Morocco’s Nationality Code amended
2007-01-24
An amendment to the Nationality Code will allow mothers married to foreigners to pass on Moroccan citizenship to their children.
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat—24/01/07
 [Sarah Touahri] The new amendment will allow Moroccan women married to foreigners to pass on their nationality to their children. |
Much to the delight of many families and campaigners, the long-awaited bill to amend the Nationality Code was adopted by the cabinet on January 18th. It will now go to parliament for final approval.
Members of Parliament and civil society have been lobbying for years to try to put an end to the plight of many families in which the mother is Moroccan and the father is foreign. The amendment to the Nationality Code will allow Moroccan women to pass on their nationality to their children provided that their marriages were contracted in accordance with the provisions of the Family Code. However, children of fathers from countries where dual nationality is not permitted will have to wait until they reach the age of 18 before they can choose which nationality they wish to take up.
According to Fattoum Kodama, a lawyer and member of the parliamentary committee for legislation and human rights, Moroccan citizenship is one of the most difficult kinds of citizenships to obtain. She says restrictions on a Moroccan woman married to a foreigner begin as soon as her children are born. Children live as foreigners in their own country and have to renew their residence permits regularly.
"[Families] have to cope with very difficult situations … especially when the parents have separated, since a number of foreign fathers have abused their custody and kinship rights," she says.
Only 1,646 have been able to obtain Moroccan citizenship since 1965. Applications for citizenship are considered by the Ministry of Justice, which has now announced that it will begin considering 500 new applications.
The 1958 Nationality Code made it difficult for children of mixed-nationality couples to receive state grants at universities, there is a quota for children of mixed-nationality couples.
Fatima Maghnaoui, head of the Annajda office of the Women’s Action Union, recounted the plight of a Moroccan woman who is married to an Iraqi. The couple has four children. The woman returned to Morocco with her family after the Gulf War, but afterwards her husband took her children away from her. "He returned to his country and the woman couldn’t do anything because she has no documentary evidence. But after the law is passed, she will be able to obtain Moroccan citizenship for her children, will receive documents for them and will be able to begin legal proceedings."
A large number of families are happy that the bill has been approved. Amal Zaytoune, who is married to a Syrian national, has been waiting for seven years for her son to be given Moroccan citizenship. "We live in Marrakech, and my son feels Moroccan, but he still has to renew his residence permit every year."
Khalid Dembri, 40, who has an Algerian father and Moroccan mother, is in the same situation. "I live as both a Moroccan and an Algerian, but I can’t vote in Morocco. My son’s in the same situation because I’m married to a Moroccan woman -- but thanks to the reform, things are going to change."
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fofana Posted 2007-01-26
I am an Guinean student, from the Conakry Ganmalde University. I want to study in Morocco, with a Moroccan student card.
monavar Posted 2007-02-07
And for the children whose mother is french and the father is algerian, is anything scheduled ? Or I didn’t understand thanks
LAMIA Posted 2007-02-22
This article is very interesting, but we cannot find the integral text of this bill.
badr tanger Posted 2007-03-04
I am a Moroccan student, I welcome this law but I need the full text of it if you can send it to me. Thanks
samar Posted 2007-03-05
I am married to a Jordanian man according to Jordanian law. Can my children get the Moroccan citizenship? Thanks
aziza Posted 2007-03-07
I am studying international laws, and I have a nationality course, I would like to have more details and new texts...But I am pleased to see this progress.
shahid ali khan Posted 2007-03-17
i m a pakistani man and married with a morocan. now i want to know is that law will effect on me also that i can have morocan nationality?
هشام Posted 2007-03-19
I am a university student and want to get the full legal text of the nationality code, can you send it to me?
نرمان Posted 2007-03-24
I'm a Moroccan young girl and I welcome the new law, I want the full text, thank you.
طالبة مغربية Posted 2007-03-29
Salam Alaikoum, first of all, thank you for the topic, and as a Moroccan student I welcome the idea of granting the Moroccan mother the right to give her nationality to her children...I have to make a deep study of the issue that's why I expect more new information, God bless you, salam.
مغربي جزائري Posted 2007-03-30
Greetings to Khalid Dembiri, I encourage him because his situation is the same as mine- I'm in my forties, my mother is Moroccan, my wife is Moroccan and we have children. So please my dear brother can we remain in touch to keep abreast of new events in this topic? Thanks.
فتيحة Posted 2007-04-01
I am from Algeria and want to know whether I can get a contract from my husband, I'm the second wife, Algerian law
dounia Posted 2007-04-08
I'm a young Moroccan girl I welcome the new law and want the full text thanks
طالب مغربي Posted 2007-04-09
I'm a university student and want to get the full text of the national law, can you send it to me thanks.
عبد السلام تويتو Posted 2007-04-12
Please send me the full text of nationality thanks
europeen Posted 2007-04-22
It’s a shame that this law continues to be discriminatory towards people who are not Muslim or who live or are married outside of Muslim customs, since their love, their children and their country are the same as the others’. There is still a long row to hoe ahead.
chahboune achwak Posted 2007-05-07
I am proud of and content with this reform and this interests me very much (especially, since I am a student of private law and I have seminar on nationality.) Please, if it is possible, could you send me more information, specifically in regards to article six of the code? -Thank you.
Fatiha Posted 2007-05-09
PROMISES, PROMISES, PROMISES AND NOTHING BUT PROMISES. Like always, we wait around without any results. I am a Moroccan married to a Frenchman, and now he has taken my daughter’s passport from me. I want to return to my country as I do every summer; I would like to have her naturalized. Why not get her a Moroccan passport? But, as the saying goes, the donkey gets the last laugh.
عبد اللطيف غزال Posted 2007-05-11
I'm Egyptian married to a Morocan woman, I wanted to live with her in Morocco, and you can't imagine the strange things I faced, the official of security in charge of the affairs of foreigners told me that I have to transfer foreign currency on a current account in Moroccan banks, to set up a project, and while I'm in the phase of setting up the project, I have to go back to Egypt to come back with invitation visas from the wife so that the project can be carried out and inspected, and when it becomes operational, I will seek a residence, by God I really laughed, meaning that everyone who can work and live a modest life in these conditions it's better for him to divorce his wife, go and regret that he has married a woman from another country, Soubhana Allah, He has offered me a respectable and pious woman, and we chasten ourselves, while the Moroccan laws want our divorce and that we commit the forbidden with laws which don't surprise me because we're Arabs and we weren't and aren't to understand anything any day, and we don't respect the limits imposed by God, as we're concerned by our personal interests, I ask God's forgiveness, Im really sorry because I hold an Arab citizenship, because if I were holding and American or European citizenship, I would have received the residence without resorting to any government, I would have received it according to foreign law in spite of the Arab laws. If I were a Jew, I would have beaten al these laws and they would have been modified for my sake, do I regret being a Muslim and not a Jew, I ask God's forgiveness...I accepted Islam as a religion even if my fate and the fate of my wife was divorce.
ijiji Posted 2007-05-15
Reforming our nationality is a good thing for people who are living abroad. This will give my mother her country’s nationality. Thank you to all the people making these reforms.
harhoura Posted 2007-05-20
I am a student of French business law. I am doing research on the subject with my friends. Of course, we are happy with the changes that are going to change the status of several children with Moroccan mothers. But, it needs to be said that this is not enough. Look at how a Moroccan woman does not have the right to give her nationality to her husband, whereas, a man possessing Moroccan nationality can give the nationality to his wife.
مصطفى Posted 2007-05-30
I ask you if possible to add to this article the full text of the law 62-02 about the new law of Moroccan nationality. Thanks.
fouzia Posted 2007-06-02
I am a student, I want the full text of the nationality law.
laila Posted 2007-07-22
Hello, I am so happy for all the Moroccan women married to foreigners. A thousand “thank you’s” to our country, who gave us priority. This is really important for our children. As for me, I am really interested in this subject and, if possible, I would like to see an official article on it or to have the addresses of women’s organizations that could help me in doing my thesis. Thank you so much!!!
خديجة Posted 2007-07-29
This law will be a solution to problems suffered by all Moroccan mothers married to foreigners.
Réda Posted 2007-09-26
I am Algerian, my wife is Moroccan and my children have both French and Algerian nationality. My question is, can my children also have Moroccan nationality?
samira Posted 2007-10-29
I'm a student, I want the complete text of the new nationality law.
تفاحة Posted 2007-11-16
I'm a Moroccan girl and my father is Libyan- can I get Moroccan citizenship without losing Libyan?
احمد بيجة Posted 2007-11-16
What’s the material and moral value of getting Moroccan citizenship? It’s easy enough to get, because its holder will face dictatorship and famine forever.
rogui Posted 2007-12-01
Hi, I am looking for citizenship regulations in Algeria.
ibtissam Posted 2007-12-04
I am Moroccan but I live in France. I have two-and-a-half-year-old child and the father is Lebanese. He recognises the child as his own but we are not married. Thus, my child can have neither a French passport, nor Lebanese passport, nor even a pass to come with me to Morocco. I would like to know, please, what papers does a Moroccan woman need, to pass citizenship to her son?
amina Posted 2007-12-09
My parents are divorced and my mother has custody of us. Nevertheless, my father, far from following the ruling, kept us in Algeria for four years. In the end, our mother succeeded in getting charge of us. It has been more than nine years since our feet have been on Algerian soil out of fear of seeing this story repeated. We miss our family so much. We also have a new cousin whom we have never seen. This is why I would like some information on the current laws under enforcement in Algeria. If my brothers, my sister and I were to spend our vacation in Algeria, could my father cause any problems with our return? What are his rights exactly? What are ours? What risks are we taking in going to Algeria? As minors, could our father get charge of us and prohibit us from leaving the country? Any information you have would be very useful. -Thank you in advance
محمود Posted 2008-02-16
Salam alaikoum. This law will be a kind of solution to the problems suffered by all Moroccan mothers married to foreigners. I am a university student and want to get the full text of the nationality law. Can you send it to me. Thank you.
محمد Posted 2008-02-22
For the sister Ibtissam, I can help her with an opinion and offer her the solutions because I fell with my wife in the same problem. Mohamed Siraj.
محمد Posted 2008-02-26
I am a university student and want to get the complete legal text of the citizenship law. Is it possible to send it to me? Thank you.
yaser Posted 2008-02-29
I'm Egyptian and married to a Moroccan woman. We live in Cairo. I have a son who was born in Morocco. Do I have the right to reside in Morocco and get Moroccan citizenship?
khadija Posted 2008-03-01
I would really like to know how to get Moroccan citizenship for my son. My husband is a Palestinian Muslim with Israeli citizenship, I have Moroccan citizenship and we are all living in Israel. Thank you
alo55si Posted 2008-03-18
I am Moroccan I want to know how to get the Moroccan nationality in the case I marry a foreign woman and whether there is a problem to get it.
mourad Posted 2008-03-22
Allow me to introduce myself. I am 29 years old. I am Algerian. I am a doctor by profession. I was born to a Moroccan mother—God bless her soul—and an Algerian Father, who was himself born in Oujda. I would like to know I am able to acquire Moroccan citizenship or not. Thank you
salah.K Posted 2008-03-30
Mr. Abdelatif Ghazal! It shouldn't surprise you that Arabs are all the same! Here is what happened to me! By decree, my father received Algerian citizenship in 1965. He took part in the Algerian revolution and decided to live in Algeria! As his underage son, I inherited this citizenship. And, I still received certification as a citizen for me and my children, the first one being born in 1972. Today, to my great surprise, the courts refused to deliver me these documents under the pretext that my children do not appear on my father’s notarized ruling from 1965, even though they were not born yet (I was only married in 1971)! The presiding judge notified me that I should submit a complete file in request for citizenship for my children even though I am Algerian according to Article 6 of the citizenship code, which is further valid for my children, who are “… of Algerian citizenship by parentage…” My children, who hold university degrees, are now stuck!!! They cannot renew their identification papers nor submit a résumé. I wrote the ministry. I also submitted the file to the courts, which then repeated to me the same line: they cannot do anything for me because it is the ministry’s deal. Only here can you see absurd things like this!!! So, good luck my friend!!!
hicham Posted 2008-04-04
The nationality law in Morocco is the result of many changes in the legal system, as well as changes and cases referred to specialised courts, such as family cases.
bouchra ousghir Posted 2008-04-09
Well, I am French of Moroccan origin. For the moment, I am living in Morocco. I would like to obtain my Moroccan citizenship. Do I need to go all the way to France in order to get a birth certificate or is there another way to do this without making a long trip?
sirena Posted 2008-04-17
I am a Moroccan widow, age 38. I have a 6-year-old child. I am going to marry an Egyptian and live with him in Egypt. Please, let me know everything I need to do to prepare the documents for myself and my underage son according to Moroccan law. Note: The marriage certificate will be issued in Morocco, and according to Moroccan law. Sincerely
العربي Posted 2008-05-10
It is necessary to mention the importance of this forum which offers freedom of expression and showing different criticism because difference engenders progress. I would like to ask about the right of the foreign husband married to a Moroccan woman in getting the Moroccan citizenship from marriage because there was no express indication about this unlike the foreign woman who marries a Moroccan man according to the article 10. Does marriage entitle him to Moroccan citizenship according to the same procedure for the foreign wife or does he only have the right to get by applying for it? It is very odd to neglect such an issue by the lawmakers in a country which chose the democratic path and claims to be the country of human rights. Waiting for your reply. Thank you.
gaoussou Posted 2008-05-15
I hope you come to a good understanding. Thank you.
رشا Posted 2008-05-15
If you don't mind, I am a student in in law. I am conducting research about current events in Moroccao's nationality law concerning marriage to a foreigner. Can you help me? Thank you.
samira Posted 2008-06-05
After greetings and salutations I am happy to contribute about the Moroccan citizenship. I am a Moroccan woman, 26, married to a Pakistani living in United Arab Emirates. I am expecting the birth of first child. I am asking about the possibility of granting the Moroccan nationality to my daughter and what are the necessary files which should be submitted as our marriage was celebrated according to the new family law. I wish that everyone who can help me advise me about what I should do. Thank you very much.
00سمسووومة00 Posted 2008-06-14
Peace, mercy and blessings of God upon you. I need so much your reply, may God reward you. I am a Moroccan woman, fiancée to an Egyptian man living in Kuwait. In a few months we will celebrate our wedding with the will of God. I want to know what are the necessary papers to get married and how long do they take?? Because my fiancé cannot stay in Morocco over 10 days. Waiting for your reply, may God reward you with all the best.
Abu Hamza Posted 2008-06-22
Alhumdulilah! It is great news that the Morrocan Nationality Law related to non Moroccan fathers has come into effect. My son Hamza was born in Shawaal 1428. Because of me, he is British and I have obtained a passport for him. Our family home is in Morroco. Honestly, it is too much that he is treated like a foreigner. I cannot find any information about how to apply for Moroccan nationality for the boy. Does anyone know the steps, the palces to go to and the documents needed? Jazak Allahu Khair
محمد Posted 2008-06-27
Was the Moroccan nationality law implemented? If the child is born in Morocco from a Moroccan mother, will he get Moroccan nationality or not?
ام هزاع Posted 2008-07-01
Salam alikum. I have applied for Moroccan citizenship for my children at the embassy. Honestly, I need citizenship for my husband as well because he has no nationality. Believe when I say that I haven’t visited my country for 17 years because they don’t have Moroccan nationality. I am suffering and enduring torment. Can anyone help me? I visited the internet but don’t know if this programme is supervised by officials or what to write them from my second countrym the United Arab Emirates which has hosted me and my seven kids who were born there and don’t know their fate.
ام هزاع Posted 2008-07-01
Please don’t be late in replying. I am suffering psychologically. Can anyone help me? My father who is the grandfather of my daughters was a member of the resistance and liberation army. Can you reward him while he is in the tomb by granting his grandsons and their father citizenship? May God reward you with good.
امينة Posted 2008-07-27
I am a Moroccan woman and want to marry a Moroccan man living in France. I don't know the necessary papers to marry.
ziratoss Posted 2008-08-05
Firstly, salam alikum. Thank you for this forum. I would like to know from the brothers how to deal with the consulate services after this law. The legislator may not have considered some details. For example, when you apply for the renewal of the residence card, competent services refuse on the pretext that the new law doesn’t provide for this because your mother is Moroccan and your father has another nationality. When your passport expires and you go to the consulate services, you are required to present a residence certificate. So what should be done? Thank you.
salma26 Posted 2008-08-11
Salam, Congratulations on this forum. So, in short, I am Moroccan. I live in Morocco. I am engaged to an Egyptian. We would like to get our marriage license according to Moroccan law, but I can see that the papers we have to provide and the procedures are just too much and my man does not have the time to stay in Morocco and do all of this. He suggested that go to Egypt with him and get a marriage license according to Egyptian law, but I have no idea about this. I am worried. Can I do this or not? That is my question. Thank you for giving me any advice you can.
كوثر Posted 2008-09-03
I am a Moroccan girl engaged to an Egyptian man who lives in Kuwait. In one month's time, God willing, we will marry. I would like to know the necessary conditions to marry and how long do these papers take? My fiancé cannot stay in Morocco over 20 days. Waiting for your reply, God bless you with all the good.
nada Posted 22 days ago
Peace and mercy of God be upon you. I am a Moroccan woman and I want to marry a Palestinian young man who lives in Jordan. He has Jordanian citizenship. Please provide me with everything about the papers and laws to celebrate this marriage. Is marriage through the embassy legal and possible or not?
fadwa Posted 21 days ago
I am a Moroccan woman and want to marry a Frenchman of Moroccan origin. Please, can you tell me what are the steps he should go through? Thank you.
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