Morocco spouse visa and residence card

The law sets two conditions: marriage to a Moroccan national, and lawful entry into and stay in Morocco. The four-year residence normally required for the carte de résidence does not apply, and the text allows exceptions to the lawful-entry rule ("sauf dérogation"). The card can still be refused to anyone whose presence is a threat to public order.

Visa-required spouses apply in the consular family reunification category (mixed marriage), adding to the standard file the document establishing the authenticity and legality of the marriage certificate. Exempt spouses enter on their passport, which leaves up to 90 days to apply for the card.

Apply at the police foreigners' department of your place of residence, before your 90 days end, with the passport bearing the entry stamp, the marriage certificate, proof of address, photos and the office's own form, plus anything else it requests. The receipt for the application temporarily replaces the card. Lists differ between police headquarters, so ask yours first.

Report every change of address; failing to do so costs a fine of MAD 1,000 to 3,000 (Article 47). The card is treated as expired after more than two years outside Morocco, and its issue and renewal carry stamp duty.

The same article grants the card, under conditions, to the foreign child of a Moroccan mother and to dependent foreign ascendants of the couple. Under Article 10 of the Nationality Code, a foreign woman married to a Moroccan man may, after five years of the couple's lawful residence in Morocco, file a declaration with the Minister of Justice; the minister has one year to decide, and silence counts as opposition. Foreign husbands of Moroccan women use ordinary naturalisation.

UNHCR's summary of Moroccan employment rules lists spouses of nationals as exempt from the ANAPEC attestation; a salaried job still needs a contract approved by the Ministry of Employment. Article 26 bars the expulsion of a foreigner married to a Moroccan for at least one year.

A refused, unrenewed or withdrawn residence document must normally be followed by departure, but it can be challenged before the president of the administrative court, as summary judge, within 15 days of notification (Article 20). The appeal does not by itself block a removal decision.