Family · Guide
Marrying in Morocco when you live abroad
In Morocco you marry before two adouls, once the family judge has authorised the deed. Prepare the papers before your holiday.
These pages describe the law in force in October 2026: the Family Code of 2004 and the Nationality Code. The reform of the Family Code announced in December 2024 has not been voted. They inform you. For your own case, see a lawyer, an adoul or a notary.
Key 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.
What to bring
- 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
Watch out
- 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.
Official sources
eadoul.justice.gov.mafh2mre.maservice-public.gouv.fr (FR)ma.diplomatie.gouv.fr (FR)exteriores.gob.es (ES)conscasablanca.esteri.it (IT)
Checked: October 2026. Independent guide, not a government site. Rules change: confirm on the official page before you act.
If you also hold the nationality of the country where you live
That country treats you as its own national. Its rules for marrying abroad apply to you, even when you marry another Moroccan.
- France
- 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.
- Spain
- 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.
- Italy
- 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.
- Belgium
- 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.
- Netherlands
- 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.
- Germany
- A marriage valid under Moroccan law is valid in Germany. The Moroccan certificate must be legalised to be used there.
- United Kingdom
- The marriage is recognised if you followed the Moroccan legal process and it would be allowed under UK law.
- Canada and the United States
- 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.