Last updated on July 4th, 2022 at 11:50 am
The first and the most essential piece of information that I have to give you is that the procedure of obtaining residency permit (carte du sejour) is not the same for the whole Morocco. I’ve heard from my friends that they were asked to bring 10 photos is Agadir; 6 in Marrakesh; and I had to submit 8 in Casablanca. It will certainly be similar in different cities but to be sure, you should go to your regional Prefecture de Police and check! The number of photos, copies of documents, requirements for Lydec, rental contract etc may be different. Remember also that applying for Moroccan ID for the first time is a little bit more difficult and thorough than for 2nd or 3rd time.
GENERAL INFO – REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
What papers do you need?
I applied as an owner of a company. Everyone has different requirements: students, people who’re married to a Moroccan, visitors with no right to work, employees and pensioners.
List of what you need (the same for all applicants):
– 8 photos
– Criminal record check (casier judiciaire) (Kathi explained how to get it in this post)
– Rental contract (contract de bail)
– Doctor’s certificate (certificat medical d’aptitude)
– 2 legalized copies of your passport including the date of entry to Morocco and the front page
– 3 forms from the police (you’ll get them at Prefecture de Police)
Additional papers required for company owners:
– Proof from the bank that you have enough money (attestation bancaire)
– 2 legalized copies of RC (registre de commerce)
– 2 legalized copies of domiciliation/rental contract
– 2 legalized copies of your Status (Statuts)
– 2 legalized copies of your advert in a newspaper (annonce legale)
– 2 legalized copies of your TAX declaration (declaration des impots)
– 2 legalized copies of Bulletin de Notification des Identifiants
For married couples:
Amanda from Maroc Mama explained it very well in this article.
Her article is valid for Marrakech but you can get inspired by it for other cities too. As I said it may be only slightly different from one city to another.
For students:
– certificate of admission from your school or university (proof that you’re enrolled)
– pay slip for a semester/year
– paper called “prise en charge” (I’m not sure what that exactly is, you should ask your embassy. It’s something about covering the cost of your living here)
For employees:
It’s a complicated procedure if you’re applying for this kind of Visa from Morocco. Your employer should take care of that. Basically the hardest thing to do is to prove that there’s no Moroccan who would replace you. Not easy to prove unless you’re a highly qualified specialist and you can’t find such a person here.
MORE DETAILS – FAQ
HOW LONG TIME DOES IT TAKE?
For me it took around a month to gather all documents (including the shipping from Poland via registered letter). Later you’ll wait roughly 2-4 months to receive your carte de sejour (but first you’ll receive a paper which actually means the same ans you can use it like carte de sejour)
HOW TO GET CRIMINAL RECORD CHECK?
I think it might be different for other countries, I’ll explain you how I did it in Poland. Let me make it clear for you: you don’t need to do it personally. I asked my mom to go to the place where they give the criminal record check (in Poland it’s KRK). My mom got the paper then got it translated to French and stamped by sworn translator and went to the Moroccan embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to legalize it. Last step was to send it to me via registered mail which I received within 3 weeks.
Alternatively, you can also do it in Justice Ministry in Rabat. I don’t know how it goes but you can call them and ask: www.justice.gov.ma.
WHAT IS THE PROOF FROM THE BANK?
When you’re an owner of a company you must have some capital on your bank account. Depending what you capital is, it should be the same amount as stated in your documents. Then you go to your bank (where you opened your bank account) and ask them to print out for you a paper with solde (amount of money you have).
HOW TO GET DOCTOR’S CERTIFICATE?
Go to any doctor and ask for the certificate for residency permit (certificat medical d’aptitude). They may ask you some general questions, do a quick check up and that’s it. Doesn’t matter if you go to GP or a specialist. I got mine from a specialist.
HOW 1ST RESIDENCY PERMIT IS HARDER TO GET THAN 2ND OR 3RD?
For the first time you’ll be asked to have the amount of money that you stated as your capital. For the second time you don’t need all this money. For the first time you’ll also need to have the criminal record check from your country, for the second time you can do it in your embassy.
HOW MUCH DOES IT ALL COST?
It depends on many factors: your country of origin, if you’re doing it by yourself, if you have a car etc.
-You’ll need to pay to get a doctor’s certificate (it may be around 150- 300 dhs)
-8 photos is a cost of 20 dhs
-Criminal record check is quite expensive, first you pay to get it, then translate, then stamp and then send it to Morocco. For me it was around 170 PLN which equals 450 dhs
-Once your residency permit is done you’ll pay 100 dhs for it
-If you don’t have rental contract you’ll need to change it on your name. It’s quick and you do it at muqattat’s. It costed me 250 dhs.
-Printing and legalizing papers depends on how many pages you have. To legalize 1 page of a copy of an original you’ll need 2 dhs. To legalize an original it’s 20 dhs. When I legalized the copies of my company’s papers I didn’t pay anything. No idea what it depends on…
-If you don’t have a car be ready and have change in your pockets. You may need to move several times a day in case you’re missing some stamps, documents etc.
MORE INFO
Be prepared that they may ask you questions. I was asked for example: how many are you in the apartment? What nationality are the others?
Going to the police is the first thing you should do to make sure and check what papers you need to apply in your city and in your case (student, retirement, work etc). Take a pen and notebook with you because you’re not allowed to have your phone with you!
Company owners will also have to go through an interview. You’ll be asked about your schools, family, relations with Moroccans, religion and details about your company.
[…] as a matter of fact I have found only 2 websites with information. Thank you Amanda (married) and Monika (business owner) for your help. I am adding my voice and experience to this because it has […]
Glad it helped and thanks for your link, I will add it to the article too!
I heard moroccan goverment grant alot of black people in morocco the opputunity to have card , but they have stop now ,will the open again??
I mean ,will the moroccan goverment give illagal imigrant oppunity to optain moroccan resident permmits again ?
As far as I am informed there is some kind of an agreement between Senegal and Morocco and the residency procedure is (was?) easier for Senegalese people. I have no idea about other nationalities :)
[…] If you want to be a resident you will have to go through a long and tiring process to obtain residency that I have described in detail here. […]
Why someone from Europe wants to live in Morocco?
Very interesting indeed.
When I was in Spain, there were so many people from Morocco. I thought all Moroccans wants to “escape” to Europe.
It’s a stereotype. Morocco is a very nice country too!:) Europeans like the weather, slower pace of life ,food and landscapes. And more.
hi…why do you choose morocco anyway…and what kind of bussiness your in.
I have written articles about it before:)
Hi i m Indian national now i want to do bussness in casablanka i all ready open my compay but now i need residence permit to do bussines pl gide me or give me contact of residenc visa expert
Thank you
[…] For information about opening a company in Morocco click here. To apply for residency permit click here. To learn Darija (Moroccan dialect) click here. For query regarding consulting services click here. […]
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i have long time working experience
please gob me your feedback i am send my all documents to you
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Sorry, I am not a job agency.
[…] discover the world. She did it. A couple of weeks ago she left her workplace, left her city, and moved to Morocco, without knowing foreign languages, being a single, solo […]
[…] That very basic Darija that I know saved my life. The guardian laughed, asked me to show him my residency permit. I pulled it out from the abyss of my bag. He smiled again when he saw it and gave me a quick […]
[…] entrance to the garden is 5 EUR, to the tower is 3 EUR. There is a discount for Moroccan residents. I highly recommend you to go to the tower too as it gives probably the best view of the medina you […]
I am on work resident card for a year in casablanca. i like to bring my relative and her son to stay here from India. how i apply resident permit for them. documents needed. Procedure please.
Thank you for the information! I was wondering where you would get the documents legalized/notarized to submit to the prefecture. Thanks