with foreign notes: you can buy back what you brought in and changed during the last 12 months, up to 100,000 dirhams' worth a year."],"steps":["On arrival, declare amounts over the threshold and keep the stamped declaration.","Change money at banks or approved exchange offices and keep every slip in your name.","Before leaving, buy back foreign currency at the bank with the declaration and the slips."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["No declaration on the way in means no proof on the way out. Undeclared notes can be seized.","Money held in a convertible dirham account or a foreign currency account is not subject to the 100,000 dirham limit.","Your country of residence has its own rule. In the European Union, 10,000 euros or more in cash must be declared when you enter or leave."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.douane.gov.ma/web/guest/mre","https://www.oc.gov.ma/"]},{"id":"marhaba","section":"travel","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_marhaba.html","title":"Operation Marhaba and the summer crossing","summary":"From mid-June to mid-September, reception areas, medical teams and extra ferries line the route home.","facts":["The 2026 edition ran from 10 June to 15 September and carried more than 4 million people, about half of them by sea.","The Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity runs 26 reception areas, 20 in Morocco and 6 abroad, with around 1,400 social workers, doctors and nurses.","In 2026 tickets were interchangeable between ferry companies on the Strait, which helps when a sailing is full or late.","Busiest days: late June to early July on the way in, mid-August onwards on the way back."],"steps":["Book a ticket with a fixed date and time. Consulates advise against open tickets in peak weeks.","Choose your route: the Strait from Algeciras or Tarifa, or a long crossing from Sète, Marseille, Barcelona, Almería, Motril or Genoa to Tanger Med or Nador.","On the motorway in Spain, stop only at the official rest areas.","On the way back, stop at the rest area before Tanger Med: that is where you confirm your ticket and sailing time before driving to the port."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["Ticket prices are the first complaint every year and were raised in Parliament in June 2026. Booking months ahead and travelling mid-week are the only reliable savings.","Compare a nearby airport or a different port: the difference can pay for the detour.","Buy tickets from the company or a known agency. Sellers on the roadside near the ports cannot be traced when a sailing is cancelled."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.fm5.ma/"]},{"id":"return","section":"travel","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_return.html","title":"Moving back for good","summary":"One duty-free move per family, a larger allowance since 2026, and real savings on your car if you qualify.","facts":["Your household goods and personal effects come in free of duty, in one move per family.","On top of the move, effects with no commercial character are duty-free up to 40,000 dirhams. The ceiling was 30,000 until 2026.","The move may be split in two if everything is on the first inventory and both parts pass through the same customs office within six months.","Car under three years old: it is treated as three years older when cleared. That is a 25% reduction on a new car, 20% on a one-year-old car, 10% on a two-year-old car. Once only.","Aged 60 or over with more than ten years abroad: 90% reduction on the value of one passenger car, once in a lifetime. The car cannot be sold for five years and you must be present at clearance.","The two car advantages cannot be combined."],"steps":["Ask the authorities of your country for a certificate of change of residence. Where none exists, the consulate legalises a sworn statement.","Draw up a detailed inventory, dated and signed, of everything you move.","For the 90% reduction, ask the consulate for the certificate of ten years' residence.","Clear the move and the car at the customs office of entry."],"documents":["Certificate of change of residence, or sworn statement legalised at the consulate","Detailed inventory, dated and signed","List of professional tools and equipment if you bring your trade with you","For the 90% reduction: consular registration, CNIE or passport, proof of ten years abroad, and a valid residence permit"],"watchOut":["The 90% reduction covers passenger cars only: no vans, pick-ups, motorhomes, motorbikes or quads.","People who already live in Morocco do not qualify for it.","Your foreign driving licence is valid one year after you settle. Start the exchange early.","Before leaving, ask your pension and health funds in writing what you keep once you live in Morocco."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.douane.gov.ma/web/guest/mre","https://www.consulat.ma/en/final-return-morocco","https://www.consulat.ma/en/benefit-90-reduction-granted-clearance-motor-vehicle"]},{"id":"send","section":"money","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_send.html","title":"Send money home for less","summary":"The fee is only half the price. The exchange rate you are given is the other half.","facts":["The true cost of a transfer is the fee plus the gap between the provider's rate and the mid-market rate shown on our Today page.","Three families of services: your bank or a Moroccan bank's branch abroad, online transfer apps, and cash networks with pick-up counters.","The recipient can be paid into a bank account, in cash at a counter such as Wafacash, Cash Plus or Barid Cash, or on a mobile wallet."],"steps":["Decide the amount in your currency, then ask each service one question: how many dirhams arrive?","Compare at least three services on the same day. The World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide site lists costs by country.","Check the delivery time and whether the recipient pays anything to collect.","Keep the receipt until the money has arrived."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["A transfer advertised with zero fees usually earns its money on the rate.","Rates offered at weekends and on holidays are often worse.","Sending a larger amount less often costs less than many small transfers.","Avoid informal couriers. If the money disappears, you have no proof and no recourse."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/"]},{"id":"accounts","section":"money","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_accounts.html","title":"The right bank account in Morocco","summary":"Three kinds of account exist for Moroccans abroad. The one you pay from decides whether your money can leave again.","facts":["Convertible dirham account: fed from abroad in foreign currency, held in dirhams. The balance can be sent back abroad freely.","Foreign currency account: held in euros, dollars or another currency, also freely transferable.","Ordinary dirham account: for daily life in Morocco. Money in it cannot be sent abroad freely.","An investment paid for in foreign currency through the bank keeps a guarantee: the income, the sale price and any gain can be transferred back out."],"steps":["Open a convertible dirham or foreign currency account before any large purchase. Many Moroccan banks open them from their branches in Europe.","Pay for property, building work or shares from that account, by transfer.","Ask the bank for the document proving the funds came from abroad, and keep it with the deed."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["Buy from an ordinary dirham account, or in cash, and the sale proceeds may stay blocked in Morocco later.","Keep every transfer slip for as long as you own the asset."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.oc.gov.ma/"]},{"id":"tax","section":"money","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_tax.html","title":"Taxes on a home in Morocco","summary":"Five rules that catch owners living abroad, taken from the tax office's guide for Moroccans abroad.","facts":["Selling: tax is due on the profit, with a minimum of 3% of the sale price even when you make no gain.","Main home exemption: no tax on the profit if the home was your main residence for at least five years before the sale and was never rented or used for business.","For an owner living abroad, a home lived in free of charge by your spouse, children or parents counts as your main residence.","The exemption can be used once every five years. After you move out you have one year to sell, as long as the home stays empty.","The communal services tax is still due when you are exempt from the housing tax."],"steps":["After a sale, file the property profit declaration within 30 days.","Declare the end of building work or an empty home by 31 January.","File the yearly income declaration, for example for rent received, by 1 March."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["Inherited property: each heir files a separate declaration and pays on their own share. One missing declaration can block the sale for everyone.","Late filing brings penalties. A trusted accountant or notary in Morocco costs less than a reassessment.","Rent from Morocco may also need to be declared in your country of residence. The tax treaty between the two countries decides who taxes what."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.tax.gov.ma/"]},{"id":"pension","section":"money","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_pension.html","title":"Pension, benefits and health cover","summary":"What you keep when you spend months in Morocco, or retire there, depends on the country that pays.","facts":["Morocco has social security agreements with the main countries of residence. They cover how pensions are paid in Morocco and, in some cases, health care.","A pension you have earned is normally paid wherever you live. Benefits tied to residence, such as some allowances and supplements, can stop when you leave.","Pension funds ask for a life certificate every year. The consulate issues it free of charge to pensioners."],"steps":["Write to your pension fund and your health fund before a long stay. Ask what continues, what stops, and which form to carry.","Ask for the agreement form that gives access to care in Morocco, where the agreement provides one.","Send the life certificate on time each year."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["On sick leave or unemployment benefit? A stay in Morocco without the fund's written agreement can lead to a demand for repayment, even with your doctor's approval.","Some allowances paid to you in Morocco stop or change at retirement age. Keep every letter from your fund.","Without an agreement form, medical care in Morocco is paid out of pocket. Take assistance insurance for each trip."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/individual-or-collective-life-certificate-or-family-registration-form"]},{"id":"buy","section":"property","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_buy.html","title":"Buy a home safely","summary":"Most bad stories share the same three mistakes: no title check, money paid outside the bank, and a deposit handed to a salesman.","facts":["A registered property has a land title number. The land registry, ANCFCC, issues a certificate showing the owner, mortgages and seizures.","Unregistered property, known as melkia, rests on adoul deeds and is far easier to dispute.","Off-plan sales are governed by a specific law: a written contract, staged payments linked to progress, and guarantees for your money.","Paying part of the price abroad, or undeclared, is illegal. The Exchange Office opened investigations into developers who asked buyers abroad for it."],"steps":["Ask for the land title number and get the ownership certificate yourself from ANCFCC.","Choose your own notary, not the seller's. The notary checks the title, the taxes owed and the permits.","Pay every dirham by transfer through the notary, from a convertible or foreign currency account.","Sign nothing and pay nothing at a property fair. Visit the site and read the building permit first.","After signing, check that the title has been registered in your name."],"documents":["CNIE or passport","Proof that the funds came from abroad","For property bought through someone else: a power of attorney drawn up by a notary, an adoul or an authorised lawyer"],"watchOut":["Brochures promising delivery in three or four years are not a guarantee. Ask which bank or insurer guarantees completion.","A price far below the market, or pressure to pay today, is the oldest signal there is.","Never let the purchase be registered in a relative's name for convenience. Legally, the home is theirs."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.ancfcc.gov.ma/","https://www.oc.gov.ma/"]},{"id":"aid","section":"property","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_aid.html","title":"State housing aid: Daam Sakane","summary":"A direct grant for a first home in Morocco. Moroccans abroad are eligible and make up about a quarter of beneficiaries.","facts":["100,000 dirhams for a home priced at 300,000 dirhams or less, tax included.","70,000 dirhams for a home priced between 300,000 and 700,000 dirhams.","The programme runs from 2024 to 2028. At the end of November 2025, 24% of its 75,760 beneficiaries lived abroad.","It is for a first home that becomes a main residence. The full conditions are on the programme's website."],"steps":["Check that you qualify and apply on the Daam Sakane platform.","Choose a home with a land title and a certificate of occupancy.","Sign the preliminary contract at a notary, who requests the payment of the aid.","Sign the final deed. The aid is paid through the notary."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["The aid comes with a commitment to keep the home as a main residence for several years. Selling or renting early can mean repaying it.","The grant does not check the builder for you. Visit, compare and ask about the surroundings: the ministry is now reviewing the quality of homes bought with the aid."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.daamsakane.ma/"]},{"id":"invest","section":"property","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_invest.html","title":"Invest or start a business","summary":"Most of the money sent home goes to family and housing. Here is where to start if you want to build something.","facts":["The Regional Investment Centres are the single entry point for creating a company and for permits.","Customs has a unit that advises Moroccans abroad on importing equipment for a project.","MDM Invest is a State co-financing scheme for projects by Moroccans abroad. Its terms have changed over the years, so ask a bank for the current ones.","An investment financed in foreign currency keeps the right to transfer dividends and sale proceeds abroad."],"steps":["Test the idea on a long stay before you move money.","Meet the Regional Investment Centre of the region you are targeting.","Bring the capital in through a convertible or foreign currency account.","Take a local accountant from the first day."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["Be careful with a partnership where a relative holds everything in their name.","Put every agreement in writing, including within the family."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.douane.gov.ma/web/guest/mre","https://marocainsdumonde.gov.ma/"]},{"id":"protect","section":"property","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_protect.html","title":"Protect what you own from afar","summary":"Empty homes and undivided inheritances are the usual targets of fraud. A few habits close the door.","facts":["Property fraud relies on forged powers of attorney and forged deeds. This is why private powers of attorney are no longer accepted for property.","ANCFCC runs an alert service, Mohafadati, that warns the owner when something is filed on a land title.","An inheritance left undivided for years blocks sales and feeds family disputes."],"steps":["Register unregistered land. A land title is the strongest protection there is.","Sign up for the alert service on each of your titles.","Pay local taxes every year and keep the receipts: they are proof of possession.","After a death, settle the inheritance quickly with a notary or adouls and register each heir's share."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["Cancel old powers of attorney in writing.","Do not leave original deeds with a caretaker or a distant relative.","If something has been filed on your title without you, see a lawyer immediately. Deadlines to contest are short."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.ancfcc.gov.ma/"]},{"id":"marriage","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_marriage.html","title":"Marrying abroad: town hall or adouls at the consulate","summary":"A civil marriage abroad is valid for Morocco when it meets the conditions of the Family Code. You then deposit a copy of the certificate at the consulate.","facts":["As a Moroccan living abroad, you may marry under the local procedure of your country of residence, at the town hall or registry office (Family Code, article 14).","For Morocco, that marriage must have: the consent of both, legal capacity, the marriage guardian (wali) where one is required, no legal impediment, and no agreement to drop the dowry (sadaq). Two Muslim witnesses must be present.","The local certificate is then enough to prove the marriage under Moroccan law. No second deed is needed in Morocco or at the consulate.","You must deposit a copy of the certificate at a Moroccan consulate within three months of the wedding. Since a 2021 change to article 15, it can be the consulate of your place of residence or of the place of marriage.","Missed the three months? You can still deposit it, even years later. The legal guide of the Hassan II Foundation states that the law sets no penalty for lateness.","If the certificate does not show two Muslim witnesses or the dowry, the adoul service of the consulate draws up an annex to it, called Ishhad Moulhaq.","The consulate forwards the copy to the civil status office of each spouse's place of birth in Morocco. For a spouse born outside Morocco, it goes to Rabat.","A civil marriage that meets these rules has the same value as a marriage before adouls, including for entering your children in Moroccan civil status.","The other route: marry before adouls at a Moroccan consulate, under the same rules as in Morocco. The family judge must authorise the deed first.","The minimum age to marry is 18 for both. Under 18, only the family judge can authorise the marriage, by a reasoned decision.","The Family Code applies to every Moroccan, including those who hold a second nationality, and to any couple in which one of the two is Moroccan."],"steps":["Before the wedding, make sure two Muslim witnesses will be present at the ceremony and that the dowry is not waived.","Marry before the local authority, under the procedure of your country of residence.","Ask the consulate which form of copy and which translation it wants. Then deposit the certificate within three months, at the consulate of your residence or of the place of marriage.","If witnesses or dowry are missing from the certificate, ask the adoul service for the annex at the same visit.","Ask when the marriage will appear on your Moroccan birth records and how to get the family booklet."],"documents":["A copy of the marriage certificate issued by the local authority. It is the only paper the law itself names.","Consulates usually also ask for: the consular registration of the Moroccan spouse, birth certificates, CNIE and passports, and an Arabic translation of the certificate, legalised or with an apostille. Ask yours for its list and its fee.","For the annex on witnesses: one spouse can ask for it alone. If it records the dowry, both spouses must come.","Adoul marriage at the consulate: the request form for the judge's authorisation, plus a birth certificate extract, an administrative certificate and a medical certificate for each of you.","Adoul marriage with a foreigner or a convert to Islam: a special authorisation and, for the foreign fiancé, a certificate of capacity to marry.","Marriage by proxy: a mandate that names the other spouse and the dowry, made as an official deed or with your signature legalised, and approved by the family judge."],"watchOut":["The impediments of Moroccan law also apply to a civil marriage abroad. Article 39 bars the marriage of a Muslim woman with a non-Muslim man, and of a Muslim man with a non-Muslim woman unless she is Christian or Jewish.","A marriage before adouls at a consulate is a Moroccan deed. Check first that your country of residence accepts a marriage concluded at a foreign consulate on its soil, above all if one of you has that country's nationality.","Marriage by proxy is an exception: the judge allows it only when special circumstances keep you from coming in person. Some countries do not recognise it.","A religious marriage with no deed (by the Fatiha) is not proof of marriage in Morocco.","Proposal, not law: the reform outline of December 2024 would let Moroccans abroad marry without two Muslim witnesses when having them is impossible. Today the two witnesses are still required."],"more":[{"title":"A marriage that was never registered in Morocco","intro":"","items":[{"label":"A civil marriage, never deposited","text":"Take a copy of the certificate to the consulate of your residence or of the place of marriage. The 2021 rule also covers marriages concluded before it."},{"label":"A certificate without witnesses or dowry","text":"The adoul service of the consulate completes it with the annex (Ishhad Moulhaq)."},{"label":"A religious marriage only, no deed","text":"The court action to have such a marriage recognised closed on 5 February 2019 and was not reopened. The couple must conclude a new marriage under the legal rules."},{"label":"Children born before there was a deed","text":"The father can acknowledge paternity by a deed before adouls, so that the children are entered in civil status. A 2016 circular asks civil status officers to accept it."}]}],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/registration-civil-marriage-consular-services","https://www.consulat.ma/en/ishhad-moulhaq-annexation-witness","https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/","https://adala.justice.gov.ma/fr/resources/433"]},{"id":"marryma","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_marryma.html","title":"Marrying in Morocco when you live abroad","summary":"In Morocco you marry before two adouls, once the family judge has authorised the deed. Prepare the papers before your holiday.","facts":["A marriage in Morocco is concluded before two adouls. They hear the offer and the acceptance of both of you and write the deed.","First the family judge at the court of first instance checks your file and authorises the adouls to draw up the deed. Without the authorisation there is no deed.","An adult woman concludes her marriage herself. She may also delegate her father or a relative: marriage guardianship (wilaya) is her right.","The dowry (sadaq) cannot be waived. It is written in the deed, with the part paid and the part deferred, and it belongs to the wife.","The minimum age is 18 for both. Under 18, only the family judge can authorise the marriage.","The deed states the judge's authorisation, the dowry, the conditions you agreed on and your signatures. The judge then approves it.","The wife receives the original deed and the husband an official copy.","An extract is sent to the civil status office of each spouse's place of birth within 15 days. For a spouse born outside Morocco, it goes to the King's prosecutor in Rabat.","The Ministry of Justice runs a portal for marriage authorisation requests, eadoul.justice.gov.ma. Ask your adoul whether your court uses it.","Two Moroccans, one of whom also holds another nationality, are not a mixed couple for Moroccan law. The procedure for foreigners does not apply to them.","A marriage concluded under Moroccan law is generally valid in your country of residence, but most countries want it recorded there before it counts for papers, a visa or family reunification."],"steps":["Ask the family justice section of the court where you will marry, and an adoul, for the current list of papers. It varies from one court to another.","Before you travel, collect the papers that come from your country of residence. Have them translated into Arabic by a sworn translator if the court asks.","If you hold the nationality of your country of residence, ask its consulate in Morocco what it requires before the wedding. France and Spain want a certificate of capacity to marry first.","In Morocco, get the medical certificate from a doctor there and the administrative certificate from the local authority.","File the request. The judge checks the file and authorises two adouls.","Conclude the marriage before the two adouls. Tell them beforehand which conditions you want written in the deed.","Once the judge has approved the deed, ask for certified copies and a sworn translation. Then have the marriage recorded in your country of residence."],"documents":["The request form for the authorisation to have the marriage deed drawn up","A birth certificate extract for each of you, issued for the marriage","An administrative certificate for each of you","A medical certificate for each of you, from a doctor in Morocco","Your CNIE. Ask the court what else it wants from a Moroccan who lives abroad.","If either of you was married before: proof that the earlier marriage ended, a divorce deed or judgment, or a death certificate","A special authorisation from the judge for a marriage under 18, polygamy, a convert to Islam or a foreigner","For a marriage by proxy: the mandate, legalised, naming the other spouse and the dowry, and approved by the judge"],"watchOut":["Embassy and consulate papers take time. The French consulates in Morocco need at least three months from a complete file to issue the certificate of capacity to marry.","Marriage by proxy can be refused abroad. The Italian consulate in Casablanca says a marriage concluded by proxy cannot be transcribed in Italy.","Conditions agreed before adouls are not a marriage contract for a foreign notary. France takes into account only a contract made before a notary before the wedding.","We found no official figure for the fees. The United States Embassy reports 150 dirhams for filing a marriage request with an adoul. Ask your adoul what the deed costs.","Proposal, not law: the reform would keep 18 as the age of marriage, with an exception from 17 only under strict conditions, and would let an engagement be put on record."],"more":[{"title":"If you also hold the nationality of the country where you live","intro":"That country treats you as its own national. Its rules for marrying abroad apply to you, even when you marry another Moroccan.","items":[{"label":"France","text":"Before the wedding, both of you file in person for a certificate of capacity to marry (CCAM) at the French consulate that covers the place of the wedding. After it, the marriage is transcribed by post at the Service central d'état civil in Nantes. Until then it has no effect for French offices."},{"label":"Spain","text":"Before the adoul marriage, get a certificate of capacity to marry from the civil registry of your place of residence in Spain. Without it, the marriage cannot be entered in the consular civil registry, nor used for a visa or family reunification."},{"label":"Italy","text":"The marriage must be transcribed at your Italian municipality, of residence or of AIRE registration. The Moroccan deed must show both spouses' names, dates and places of birth."},{"label":"Belgium","text":"The Moroccan deed, legalised or with an apostille and translated if needed, can be entered in the Belgian civil status database by the registrar of your municipality. It is recognised if each of you met the conditions of your own national law."},{"label":"Netherlands","text":"If you live in the Netherlands, you must register the marriage certificate with your municipality. A marriage celebrated informally, without the Moroccan deed, cannot be registered."},{"label":"Germany","text":"A marriage valid under Moroccan law is valid in Germany. The Moroccan certificate must be legalised to be used there."},{"label":"United Kingdom","text":"The marriage is recognised if you followed the Moroccan legal process and it would be allowed under UK law."},{"label":"Canada and the United States","text":"The United States Embassy states that a Moroccan marriage is recognised and need not be registered. For Canada we found no official page on recording a marriage made abroad: ask your province."}]}],"officialSources":["https://eadoul.justice.gov.ma/","https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/","https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F36480/0","https://ma.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/etat-civil/mariage-scec","https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/casablanca/es/Consulado/PublishingImages/Paginas/Registro-Civil/MATRIMONIOS.pdf","https://conscasablanca.esteri.it/it/servizi-consolari-e-visti/servizi-per-il-cittadino-italiano/stato-civile/matrimonio/"]},{"id":"mixed","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_mixed.html","title":"Marrying a foreigner","summary":"A Moroccan can marry a foreigner, in Morocco or abroad. Moroccan law sets a religion rule and, in Morocco, a court authorisation after an enquiry.","facts":["The Family Code governs the marriage as soon as one of the two is Moroccan, wherever it takes place.","Religion rule (article 39): a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man. A Muslim man can marry a Muslim, Christian or Jewish woman. A marriage concluded against this rule is null.","In practice: a foreign man who is not Muslim must convert to Islam before the marriage. A Christian or Jewish foreign woman does not have to convert.","Three routes exist. In Morocco, before adouls, with the court's authorisation. Abroad, at the town hall, under local law. Or before adouls at a Moroccan consulate, but only if the law of that country allows it.","In Morocco, the marriage of a foreigner needs a special authorisation. You file the request with the family judge at the court of first instance, usually that of the Moroccan partner's home.","The judge sends the file to the King's prosecutor for an enquiry on the foreign partner: no impediment, good conduct, no risk for public order, job and income.","With the authorisation, two adouls draw up the deed. Foreign embassies in Morocco do not celebrate these marriages.","No official source gives a fixed duration. The United States Embassy says the document checks take from a few days to a few months, and that the court's time varies.","Abroad, at the town hall: for Morocco the same rules apply as for two Moroccans, including the two Muslim witnesses and the deposit of the certificate at the consulate within three months.","At a consulate, a mixed couple applies to the family judge posted at the Moroccan consulate or embassy. The consul runs an enquiry and certifies that there is no impediment. The country of residence may forbid such a marriage when one of you is its national.","Marriage changes nobody's nationality, and gives the foreign spouse no automatic right to live in the other's country.","A Moroccan who also holds the other country's nationality stays Moroccan for the Family Code. Two such spouses are not a mixed couple in Morocco."],"steps":["Foreign partner: before travelling, get your home-country papers: birth certificate, police record, proof of divorce or widowhood if any.","Foreign partner: get the certificate of capacity to marry, or the paper that replaces it, from your embassy or consulate in Morocco or from your home authority. Some embassies add a nationality certificate.","Have the embassy papers legalised by the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and every foreign paper translated into Arabic.","If a conversion to Islam is needed, it is recorded by adouls. Their deed goes into the file.","In Morocco, get the medical certificates from a doctor there and the Moroccan criminal record extract.","File the request with the family judge. Wait for the enquiry and the authorisation.","Conclude the marriage before two adouls. The judge approves the deed.","Have the marriage recorded in the foreign spouse's country: see the country notes below."],"documents":["A written request with your full identity and the purpose of the request","Birth certificate extracts, and a certified copy of the Moroccan partner's CNIE","Foreign partner: the certificate of capacity to marry, or its equivalent","Foreign partner: a copy of the passport. The United States Embassy specifies a certified copy of the identity page and of the page with the stamp of entry into Morocco.","Foreign partner: a nationality certificate and, where it applies, a certificate of residence","Foreign partner: the police record from the home country, and the Moroccan criminal record extract issued by the Ministry of Justice in Rabat","Foreign partner: proof of occupation and income, for example a work and salary certificate","The deed of conversion to Islam where it applies. For a non-Muslim bride, the German Embassy lists proof that she belongs to a religion of the Book.","A medical certificate and an administrative certificate for each of you","Four recent identity photos","If either of you was married before: original or certified proof that the earlier marriage ended"],"watchOut":["The list changes from one court to another. Ask the family justice section where you will marry, and the adoul, before you collect anything.","Sources differ on the counter. The guide of the Hassan II Foundation names the family judge at the court of first instance. The United States Embassy names the family section of the prosecutor's office at the court of appeal. Ask locally.","Embassy certificates expire. The British one must be used within three months.","Foreign papers must be legalised or carry an apostille, and be translated into Arabic.","Polygamy: a second marriage deed cannot be relied on in countries that ban polygamy, and a second wife cannot join her husband there through family reunification.","An unmarried partner has no status in Morocco: living together is not recognised."],"more":[{"title":"What the foreign spouse's country asks","intro":"Before the wedding, most countries ask their national for a certificate. After it, most want the marriage entered in their own registers.","items":[{"label":"France","text":"Before: a certificate of capacity to marry (CCAM) from the French consulate covering the place of the wedding. Both come in person, banns are posted for 10 days, and you should allow at least three months. After: transcription by post at the Service central d'état civil in Nantes, needed for the spouse's visa. Married without the certificate? Write directly to Nantes; an interview can be required."},{"label":"Spain","text":"Before: a certificate of capacity to marry from the civil registry of the Spanish partner's place of residence. After: registration at that civil registry. Without the certificate, the marriage is not entered and does not count for a visa or family reunification."},{"label":"Italy","text":"After: transcription at the Italian municipality of last residence or of AIRE registration. If the Moroccan deed lacks names, dates or places of birth, the consulate asks for a correcting deed. A marriage by proxy cannot be transcribed."},{"label":"Belgium","text":"Before: where the Moroccan authorities ask for it, a certificate of non-impediment from the Belgian consulate. After: the deed, legalised or with an apostille and translated, can be entered in the Belgian civil status database by your municipality."},{"label":"Netherlands","text":"Before: a declaration of capacity to marry, from your Dutch municipality or, if you never lived in the Netherlands, from the embassy in Rabat (30 euros). After: registration with your municipality is compulsory if you live in the Netherlands."},{"label":"Germany","text":"Before: the embassy in Rabat issues the certificate of capacity to marry, on the basis of the certificate from your German registry office, and a nationality certificate, 36 euros each. After: the Moroccan certificate must be legalised to be used in Germany."},{"label":"United Kingdom","text":"Before: a certificate of no impediment from your register office if you live in the UK. If you live elsewhere, a marital status affirmation (50 pounds) and a certified passport copy (25 pounds) at the embassy in Rabat. The affirmation is valid for three months."},{"label":"Canada","text":"Before: the embassy in Rabat issues a certificate of non-impediment to marriage the same day, by appointment, for 50 Canadian dollars. Its list for the Moroccan authorities adds a criminal record check with an apostille."},{"label":"United States","text":"The embassy publishes a detailed list of papers. It stresses that the police record must be obtained before you come to Morocco. A Moroccan marriage is recognised in the United States and is not registered there."}]}],"officialSources":["https://service-public.ma/node/9984","https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/","https://ma.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/etat-civil/mariage-scec","https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/casablanca/es/Consulado/PublishingImages/Paginas/Registro-Civil/MATRIMONIOS.pdf","https://conscasablanca.esteri.it/it/servizi-consolari-e-visti/servizi-per-il-cittadino-italiano/stato-civile/matrimonio/","https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/belgians-abroad/registry/marriage","https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/marry/morocco.fr","https://rabat.diplo.de/resource/blob/2452162/3e1ff0b58b9edd0aa3793706579058a5/eheschliessung-in-marokko-data.pdf","https://www.gov.uk/guidance/confirm-youre-free-to-get-married-in-morocco","https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/morocco-maroc/rabat-info.aspx?lang=eng","https://ma.usembassy.gov/services/marriage-in-morocco/"]},{"id":"contract","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_contract.html","title":"The marriage deed: conditions, property and polygamy","summary":"What you write in the deed on the wedding day decides a lot later: the conditions, the dowry, and what happens to property bought during the marriage.","facts":["Conditions written into the marriage bind both of you. Only conditions that go against the purpose of marriage or against mandatory rules are void, and then the marriage itself stays valid.","The conditions are written in the marriage deed itself.","Monogamy clause: when the wife has made the husband undertake not to take another wife, polygamy is forbidden to him.","The right to divorce: a husband can give his wife the right to end the marriage herself (tamlik), usually in the deed. She then applies to the court and he cannot stop her.","The dowry (sadaq) is the wife's own property. The Code calls its value moral and symbolic. The deed states what is paid and what is deferred.","Property: each spouse keeps a separate estate. Marriage under the Family Code does not merge what you own.","You can agree how property acquired during the marriage is managed and shared. This agreement is optional and is written in a document separate from the marriage deed (article 49).","The adouls must inform both of you of these property rules at the wedding.","Without an agreement, a dispute over property acquired during the marriage is judged on the evidence, taking into account the work of each spouse and the burdens each carried.","Polygamy needs a court authorisation. The husband must show an exceptional, objective reason and enough resources for two families. The court summons the first wife.","If the first wife refuses and the husband insists, the court applies the discord divorce procedure of its own motion.","The new wife must be told by the judge that the man is already married, and her consent is recorded.","If later events make a condition too hard to keep, the spouse bound by it can ask the court to lift it or change it."],"steps":["Before the wedding day, decide together which conditions you want, for example the monogamy clause or the wife's right to divorce.","Tell the adouls before they write. Read the deed, or have it read to you, before you sign.","If you want to share what you acquire during the marriage, have the property agreement written as a separate document.","If you marry under a foreign law, check its default property regime: in some countries it is community of property.","Keep the original deed and the agreement in a safe place, with copies in both countries."],"documents":["The marriage deed, with the agreed conditions and the dowry","The separate agreement on property acquired during the marriage, if you make one","Later, in a dispute: any proof of what each of you paid or did for the family's property"],"watchOut":["Without an agreement there is no automatic half share. The court weighs the contribution of each spouse, which does not mean an equal split.","A first wife's refusal does not by itself stop the court from ruling on a polygamy request. Only the monogamy clause forbids it outright.","Conditions agreed before adouls do not count as a marriage contract in France. For a contract that France will note, see a notary before the wedding.","Polygamy authorised in Morocco has no effect in countries that ban it: the second deed is not accepted there, and a second wife gets no family reunification.","Proposal, not law: the reform would oblige the adouls to ask the wife whether she requires the husband to give up polygamy, and to record her answer. It would also count the wife's work in the home as a contribution to the property."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://adala.justice.gov.ma/fr/resources/433","https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/"]},{"id":"divorcema","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_divorcema.html","title":"Divorcing under Moroccan law","summary":"In Morocco a marriage ends only through the court. The Family Code offers several routes: by agreement, for discord, at the husband's or the wife's request.","facts":["No divorce exists outside the court. Words said at home, an oath or a letter do not end the marriage. Only the court's authorisation or judgment counts, recorded where needed by two adouls.","The Code applies to every Moroccan, also with a second nationality, and to any couple in which one spouse is Moroccan.","You file with the family section of the court of first instance: that of the marital home, or of the wife's home or residence, or of the place where the marriage deed was made, in that order.","The court first tries to reconcile you. With children, it makes two attempts at least 30 days apart.","A discord divorce (chiqaq) must be decided within six months of the request. So must the divorces asked by the wife on legal grounds, except in exceptional circumstances.","When the husband asks for the divorce (talaq), the court fixes what the wife and children are owed. He must deposit the sum at the court within 30 days. If he does not, the court treats it as giving up the divorce.","The court's decision ending the marriage cannot be appealed on the divorce itself. The parts on money and children can.","The court sends a summary to the civil status office of each spouse's place of birth, which notes the divorce on your birth records. For a spouse born abroad, it goes to the prosecutor in Rabat.","A new Code of Civil Procedure (law 58.25) has applied since 24 August 2026. Press reports say requests can now be filed through electronic platforms.","Under that code, Moroccan courts can hear a divorce against a spouse who lives abroad when the marriage deed was made in Morocco, when the spouse who files is Moroccan, or when the spouse who is sued is Moroccan, according to a specialist's review."],"steps":["Choose the route with a lawyer: by agreement, for discord, or one of the others below. It decides what the court checks and what is owed.","File the request with the marriage deed. For a talaq, add proof of the husband's income. For a divorce by agreement, add your written agreement.","Attend the reconciliation hearing. Ask the court, through your lawyer, whether you must come in person: the Code says nothing for spouses who live abroad.","In a talaq, the husband deposits the sum fixed by the court within 30 days.","With the court's authorisation, the divorce is recorded by two adouls of the court's district. In a judicial divorce, the judgment itself ends the marriage.","Collect the divorce deed or the judgment, and a certificate that it is final.","Check that the divorce is noted on your Moroccan birth record by ordering a fresh copy. Then have it recognised in your country of residence."],"documents":["The marriage deed","The identity of both spouses, and details on the children","For a talaq: proof of the husband's income and obligations","For a divorce by agreement or a khol': your written agreement and its conditions","From abroad: a power of attorney for your lawyer, legalised at the consulate. Ask the court what it accepts."],"watchOut":["If the husband asked for the divorce, was summoned in person and does not come, the court treats his request as withdrawn.","If the wife was summoned in person and neither comes nor answers in writing, the case can be decided without her after a warning from the prosecutor.","Check which kind of divorce is written on your deed. Several European countries refuse a talaq decided by the husband alone, and accept a divorce by agreement or for discord.","A divorce case in Morocco does not stop a case abroad by itself. Between France and Morocco, the court seized second must wait.","We could not read the consulates' page on divorce in Morocco. Ask your consulate what can be done on site.","Proposals, not law: the reform would turn divorce by agreement into a contract without a court case, reduce the number of divorce types, and cap every divorce case at six months."],"more":[{"title":"The routes to divorce","intro":"","items":[{"label":"By agreement (mutual consent)","text":"You both agree to end the marriage, with or without conditions. The conditions must not harm the children. One or both of you file; the court tries reconciliation, then authorises the divorce."},{"label":"For discord (chiqaq)","text":"Either spouse, or both, asks the court to settle a dispute that threatens the marriage. If reconciliation fails, the court grants the divorce and fixes what is owed, weighing each one's share of responsibility."},{"label":"At the husband's request (talaq)","text":"He needs the court's permission, deposits what the wife and children are owed, then has the divorce recorded by two adouls."},{"label":"By the wife, with a delegated right (tamlik)","text":"If her husband gave her the right to divorce, usually in the marriage deed, she applies to the court herself. He cannot oppose it."},{"label":"For compensation (khol')","text":"The wife gives something in exchange for the divorce, by agreement. If you disagree on the amount, the court sets it. What she gives cannot come from the children's money."},{"label":"At the wife's request, on legal grounds","text":"Six grounds: the husband broke a condition of the deed, harm, non-payment of maintenance, absence of more than a year, a hidden defect, or his oath of abstinence. Harm can be proved by any means, including witnesses."},{"label":"Before the marriage is consummated","text":"The divorce is final at once. The wife is owed half of the dowry and observes no waiting period."}]},{"title":"After the decision: revocable or final, and the waiting period","intro":"","items":[{"label":"Final divorces","text":"A divorce granted by the court is irrevocable, except for an oath of abstinence or non-payment of maintenance. So are a divorce by agreement, a khol', a divorce under tamlik and a third talaq. To live together again, you need a new marriage deed."},{"label":"Revocable divorce","text":"A first or second talaq by the husband is revocable during the waiting period. He can take his wife back before two adouls. The judge calls the wife, and if she refuses she can ask for a discord divorce."},{"label":"Waiting period (idda)","text":"It runs from the divorce when the marriage was consummated: three menstrual cycles, or three months for a woman without cycles, or until the birth for a pregnant woman. A widow observes four months and ten days."},{"label":"After a third divorce","text":"You cannot remarry each other unless the woman has since been through a consummated marriage with another man that has ended."}]}],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/divorce-morocco","https://adala.justice.gov.ma/fr/resources/433","https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/"]},{"id":"divorce","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_divorce.html","title":"Divorce across two countries","summary":"A divorce obtained in one country does not change your records in the other by itself. Have it recognised there before you remarry.","facts":["Morocco accepts a divorce decided by a foreign court if that court had jurisdiction and the grounds do not contradict those of the Family Code (article 128).","Since 24 August 2026 a new Code of Civil Procedure (law 58.25) governs foreign judgments, in articles 451 to 456. A foreign judgment is enforced in Morocco only after a Moroccan court grants enforceability, the exequatur.","The Moroccan court checks that both spouses were properly called and represented abroad, that the judgment is final there, that it does not clash with a Moroccan judgment, and that it respects Moroccan public policy.","New in 2026: the court also looks at whether the country that gave the judgment treats Moroccan judgments the same way (reciprocity). This test has no track record yet.","Deeds made abroad before a competent official, not only court judgments, can be made enforceable.","For civil status only, a 2016 circular of four ministries lets final foreign divorce decisions be noted without exequatur, unless they contain financial commitments or offend public policy, according to Médias24. Other official sources say a court order is always needed. Practice differs.","French divorce by mutual consent without a judge: a 2019 circular of the Interior Ministry favours noting it in Moroccan registers without exequatur, according to a French legal journal. This rests on a circular, not on a law.","Until the divorce is noted on your Moroccan birth record, you are still married in Moroccan registers. That blocks remarriage in Morocco and confuses inheritance.","You do not need to travel: a lawyer in Morocco can act with a power of attorney legalised at the consulate.","The other way round, a Moroccan divorce must be recognised or noted in your country of residence before it counts there. Each country has its own procedure: see below."],"steps":["Get the complete foreign judgment and proof that it is final in the country that gave it.","Ask your consulate, or the civil status office of your place of birth, whether the divorce can be noted directly or whether they want a Moroccan court order first.","If a court order is needed, or if you must enforce money or custody decisions in Morocco, have a lawyer apply for enforceability under the new procedure code.","Have all the papers translated into Arabic by a sworn translator.","Once it is accepted, have the divorce noted on your birth record, and check by ordering a fresh copy."],"documents":["The foreign divorce judgment, original and copy","Proof that it is final and can no longer be appealed","Proof that both spouses were properly called to the proceedings, for example the proof of service","The marriage deed or certificate","Your CNIE or passport, and your consular registration","Sworn Arabic translations","The exact list is now set by article 454 of the new code, which we could not read. Have your lawyer or the court registry confirm it."],"watchOut":["Do not remarry on the strength of a divorce that the other country has not yet recognised.","Before 24 August 2026, the president of the court of first instance ruled on foreign divorces within one week. We could not confirm that the new code keeps this. Ask your lawyer which court and which time limits apply now.","A foreign custody order is not carried out in Morocco automatically. It also needs the exequatur.","Living in Europe? A talaq obtained by the husband alone in Morocco may be refused there. French and Belgian sources treat a divorce by agreement or for discord differently.","If cases are started in both countries: between France and Morocco, the court seized second must wait. For other countries the new Moroccan code has no detailed rule, according to a specialist's review."],"more":[{"title":"A Moroccan divorce in the country where you live","intro":"","items":[{"label":"France","text":"Under the France-Morocco convention of 1981, a final Moroccan divorce can be noted in French registers without exequatur. Send a request to check it (vérification d'opposabilité), with French translations, to the public prosecutor of the place of marriage, or of Nantes if the marriage took place abroad. The prosecutor refuses a repudiation. The Cour de cassation accepted the Moroccan divorce by agreement in 2014."},{"label":"Belgium","text":"A foreign divorce judgment is recognised without a special procedure if it passes the legal checks. A divorce by the husband's will alone is refused unless strict conditions are met, including the wife's free and clear acceptance."},{"label":"Netherlands","text":"A divorce obtained after proper proceedings before a competent authority is recognised. One made by one spouse's declaration is recognised only if the other clearly agreed or accepted it."},{"label":"Germany","text":"You file a formal request for recognition (section 107 FamFG) with the justice authority of your Land, with the originals and translations by a translator admitted in Germany."},{"label":"Spain","text":"A divorce judgment from outside the European Union must go through the exequatur procedure of law 29/2015 before the civil registry relies on it. Moroccan documents need an apostille and a sworn translation."},{"label":"Italy","text":"Recognition is asked under article 64 of law 218/1995. The consular forms ask for the judgment in the original and in Italian, and for the date it became final."},{"label":"United Kingdom","text":"A divorce obtained abroad through proceedings is recognised if it is effective where it was obtained and one spouse lived there, was domiciled there or was a national of that country."},{"label":"Canada","text":"A foreign divorce is recognised if either spouse lived in that country for at least one year just before the proceedings started."}]},{"title":"Mixed couples: which court, which law","intro":"","items":[{"label":"In a Moroccan court","text":"The court applies the Family Code as soon as one spouse is Moroccan, even with a second nationality."},{"label":"France and Morocco","text":"If you both have the same nationality, the law of that country governs the divorce. If not, it is the law of the country of your shared home, or of your last shared home. The courts of that country can decide. If you both have the nationality of one of the two countries, so can its courts."},{"label":"A spouse abroad sued in Morocco","text":"Since August 2026, Moroccan courts can hear the case when the marriage deed was made in Morocco, when the spouse who files is Moroccan, or when the spouse who is sued is a Moroccan national."}]}],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/divorce-pronounced-foreign-courts","https://adala.justice.gov.ma/fr/resources/433","https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Convention_Maroc.pdf","https://www.justice.fr/fiche/mettre-jour-actes-detat-civil-francais-suite-divorce-prononce-etranger","https://www.justiz.sachsen.de/olg/download/Scheidungsanerkennung/Marokko_S.pdf","https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/55/section/46","https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/d-3.4/section-22.html"]},{"id":"custody","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_custody.html","title":"Children after a divorce: custody, guardianship and travel","summary":"Custody usually goes to the mother, while the father stays the legal guardian. That difference matters for school, papers and travel.","facts":["Custody (hadana) means caring for the child day to day. After a divorce it goes first to the mother, then to the father, then to the mother's mother. Failing that, the court chooses the most suitable relative.","Custody lasts until 18 for boys and girls. From the age of 15, the child can choose to live with the father or the mother.","Legal guardianship (wilaya) is separate. By law the father is the guardian of his children, also after a divorce. A mother with custody is not the guardian for that reason alone.","The mother becomes guardian when the father is dead, absent or has lost capacity. When he is prevented from acting, she can deal with the children's urgent matters.","A mother with custody who remarries keeps it if the child is under 7, if separation would harm the child, if the child has an illness or disability that makes her care necessary, or if her new husband is a close relative of the child or its legal representative. Otherwise she can lose it.","The other parent has the right to visit the child and to receive the child. You can agree on the times; otherwise the court fixes precise times and places.","If a parent cheats on the visiting arrangements, the court can change them and can even withdraw custody.","Moving to another town inside Morocco does not end custody. The Code gives no such protection for a move abroad.","The court can ban taking the child out of Morocco without the legal representative's consent. If consent is refused, the parent with custody can ask the urgent-applications judge, who agrees only for a temporary trip with an assured return.","Passport: the official passport site states that a divorced mother can have passports made for her minor children, unless a court decision opposes it. The child must be present.","Custody can be reviewed whenever the child's interest requires.","If one parent dies, that parent's own parents keep the right to visit the child."],"steps":["Read the custody decision: it names the custodian, the visits and any travel ban.","Agree on visits and holidays in writing, and have the agreement written into the court decision.","Before travelling with the child, get the other parent's written consent, legalised. British official guidance says Morocco asks for the authorisation of both parents for a child to leave the country, until the age of 18.","If consent is refused, apply to the urgent-applications judge and show that the trip is temporary.","For the child's Moroccan passport, go with the child to your consulate. A parent who cannot come can give a power of attorney.","If your child is taken to another country or kept there, contact the central authority of the country where you live at once."],"documents":["A copy of the divorce decision: it names the children, the custodian and the visits","The other parent's written consent for travel, legalised","For the passport: the child in person, and the papers your consulate lists for minors","For a custody, visiting or maintenance decision used between France and Morocco: the court clerk's certificate that it is enforceable"],"watchOut":["A person entitled to custody who stays silent for one year after learning that the custodian has married loses the right to claim it.","Either parent can ask a Moroccan court for a travel ban on the child. A parent can be stopped at the airport when a ban exists.","A dual-national child can leave Morocco on the Moroccan passport. A second passport does not protect against a child being taken to Morocco.","A return order does not decide who gets custody.","Proposals, not law: the reform would let a divorced mother keep custody when she remarries, give the mother with custody legal guardianship as well, and make guardianship joint."],"more":[{"title":"If a child is taken to another country","intro":"","items":[{"label":"The 1980 Hague Convention","text":"Morocco has been a party since 2010. It applies only with the countries that accepted Morocco's accession: check the status table before relying on it. With the United Kingdom it has applied since 1 July 2016."},{"label":"Morocco's central authority","text":"The Ministry of Justice in Rabat, Directorate of Civil Affairs. It receives return requests and works with the authority of your country."},{"label":"France and Morocco","text":"The convention of 1981 applies. The two Ministries of Justice help for free: they locate the child, seek a voluntary return and bring the case to court. The judge must order the immediate return, unless it would seriously endanger the child."},{"label":"The 1996 Hague Convention","text":"It covers custody and protection decisions. It is in force between Morocco and France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Italy. Canada is not a party."}]}],"officialSources":["https://www.passeport.ma/Home/Faq","https://adala.justice.gov.ma/fr/resources/433","https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=24","https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities/details3/?aid=850","https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=70","https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Convention_Maroc.pdf","https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/morocco-child-abduction/morocco-child-abduction"]},{"id":"dues","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_dues.html","title":"Money after a divorce","summary":"The court fixes what is owed: the wife's dues at the divorce, then maintenance and housing for the children until they can stand on their own.","facts":["When the husband asks for the divorce, the wife is owed: any unpaid part of the dowry, maintenance for the waiting period, and a consolation gift (mut'a).","The court sets the consolation gift from the length of the marriage, the husband's means, the reasons for the divorce and how far he abused his right. There is no scale.","During the waiting period the wife stays in the marital home or another suitable home. Failing that, the court fixes a sum for housing.","In a discord divorce the court fixes the same dues and weighs each spouse's share of responsibility. The one at fault can be ordered to compensate the other.","Dowry: all of it is owed once the marriage is consummated, half if the divorce comes before.","The children's maintenance covers food, clothing, medical care and education. It is set from the payer's income, the children's standard of living before the divorce, and the cost of living.","The children's housing is fixed separately. The father must house them or pay a rent set by the court, and they cannot be put out of the home before he has complied.","A father owes maintenance until 18, or 25 for a child still studying. For a daughter it lasts until she earns her living or marries. For a child with a disability who cannot earn a living, it continues.","If the father cannot pay and the mother is well off, she covers the part he cannot pay.","Maintenance is owed from the day the payments stopped, not from the day of the judgment.","The court can order maintenance to be withheld from the payer's salary. The Code says maintenance cases must be decided within one month.","If the mother with custody remarries, the father no longer owes the child's housing or the custody pay. He still owes maintenance.","Property: each of you keeps what is yours. There is no automatic sharing on divorce, unless you signed an agreement on property acquired during the marriage."],"steps":["Ask the court to fix the maintenance and the children's housing. Bring proof of income and of the children's expenses.","Ask the judgment to say how it is paid, for example by deduction from salary.","If payments stop for more than a month without good reason, the rules on family neglect apply. Ask a lawyer or the prosecutor's office how to file a complaint.","To collect in another country: between France and Morocco, the two Ministries of Justice act as central authorities for maintenance, and their help is free. Elsewhere, ask a lawyer how to enforce the judgment where the payer lives."],"documents":["Proof of the payer's income and obligations: pay slips, tax papers, contracts","Proof of the children's expenses: school, health, housing","The written agreement on property, if you signed one; if not, proof of what you contributed","The judgment, with the clerk's certificate that it is enforceable, to use it in another country"],"watchOut":["You cannot ask to raise or lower maintenance before one year has passed, except in exceptional circumstances.","A maintenance judgment stays in force until another decision replaces it.","When the payer cannot pay everyone, the order is: the wife, then the young children, then daughters, sons, the mother and the father.","Not paying court-ordered maintenance is also a criminal matter, family neglect. We did not read the text of the Penal Code: ask a lawyer about the penalties.","Proposals, not law: the reform would set reference criteria for maintenance, give the consolation gift to a wife who asks for the divorce herself, and count work in the home as a contribution to the property."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://adala.justice.gov.ma/fr/resources/433","https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Convention_Maroc.pdf"]},{"id":"nationality","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_nationality.html","title":"Moroccan nationality: who has it, how to prove it","summary":"You are Moroccan if your father or your mother is. Taking another nationality does not end it.","facts":["You are Moroccan from birth if your father or your mother is Moroccan, wherever you were born and whatever the other parent's nationality (Nationality Code, article 6).","The mother's line was added in 2007. It also covers people born before that date to a Moroccan mother and a foreign father.","Morocco accepts dual nationality. You do not lose Moroccan nationality by taking another one.","Inside Morocco, a dual national is treated as Moroccan only. The other country's consulate can do little for you there.","Marriage changes nobody's nationality. A Moroccan who marries a foreigner stays Moroccan. Divorce changes nothing either.","You prove your nationality with a certificate of nationality. You ask the King's prosecutor at the court of first instance. From abroad, the consulate forwards the request.","For Moroccans born abroad, the guide of the Hassan II Foundation names the prosecutor at the Rabat court of first instance.","An online service for nationality certificate requests was launched in January 2024, and the Ministry of Justice published a simplified procedure in February 2026. We could not open either: ask the court or the consulate for the current address.","A Moroccan by birth can also prove it by any means, including the fact of having always been treated as Moroccan.","A child born in Morocco of unknown parents is Moroccan. Being born in Morocco to foreign parents gives no nationality by itself.","Kafala does not change a child's nationality. After five years, a Moroccan guardian can file a declaration so that a child born abroad of unknown parents becomes Moroccan."],"steps":["To get a certificate: collect a full copy of your birth certificate and proof that your parent is Moroccan.","Hand the request to your consulate, or to the prosecutor's office at the court of first instance in Morocco.","Through your mother, born abroad: the request goes to the prosecutor in Rabat. Then have your birth entered in Moroccan civil status.","To give up Moroccan nationality: send a request to the Minister of Justice, through the consulate. You stay Moroccan until a decree is published."],"documents":["Proof of your identity if you are an adult: passport or residence card","A full copy of your birth certificate","Through your mother: a full copy of her birth certificate and a copy of her CNIE","Through your father: we found no official list. Expect your birth certificate and proof that he is Moroccan, and ask the prosecutor's office or the consulate."],"watchOut":["Enter and leave Morocco with your Moroccan passport or CNIE if you hold them. Dual nationals are regularly asked for the CNIE at Moroccan airports.","Becoming a citizen of another country, or handing in a Moroccan passport, does not end Moroccan nationality. Only a published decree does.","If you give up Moroccan nationality, your unmarried minor children who live with you lose it too.","Born before 2 April 2007 to a Moroccan mother: you could keep your family name and first name, under a joint circular quoted by the Foundation's guide."],"more":[{"title":"How Moroccan nationality is lost","intro":"","items":[{"label":"By decree, at your request","text":"An adult who has acquired a foreign nationality abroad, or a person who has had one since birth, can be authorised by decree to give up the Moroccan one. Nothing happens without the decree."},{"label":"The choice between 18 and 20","text":"A child of a mixed marriage who is Moroccan through the mother can declare, between 18 and 20, that he or she keeps only one parent's nationality."},{"label":"Withdrawal","text":"It can only hit a person who acquired Moroccan nationality, never a Moroccan by birth, for serious offences committed within ten years of the acquisition."},{"label":"Getting it back","text":"A person who was Moroccan by birth and lost that nationality can ask for it back. Reinstatement is granted by decree."}]}],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/nationality-certificate","https://www.consulat.ma/index.php/en/moroccan-nationality-certificate-children-born-moroccan-mother-and-foreign-father","https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/","https://justice.gov.ma/"]},{"id":"kids","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_kids.html","title":"Children of a Moroccan and a foreigner","summary":"Your child is Moroccan from birth through the Moroccan parent. The other nationality depends on the other country's law, sometimes on a short deadline.","facts":["A child with one Moroccan parent is Moroccan from birth, whether that parent is the father or the mother, and wherever the child is born.","The rule on descent sets no condition of religion.","Whether the child also has the other parent's nationality is decided by that country's law. See the country notes below.","In Morocco the child is treated as Moroccan, and the Family Code applies to the child, whatever the second nationality.","To exist in Moroccan records, the birth must be entered in Moroccan civil status: at your consulate, or directly at the civil status office in Morocco.","If the Moroccan parent is the mother and the consulate asks for proof of the child's nationality, request a nationality certificate from the King's prosecutor, through the consulate.","The choice between 18 and 20: a child of a mixed marriage who is Moroccan through the mother can declare to the Minister of Justice that he or she keeps only one parent's nationality. Before 18, the mother can make this declaration for the child, who can undo it between 18 and 20.","A child who is Moroccan through the father has no such declaration. Giving up Moroccan nationality then needs a decree.","First name in Moroccan records: it must not offend morals or public order, and must not be a family name, more than two first names, or the name of a town, village or tribe, the Foundation's guide says.","Among the duties of parents, the Family Code lists the child's religious guidance."],"steps":["Register the birth with the local authority of the country of birth, and get a full copy of the birth certificate.","Moroccan parent: have the birth entered in Moroccan civil status through your consulate, and the child added to the family booklet.","Foreign parent: check your own country's rule the same month. Some deadlines are short.","Apply for the child's papers on both sides: the Moroccan passport and, later, the CNIE.","At 18, a child who is Moroccan through the mother and wants only one nationality has two years to file the declaration."],"documents":["Consular registration of the parents and the Moroccan family booklet","A full copy of the child's local birth certificate","The parents' marriage certificate","The Moroccan parent's birth certificate extract and a copy of the other parent's identity document","The identity document of the person who declares the birth","For a nationality certificate through the mother: the child's full birth certificate, her full birth certificate and a copy of her CNIE"],"watchOut":["Missing the other country's deadline can cost the child that nationality.","Parents can prevent their children from leaving Morocco, Canada's official travel advice notes. Travel with the other parent's written consent.","In Morocco, the second country's consulate can do less for a child who is also Moroccan.","Register the Moroccan birth early. Sources disagree on whether a deadline still applies: ask your consulate."],"more":[{"title":"Does the child get the other nationality?","intro":"Rules read on each country's official site in October 2026. They often depend on where the foreign parent was born or has lived.","items":[{"label":"France","text":"The child is French if at least one parent is French, wherever the child is born, once the link with that parent is legally established."},{"label":"Belgium","text":"If the Belgian parent was born in Belgium, the child is Belgian. If that parent was born abroad, a declaration must be made within five years of the birth."},{"label":"Spain","text":"A child of a Spanish father or mother is Spanish by origin."},{"label":"Italy","text":"Rules changed in 2025. A child born abroad with another nationality is Italian automatically only if a parent or grandparent holds only Italian citizenship, or if the Italian parent lived two years in a row in Italy before the birth. Otherwise a parent who is Italian by birth can file a declaration within three years of the birth."},{"label":"Netherlands","text":"The child is Dutch if a parent is Dutch at the birth, or if a Dutch man acknowledges paternity."},{"label":"Germany","text":"If the German parent was born abroad after 31 December 1999 and the child is born abroad with another nationality, the child is German only if the birth is registered with the German registry office within one year."},{"label":"Switzerland","text":"A child born abroad who has another nationality loses Swiss nationality at 25, unless he or she has been registered with a Swiss authority or has declared in writing the wish to keep it."},{"label":"United Kingdom","text":"A child born outside the UK to a British parent may be British, depending on the dates and the parents' situation. Use the official checker on GOV.UK."},{"label":"Canada","text":"Rules in force since 15 December 2025: the child of a Canadian born in Canada is Canadian. If the Canadian parent was also born abroad, that parent must have spent at least 1,095 days in Canada before the birth."},{"label":"United States","text":"With one American parent married to the other parent: the American parent must have lived in the United States for five years before the birth, two of them after the age of 14."}]}],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/birth-transcript-register-civil-status-and-family-record-book","https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/","https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F3068","https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/belgians-abroad/nationality/being-granted-belgian-nationality-age-18","https://www.mjusticia.gob.es/es/ciudadania/nacionalidad/que-es-nacionalidad/como-adquiere-nacionalidad/espanoles-origen","https://www.esteri.it/en/servizi-opportunita/italiani-all-estero/cittadinanza/","https://www.government.nl/topics/dutch-citizenship/becoming-a-dutch-citizen","https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/cu-de/2538312-2538312","https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/integration-einbuergerung/schweizer-werden/verlust.html","https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizenship/born-outside-the-uk-or-stateless","https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/act-changes/rules-2025.html","https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-child-born-abroad.html"]},{"id":"spouse","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_spouse.html","title":"Your foreign husband or wife in Morocco: nationality, residence, work","summary":"Marriage gives your foreign spouse no Moroccan nationality by itself. It does open the way to a residence card in Morocco and, for a wife, to a declaration after five years.","facts":["Marrying a Moroccan does not make anyone Moroccan automatically.","Foreign wife of a Moroccan man: she can acquire nationality by a declaration to the Minister of Justice, if the couple has lived habitually and lawfully in Morocco for at least five years and the marriage is still in force when she signs (Nationality Code, article 10).","The five years are lived in Morocco. As the article is written, years abroad do not count, so a couple settled abroad does not meet the condition.","The Minister has one year to answer. Silence for a year counts as a refusal. If he accepts, she is Moroccan from the date she filed.","A divorce, or the husband's death, after the filing does not cancel the declaration.","Foreign husband of a Moroccan woman: the law gives him no such declaration. His only route is ordinary naturalisation, in which marriage is not a condition and gives no shortcut.","Naturalisation asks for five years of lawful residence in Morocco before the request, adulthood, good health, good conduct with no serious conviction, knowledge of Arabic or Amazigh, and sufficient means. It is a decision, not a right, and is granted by decree.","Residence: the law on foreigners gives the residence card to the foreign spouse of a Moroccan, husband or wife, if entry and stay were lawful. It sets no minimum length of marriage.","A foreigner married to a Moroccan for at least one year cannot be expelled, apart from cases of State security.","Work: press articles and NGO guides list the spouses of Moroccans among the foreigners exempt from the ANAPEC certificate. A residence document is needed in every case to sign a work contract.","Your children together are Moroccan through you, whatever your spouse's status."],"steps":["Enter Morocco lawfully and keep the proof: passport stamp or visa.","Before 90 days have passed, apply for the card at the foreigners' office of the police prefecture of your town, or at the Royal Gendarmerie in the countryside.","Hand in the form and the papers in two certified copies, and keep the receipt: it serves as a temporary residence document.","Renew before the card expires, and report any change of address.","Wife, after five years in Morocco: send the declaration to the Minister of Justice with proof of the marriage, of your husband's nationality and of the five years. Keep proof of the filing date."],"documents":["For the card, the police give the exact list. The usual base: the form, a certified copy of the passport, photos, proof of address, a criminal record extract, a medical certificate, a tax stamp, and the marriage certificate.","To take a job: a legalised copy of the marriage certificate and a recent copy of the Moroccan spouse's CNIE, according to the press. Confirm with the employer.","For the wife's declaration: the Code gives no list. Expect to prove the marriage, your husband's Moroccan nationality and five years of lawful residence of the couple in Morocco."],"watchOut":["Proposal, not law: bill 019.13, announced in 2023, would open the declaration to the foreign husbands of Moroccan women. We found no trace of its adoption up to October 2026. Websites that announce it describe the bill.","Living in Morocco without a card is an offence: a fine of 5,000 to 30,000 dirhams and one month to one year in prison, or one of the two.","A residence card lapses after more than two years outside Morocco. This matters for couples who move back abroad.","The law says nothing on the card when the marriage ends, by divorce or death. Ask the foreigners' office well before the next renewal.","Practice can differ from the text: the French consulates say the card is renewed every year until a ten-year card is obtained.","Our sources do not agree on whether the spouse of a Moroccan still needs the Ministry of Labour's approval of the work contract. Ask the ministry before you sign.","An unmarried partner cannot rely on the relationship: cohabitation is not recognised in Morocco.","The other direction is decided by your country of residence. Marrying a German national, for example, gives no right of residence in Germany by itself."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://justice.gov.ma/","https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/","https://www.travail.gov.ma/mtip-espace-emploi/migrations-pour-des-fins-de-travail/recruter-un-salarie-etranger/?lang=fr","https://ma.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/vivre-venir/permis-de-sejour"]},{"id":"inherit","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_inherit.html","title":"Inheritance in a mixed couple","summary":"Moroccan law follows a Moroccan everywhere, and it bars inheritance between a Muslim and a non-Muslim. A will and a choice of law can prepare what the law does not give.","facts":["For Morocco, the estate of a Moroccan follows the Family Code, even with a second nationality and a life abroad.","Under the Family Code there is no inheritance by law between a Muslim and a non-Muslim (article 332). It holds whichever of the two dies, and also between parents and children.","So a non-Muslim wife does not inherit by law from her Muslim husband, and he does not inherit from her.","The bar concerns inheritance by law, not wills. The non-Muslim spouse can be named in a will that respects the Code, a notary explains in the Moroccan press.","A will (wasiya) can cover at most one third of the estate. Above one third, it stands only if the heirs agree after the death.","A will cannot favour someone who is already a legal heir unless the other heirs agree.","If the foreign spouse is Muslim, the bar does not apply: he or she inherits by law like any spouse.","Each spouse owns his or her property separately. What belongs to the surviving spouse is not part of the estate.","The estate in Morocco of a foreigner who is not Muslim follows that person's national law, the same notary says.","If you live in the European Union: for the courts there, the law of the country where you habitually lived governs your whole estate, unless you chose the law of your nationality in a will (Regulation 650/2012). The rule does not apply in Denmark and Ireland.","So the two systems start from different points: residence for the European court, nationality for Morocco. Property in Europe and property in Morocco can be shared out under different rules.","In Morocco, heirs prove their status with a deed of heirship (iratha), drawn up by adouls on the statements of twelve witnesses.","Grandchildren whose parent died before the grandparent receive that parent's share, within one third of the estate (obligatory bequest)."],"steps":["List what each of you owns, and in which country.","If one of you cannot inherit from the other, see adouls or a notary in Morocco about a will, for up to one third.","If you live in the European Union, decide with a notary whether to write a choice of law in your will. Without it, the law of your country of residence applies there.","Remember that what is in your name is yours and stays out of your spouse's estate. The written agreement on property acquired during the marriage records who owns what.","See a notary in each country where you own property."],"documents":["For a deed of heirship in Morocco: twelve witnesses who knew the deceased. Ask the adouls which identity and family papers they want.","Your marriage deed, and the property agreement if you made one","Title deeds and account statements, for each country"],"watchOut":["A will cannot give everything to the spouse. Anything above one third depends on the heirs' agreement after the death.","A will can be changed or cancelled by its author at any time.","The Foundation's guide stresses that its examples hold for property located in Morocco. Property abroad follows other rules.","Proposal, not law: the opinion of the Council of Oulémas on the reform would let spouses of different religions bequeath or give to each other freely. It has not been adopted.","We could not read the articles on wills in an official copy of the Code. The rules above come from the Moroccan press quoting a notary. Check the wording with a notary before you act.","These rules are those of the Family Code. Moroccans of Jewish faith follow the rules of Moroccan Hebraic personal status."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.fh2mre.ma/guide-juridique/","https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02012R0650-20120705","https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/family/inheritances/planning-inheritance/index_en.htm"]},{"id":"roots","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_roots.html","title":"Arabic, Amazigh and Morocco for your children","summary":"The second and third generations keep the link through language, visits and stories. Help exists.","facts":["Morocco sends teachers of Arabic and Moroccan culture to several European countries through the Hassan II Foundation for Moroccans abroad.","The Foundation organises a summer cultural stay in Morocco every year for children of Moroccans abroad, most recently in July 2026.","The National Day of Moroccans Abroad is 10 August."],"steps":["Ask your consulate or the Foundation where classes run near you.","Speak Darija or Tamazight at home, even a little every day. Our Darija of the day is one small start.","Give children their own reason to go: a cousin, a sport, a recipe, a village story."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["A child who is never registered at the consulate has no Moroccan papers later. Register the birth first."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.fh2mre.ma/"]},{"id":"health","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_health.html","title":"Health and emergencies during a stay","summary":"Your cover abroad rarely follows you to Morocco. Sort it out before you travel.","facts":["Without an agreement form from your fund, you pay for care in Morocco yourself and claim later, if your cover allows it.","Private clinics may ask for a deposit before admission.","Assistance insurance covers medical repatriation and, often, the return of the family and the car."],"steps":["Ask your health fund for the form for temporary stays in Morocco, where one exists.","Take travel assistance for each trip, or check what your bank card includes.","Save the emergency numbers on our Morocco page in your phone."],"documents":[],"watchOut":["Elderly parents visiting you abroad need travel insurance for their visa, and it is worth having even when not required."],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.consulat.ma/en/sanitary-repatriation-insured-persons"]},{"id":"voice","section":"family","url":"https://bablblad.com/en/guide_voice.html","title":"Complaints and having your say","summary":"When an office does not answer, there are channels that leave a trace.","facts":["Chikaya.ma is the national portal for complaints about any Moroccan administration. In 2024 it handled more than 1,300 requests and complaints from Moroccans abroad.","Each consulate has an email address and, in several countries, a call centre for consular services. They are in our Directory.","The Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad, CCME, is the advisory body that speaks for the diaspora.","Political representation of Moroccans abroad is a long-standing demand that was still under debate in 2026."],"steps":["Write first to the office concerned and keep a copy.","With no answer, file on Chikaya.ma with dates, names and documents.","For a customs dispute, use the complaints page of the customs website."],"documents":[],"watchOut":[],"more":[],"officialSources":["https://www.chikaya.ma/","https://www.ccme.org.ma/"]}]}