Subject to the effect of duly published international conventions, the entry and residence of foreigners in the Kingdom of Morocco are governed by the provisions of this Law. For the purposes of this Law, 'foreigners' means persons who do not have Moroccan nationality, who have no known nationality, or whose nationality could not be determined.
Law relating to the entry and stay of foreigners in the Kingdom of Morocco, and to irregular emigration and immigration
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Subject to reciprocity, the provisions of this Law shall not apply to agents of diplomatic and consular missions and to their accredited members in Morocco having diplomatic status.
Any foreigner disembarking or arriving in Moroccan territory is required to present himself to the competent authorities responsible for border post control, carrying a passport issued by the State of which he is a national, or any other valid document recognized by the Moroccan State as a valid travel document and accompanied, where applicable, by the required visa issued by the administration.
The control carried out during verification of one of the documents referred to in article 3 above may also cover the means of subsistence and the reasons for the person concerned's visit to Morocco and the guarantees of his repatriation, having regard in particular to the laws and regulations relating to immigration. The compet…
Residence permits in Moroccan territory are: - the registration card; - the residence card.
Any foreigner residing in Moroccan territory, aged over eighteen, must hold a registration card or a residence card. A foreigner aged sixteen to eighteen who declares that he wishes to exercise a salaried professional activity shall receive, as of right, a registration card if one of his parents holds the same card. In other cas…
Residence permits shall be subject, upon their issuance, renewal or duplicate issuance, to the stamp duties provided for by section IV of article 8 of chapter III of book II of decree no. 2-58-1151 of 12 Joumada II 1378 (24 December 1958) codifying the texts on registration and stamp. Section One: Registration card
Any foreigner wishing to reside in Moroccan territory is required to apply to the administration, under the conditions and according to the modalities determined by regulation, for the issuance of a renewable registration card, which he must hold or be able to present to the administration within a period of 48 hours. The registration card is provisionally replaced by the receipt for the application for issuance or renewal of the said card.
The following are exempt from applying for a registration card: 1) in addition to the agents and members of diplomatic and consular missions referred to in article 2 above, their spouses, ascendants and minor or unmarried children living under their roof; 2) foreigners staying in Morocco for a maximum duration of 90 days, under cover of a regular travel document.
The registration card constitutes authorization of residence for a duration of 1 to 10 years at maximum, renewable for the same period, according to the reasons invoked by the foreigner to justify his residence in Moroccan territory to the competent Moroccan administration. The foreigner must declare to the Moroccan authorities any change in his place of residence within the time limits and in the forms fixed by regulation.
Where the registration card is refused or withdrawn, the foreigner concerned must leave Moroccan territory within 15 days from the day of notification of the refusal or withdrawal by the administration.
The foreigner must leave Moroccan territory upon expiry of the validity period of his registration card, unless he obtains its renewal or is issued a residence card.
The registration card issued to a foreigner who provides proof that he can live on his own resources and who undertakes not to exercise in Morocco any professional activity subject to authorization shall bear the mention 'visitor'. The registration card issued to a foreigner who establishes that he is pursuing education or studi…
The registration card may be refused to any foreigner whose presence in Morocco constitutes a threat to public order.
The granting of the registration card may be subject to the foreigner's production of a residence visa for a period exceeding three months. Section II: Residence Card
A foreigner who proves uninterrupted residence on Moroccan territory, in compliance with the laws and regulations in force, of at least 4 years may obtain a card known as a residence card. The decision to grant or refuse the residence card shall be taken taking into account in particular the means of subsistence available to the…
Subject to the regularity of the stay and of entry into Moroccan territory, and except where otherwise provided, the residence card shall be issued: 1- to the foreign spouse of a national of Moroccan nationality; 2- to the foreign child of a Moroccan mother, and to the stateless child of a Moroccan mother, who does not benefit f…
The foreigner must declare to the Moroccan authorities any change of his place of residence within the time limits and in the forms fixed by regulation. The residence card of a foreigner who has left Moroccan territory for a period of more than two years shall be considered expired. Section III: Refusal to Issue or Renew a Residence Permit
The issuance of a residence permit shall be refused to a foreigner who does not meet the conditions to which the provisions of this Law subject the issuance of residence permits or who, applying for the issuance of a registration card for the exercise of a professional activity, is not authorized to exercise that activity. The r…
A foreigner whose application for issuance or renewal of a residence permit has been refused or who has had such permit withdrawn may lodge an appeal before the President of the Administrative Court in his capacity as summary proceedings judge within fifteen (15) days following the date of notification of the decision of refusal…
Removal to the border may be ordered by the administrative authority, by reasoned decision, in the following cases: 1- if the foreigner cannot prove that he entered Moroccan territory lawfully, unless his situation was regularized after his entry; 2- if the foreigner has remained on Moroccan territory beyond the period of validi…
The decision of removal to the border may, because of the seriousness of the conduct motivating it and taking into account the personal situation of the person concerned, be accompanied by a decision prohibiting him from the territory, for a maximum duration of one year, from the execution of the removal to the border. The decis…
The foreigner who is the subject of a removal-to-the-border decision may, within forty-eight hours following notification, apply to the president of the administrative court, in his capacity as judge in summary proceedings, for annulment of that decision. The president or his delegate shall rule within 4 clear days from the refe…
The provisions of Article 34 of this Law may be applied as soon as the removal-to-the-border decision is issued. That decision may not be enforced before the expiry of a period of forty-eight hours following its notification or, if the president of the administrative court has been seized, before he has ruled. If the removal-to-…
Expulsion may be pronounced by the administration if the presence of a foreigner on Moroccan territory constitutes a serious threat to public order, subject to the provisions of Article 26 below. The expulsion decision may at any time be repealed or withdrawn.
The following may not be the subject of an expulsion decision: 1- the foreigner who establishes by any means that he has habitually resided in Morocco since he was at most six years old; 2- the foreigner who establishes by any means that he has habitually resided in Morocco for more than fifteen years; 3- the foreigner who has l…
When expulsion constitutes an imperative necessity for the security of the State or for public security, it may be pronounced by derogation from Article 26 of this Law. Chapter V: Common provisions for removal to the border and expulsion
The decision pronouncing the expulsion of a foreigner may be enforced by the administration of its own motion. The same applies to the removal-to-the-border decision which has not been contested before the president of the administrative court or his delegate in his capacity as judge in summary proceedings, within the period pro…
The foreigner who is the subject of an expulsion decision or who must be removed to the border shall be removed: a) to the country of which he is a national, unless refugee status has been recognized for him or his asylum application has not yet been ruled upon; b) to the country which issued him a valid travel document; c) to a…
The decision fixing the country of return constitutes a decision distinct from the removal measure itself. An appeal against that decision has no suspensive effect under the conditions provided for in Article 24 if the person concerned has not brought the appeal provided for in Article 28 above against the expulsion or removal decision pronounced against him.
The foreign national who is subject to an expulsion decision or who must be removed to the border and who justifies that he is unable to leave Moroccan territory by establishing that he cannot return to his country of origin or go to another country, for the reasons indicated in the last paragraph of Article 29, may, notwithstan…
A request for lifting of a prohibition from the territory or for revocation of an expulsion or removal-to-the-border decision, submitted after expiry of the administrative appeal period, may be granted only if the foreign national resides outside Morocco. However, this provision shall not apply during the period in which the foreign national is serving a custodial sentence in Morocco or is subject to a residence order made under Article 31.
The foreign national who has been subject to an administrative measure of removal to the border and who applies to the president of the administrative court, in his capacity as judge of summary proceedings, may include in his appeal an application for suspension of execution. Chapter VI: Miscellaneous Provisions
Where there is absolute necessity, the foreign national who: 1- is unable to comply immediately with the decision refusing him authorization to enter Moroccan territory; 2- being subject to an expulsion decision, cannot immediately leave Moroccan territory; 3- is to be removed to the border and cannot immediately leave Moroccan…
When a period of twenty-four hours has elapsed since the decision to retain the foreign national, the president of the court of first instance or his delegate shall be seised, in his capacity as judge of summary proceedings, by the competent authority. It shall be for him to rule by order, in the presence of the representative o…
Throughout the entire duration of the foreign national's retention, the King's Prosecutor shall be required to go to the premises, verify the conditions of retention and have the register provided for in the last paragraph of Article 35 above communicated to him. During this same period, the person concerned may request the assi…
Where entry into Moroccan territory by air or sea is refused to a foreign national, the transport undertaking that carried him shall be required to take that foreign national back, without delay, at the request of the competent authorities responsible for control at border posts, to the point where he began to use the means of t…
A foreigner who arrives in Moroccan territory by sea or air and who is not authorized to enter it, or requests admission for asylum, may be held in the waiting zone of the port or airport for the time strictly necessary for his departure or for the examination to determine whether his request is not manifestly unfounded. The wai…
Any foreigner residing in Morocco, whatever the nature of his residence permit, may freely leave the national territory, except for a foreigner against whom an administrative decision is made obliging him to declare to the administrative authority his intention to leave Moroccan territory. Chapter VII: Circulation of Foreigners
The foreigner must be able to present, upon any requisition by agents of the authority and of the services responsible for control, the papers and documents under cover of which he is authorized to stay in Moroccan territory. When a foreigner is authorized to stay in Morocco under a travel document bearing a visa required for st…
Subject to the provisions of Article 40 above, foreigners stay and circulate throughout the entirety of Moroccan territory. However, when a foreigner not holding a residence card must, by reason of his attitude or his antecedents, be subject to special surveillance, the administration may prohibit him from residing in one or mor…
Any foreigner who enters or attempts to enter Moroccan territory in violation of the provisions of article 3 of this law, or who has remained in Moroccan territory beyond the duration authorized by his visa, save in cases of force majeure or duly recognized excuses, shall be punished by a fine of 2,000 to 20,000 dirhams and by i…
Any foreigner who resides in Morocco without being the holder of the registration card or the residence card provided for by this law shall be punished by a fine of 5,000 to 30,000 dirhams and by imprisonment of one month to one year, or by either of these two penalties only. In the event of recidivism, the penalty shall be doubled.
Any foreigner whose registration card or residence card has expired and who does not, within the periods prescribed by law, submit an application for renewal, save in cases of force majeure or duly recognized excuses, shall be punished by a fine of 3,000 to 10,000 dirhams and by imprisonment of one month to six months, or by either of these two penalties only. In the event of recidivism, the penalty shall be doubled.
Any foreigner who evades or attempts to evade the execution of an expulsion decision or of a measure of removal to the frontier, or who, having been expelled or having been subject to a prohibition from Moroccan territory, has again entered that territory without authorization, shall be punished by imprisonment of six months to…
Any foreigner who has not joined, within the periods prescribed, the residence assigned to him under the provisions of article 31, or who has subsequently left that residence without authorization, shall be punished by a fine of 3,000 to 10,000 dirhams and by imprisonment of three months to one year, or by either of these two penalties only.
Any foreigner who has not declared the change of his place of residence, in accordance with the 2nd paragraph of article 10 and the 1st paragraph of article 18 above, shall be punished by a fine of 1,000 to 3,000 dirhams. Any foreigner who has established his domicile or who resides in a territorial district in infringement of t…
Any carrier or transport undertaking which disembarks onto Moroccan territory, from another country, a foreigner devoid of the travel document and, where applicable, of the visa required by law or by the international agreement applicable to him by reason of his nationality, shall be punished by a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 dirhams…
Any convicted person shall be in a state of recidivism if he has committed one of the acts mentioned in articles 42 to 48 above during the five years following the date of a judgment having acquired the force of res judicata pronounced against him for similar acts. TITLE II: CRIMINAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO IRREGULAR EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION
Shall be punished by a fine of 3000 to 10.000 dirhams and by imprisonment of one month to six months, or by either of these two penalties only, without prejudice to the provisions of the Penal Code applicable in this matter, any person who leaves Moroccan territory clandestinely, by using, at the time of crossing one of the land…