Planning a trip to Morocco



Planning a Trip
At the crossroads of Africa, Arabia, and Europe, 21st-century Morocco is an exotic land of intriguing culture, mesmerizing landscapes, great shopping, and memorable experiences, and is welcoming Western travelers in record numbers. First-time travelers may know little about the country other than the ancient cities of Fes and Marrakech and the quintessential camel treks through the desert, but there's a lot to consider -- how to get there; money, health, and safety concerns; where to stay and what to eat; and what to see and where to shop.





Sounds good! What else do I need to know while planning a trip to Morocco?

First, check the current validity of your passport.

All travelers will need a passport valid for at least 90 days following your departure date from Morocco. However, we strongly recommend traveling with 6 months validity on your passport at all times. VisaHQ can assist U.S. citizens with a full range of expedited passport services, including new passport application and passport renewal.

Second, make sure your passport has blank Visa pages.

Most destinations, including Morocco, require that you have adequate un-used pages in your passport, allowing for any necessary stamps upon arrival and departure. We recommend that you have at least two free pages in Visas section of your passport before any international travel. U.S. citizens can get extra passport pages added to their passports as fast as within 24 hours.

Finally, confirm if transit visa is required for any connections.

Check with your airline in case you have connecting flights overseas as part of your journey to Morocco. It may be the case that countries you pass through en route to your destination may require a separate transit visa. Please refer to visa requirements of the specific country.


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Morocco Visa Information


Morocco Visa Information


Morocco Visa Requirements: Moroccan visa application form information on Morocco visas for travel, tourist visa, visitor / transit visa, student visa. Moroccan embassy address, information on Morocco immigration procedures for US citizens, Canadians, Indians, Australians, UK, EU citizens.
Learn4good provides general information on study, travel, work visa and business visa requirements and the addresses of embassies worldwide. You should contact your local embassy or consulate for the most up-to-date information or visa forms.

For Hotels, Hostels, Car Hire, Jobs and Schools in this country, see the menu options above. See our Travel Forum to create a travel topic and ask questions to fellow travelers.


Who requires a Visa?
What documents will be required?
Time required to issue a Visa
How do I apply?
What is the cost of a Visa?
How long is the Visa valid for?
Embassy contact information
Arabic Language Course in Morocco
Travel Guide



Who requires a visa?
Citizens holding passports of the following countries do not need a visa to enter the Kingdom of Morocco (If your stay is longer than 90 days, a resident permit is required and can be issued by the Police Department of your place of residence in Morocco): Algeria – Andorra – Argentina – Australia – Austria – Bahrain – Belgium – Brazil – Bulgaria – Canada – Chile – Congo Brazzaville – Croatia – Cyprus -Cote d’Ivoire – Czech Republic – Denmark – Estonia – Finland – France – Germany – Great Britain – Greece – Guinea (Conakry) – Hong Kong – Hungary – Iceland – Indonesia – Ireland – Italy – Ivory Coast – Japan – Kuwait – Latvia – Libya – Liechtenstein – Lithuania – Luxemburg – Mali – Malta – Mexico – Monaco – Netherlands – New Zealand – Niger – Norway – Oman – Peru – Philippines – Poland – Puerto Rico – Qatar – Romania – Russian Federation – Saudi Arabia – Senegal – Singapore (They can stay one month without visa) – Slovakia – Slovenia – South Korea – Spain – Sweden – Switzerland – Tunisia – Turkey – United Arab Emirates – United States of America – Venezuela.
Citizens from countries not listed above do need a visa.

What documents will be required?
The following documents are required for Tourist Visa:

Application form
Your original valid passport + copy of the first page with photo
04 passport size colour photos.
Copy of your detailed provisional flight itinerary.
Employment certificate from your employer
For students, copy of a recent letter from the school confirming that the applicant is attending the school.
For business owners, copy of the last Income Tax as substitute of the employment letter.
Hotel provisional reservation or notarized Letter of Invitation from your sponsor in Morocco.
For applicants married to Moroccan citizens, a copy of the marriage certificate plus a copy of the Moroccan passport or national ID of the Moroccan spouse can be a substitute for the invitation letter or for the hotel reservation.
Travel Insurance.

PASSPORTS: Passport valid for at least 6 months from date of entry required by all.

Note:
(a) Children up to and including 16 years may travel on their parents’ passport, but must have photographs included in these passports by the relevant passport authorities.
(b) All temporary travel document holders need to get clearance from Morocco, and this may take up to 2 months. Apply at nearest Consulate or Consular Section of Embassy for further details.

Time required to issue visa:
Typically, a visa takes anywhere from 2 days to 15 days to process in the Morocco Embassy/Consulate depending on the consulate that we need to send the application to and whether you choose to “rush” your Morocco visa.

How do I apply?
Application to: Consulate (or Consular section at Embassy); see Contact Addresses section.

Application requirements:
(a) One completed application form.
(b) Four passport-size photos taken within the previous 6 months.
(c) Passport (valid for at least 6 months from date of exit out of Morocco, and with at least one blank page), with a photocopy of the relevant data pages.
(d) Fee (payable by postal order only).
(e) Evidence of employment, enrolment as a student or bank statements.
(f) Photocopy of flight ticket(s).
(g) Photocopy of hotel reservation. (h) Self-addressed, stamped, registered envelope for postal applications (for those living outside London only).

What is the cost of a visa?
Single-entry: £16; Double-entry or Multiple-entry (both business only): £25. Prices may fluctuate in accordance with the exchange rate and must be paid by postal order only.

How long is the visa valid for?
Entry visas are valid for 3 months; visitors wishing to stay longer should apply to the local police station within 15 days of arrival. For other visa enquiries, contact the Embassy (see Contact Addresses section).

Embassy contact information:
Please contact the nearest Embassy of Morocco for information on what documentation you may require to enter Morocco.

Disclaimer: The contents of these pages are provided as an information guide only, in good faith. The use of this website is at the viewer/user’s sole risk. While every effort is made in presenting up-to-date and accurate information, no responsibility or liability is accepted by the owners to this website for any errors, omissions, outdated or misleading information on these pages or any site to which these pages connect or are linked.

Source & Copyright: The source of the above visa and immigration information and copyright owner/s is the:
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Kingdom of Morocco – URL: www.maec.gov.ma

The viewer/user of this web page should use the above information as a guideline only, and should always contact the above sources or the user’s own government representatives for the most up-to-date information at that moment in time, before making a final decision to travel to that country or destination.



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Reflections on a Semester Abroad in Morocco


Reflections on a Semester Abroad in Morocco



Yesterday I graduated from University of Hartford. I am no longer a student, I am officially a college graduate. I am finally entering “the real world” with practically no solid plans for the future. People keep asking me how it feels. It feels like I've been standing on a diving board for the past twenty-two years, toeing the edge, and someone just gave me a good, solid push. That feeling when you're falling through the air and your stomach drops and you suddenly can't breathe and you're terrified but it's the best kind of terrified- that's what it felt like to graduate. Now, I've belly flopped into the pool and have no choice but to start swimming.

I'm not entirely sure what happened to the past four years. I met some incredible people. I realized my passion for writing. I developed terrible sleeping habits.

I do know that in the future, when somebody asks me about my life in college, I won't hesitate to say that studying abroad was the most educational and enriching aspect of my college career. That's not to say that I didn't learn a lot while on campus; I did, but studying abroad taught me things which I could never have hoped to learn while staying at school.

 I spent a semester in Morocco, living with a Moroccan family and struggling everyday to learn Arabic and become assimilated into a culture very different from my own. The first two weeks of classes included a crash course in Darija, a Moroccan dialect, in which my classmates and I sat in a room for four hours a day attempting to absorb as much information as possible. Including writing hundreds of pages of papers and homework and tests over the years, I don't think I have ever pushed my brain to work as hard as I did sitting in Nawal's introductory Darija class. By the end of the day I couldn't remember which language I was supposed to be thinking in. I left everyday feeling exhausted and confused, but accomplished.

Academically, I learned a lot about Moroccan history and about Arabic but by living with my host family I was able to study the culture firsthand. At least in the beginning it felt like I was studying my family, but with every day that passed I became more assimilated. I grew used to their routines and formed my own. Soon I wasn't confused as to where I was when I woke up in the morning and I was no longer startled by the call to prayer. My family gave me a Moroccan name: Emina. I felt more and more at home in the Kasbah.



Without my host family, I still would have enjoyed studying abroad. I still would have learned a lot and I still would be prompting the students I meet now to study abroad. However, living with them gave me a much more intimate and comprehensive connection to Moroccan culture than I ever could have hoped to have without them. They made me feel comfortable enough to ask anything, not only about language but also culture and politics and religion. They fed me until I thought I'd never be hungry again; and then they fed me more. They took care of me when I was sick. They loved me like their own, and I grew to love them too. I think about them all the time and someday will travel back to Morocco to visit them. They are and will always be my Moroccan family.

At the end of three and a half months in Morocco, I had gotten so attached to my family and to the culture that while I missed my friends and family back home, it was extremely difficult for me to leave. Coming home was strange because I experienced reverse culture shock.

The initial culture shock of leaving the United States and arriving in Morocco was to be expected. I knew that things would be different from back home, but I had no idea how different some things could be. This shock was, ultimately, a positive one. My world and my reality was turned on its head and I was left completely disoriented and forced to survive. Not only did I survive, I thrived, and I learned so much in the process.

I think that everyone needs their reality to be shaken up every once in a while, if only to put things into perspective. I got a lot of perspective while studying abroad on several different aspects of my life which I could not have anticipated.

I had hoped that while studying abroad I would figure out what I wanted to do with my life, that I would suddenly have a plan for the future. For some of my classmates this was the case, but not for me. I didn't leave Morocco knowing what I would do after graduation, but I left with a new outlook on life. The future was still scary, and I was still unprepared, but I wasn't quite as stressed as I had been before. When I had complained to my host family about how I thought I'd never get a job with my English degree and how I was going to end up living at home forever and how I had no future, they laughed at me.

Not only was I getting an education, I was able to travel around the world to do so. Not only did I have a home to go back to but a family who would support and encourage me. My host grandfather, as it were, would tease me a lot but he constantly reminded me of how much opportunity lay before me. In the most gentle and caring way possible he made me realize how petty all my anxiety and fear about the future really was.

Moroccans cannot leave the country without a visa, which is close to impossible for many people to obtain. My host grandfather, in his late sixties, would most likely never get to leave the country. He would tell me wistfully about how he longed to move to Germany and get a job and marry a nice German girl. Then he would cackle and wink at me and tell me not to worry about anything, I would be fine. And I know that he's right, I will be fine.

I made a lot of questionable decisions in college, but the best decision I made was to study abroad. No matter what your goals are for the future, I believe that you should study abroad. It can only help prepare you. Go anywhere, it doesn't matter what country you go to, as long as it's something new and different. Now is the time for adventures; now is the time to study abroad.


Maral pictured with her family at graduation.


Maral graduated from the University of Hartford with a BA in English/Creative Writing and a minor in French. She spent a semester abroad in Rabat, Morocco through the Council for International Education & Exchange (CIEE) in Fall 2011.



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