Mixed marriage in Morocco: the papers and steps

The file for a marriage before adouls (Moroccan and foreign spouse)

• The Moroccan spouse's consular registration certificate (if living abroad)
• The Moroccan spouse's national ID card and the foreign spouse's passport: original and copy
• A birth extract for each of you
• The Moroccan spouse's administrative certificate for marriage
• The foreign spouse's certificate of capacity to marry (or equivalent)
• A medical certificate for each of you
• If either of you was married before: the divorce judgment or death certificate
• Two Muslim witnesses, and the guardian (wali) where applicable

Step by step

1. 1

   Choose your route

   Before adouls: in Morocco or at a consulate, with the family judge's authorisation. Civil marriage abroad: before the authorities where you live, then registered with the consulate. If you also hold that country's nationality, the consulate asks you to marry there in a civil ceremony first.

2. 2

   Gather the papers

   Consulate, civil registry and the foreign spouse's country

   The list above is the consulate's for a marriage before adouls (notary-witnesses for family deeds). In Morocco, the mixed-marriage circular adds for the foreign spouse: a nationality certificate, criminal record, proof of occupation and income, a passport copy with the entry page, and 4 photos. Start with the papers from abroad: they take longest.

3. 3

   The judge's authorisation and the contract

   Family section, or the consulate

   Marrying a foreign national, or someone who has converted to Islam, requires the family judge's authorisation (article 65). Two adouls then draw up the contract. A civil marriage abroad is celebrated by the local authorities.

4. 4

   Lodging it with the consulate

   Consulate of your place of residence or of the marriage

   After a civil marriage abroad, lodge a copy with the consulate within 3 months (article 15). Where there is no consulate, send it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The consulate asks for birth certificates, a full copy of the marriage certificate translated into Arabic and legalised if it is in neither Arabic nor French, and copies of IDs and passports.

   0 to 90 days Source

5. 5

   Registration in Moroccan civil status

   The ministry sends the certificate to the civil registrar and the family section of each spouse's place of birth, or to Rabat if one of them was not born in Morocco (article 15). For a marriage before adouls in Morocco, the extract goes out within 15 days of court approval (article 68).

Questions people ask