Morocco Visas, Taxes and Money for Digital Nomads

Citizens of the UK, the EU, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and many other countries can enter Morocco without a visa and stay up to 90 days as visitors. Your passport should be in good condition and valid for at least three months after you arrive (many airlines ask for six). Damaged passports have been refused.

Some nationalities who would otherwise need a consular visa can apply online through Morocco’s official eVisa portal, which checks your eligibility from your nationality, residence and any other visas you hold. Everyone else applies at a Moroccan consulate.

Morocco’s immigration law doesn’t mention remote work for employers or clients abroad. Visitor entry is for tourism, and any job in Morocco needs a work contract approved by the Ministry of Labour. Working online for foreign clients during a holiday is a grey area: it isn’t explicitly allowed, but it isn’t policed either. Never take local work or Moroccan clients on a visitor stay, and when border officers ask, the honest answer for most nomads is tourism.

To stay beyond 90 days, you ask for an extension at the police (Sûreté Nationale) in the town where you live, before your 90 days are up. Expect to show your passport, entry stamp, proof of address such as a rental contract, proof of funds, photos and a reason for staying longer. Approval is discretionary, and some offices tell visitors to apply for a residence card instead.

Many long-stayers simply leave before day 90, often to Spain, and come back for a fresh stay. This is common but not a right: officers can question or refuse people whose passports show repeated back-to-back stays.

Overstaying is an offence. Overstayers are usually fined at the border or sent to a court before they can leave, which can mean missed flights, and can face expulsion and a ban on returning. Don’t rely on paying at the airport; if you’ve overstayed, deal with the police before your departure day.

Morocco’s residence card (carte d’immatriculation) is issued by the police and is the only legal way to live in Morocco beyond a visitor stay. You apply in the town where you live, normally within your first 90 days, and the receipt covers you while the card is processed. The first card is usually valid for one year, and after several renewals you can apply for a 10-year card. The common routes:

• Employment: a job with a Moroccan employer, with a work contract approved by the Ministry of Labour.
• Business or self-employment: setting up a Moroccan company or registering as self-employed, which brings Moroccan tax and social security.
• Retirement or independent means: proof of a regular pension or income from abroad transferred into a Moroccan bank account, plus a rental contract. This is the route closest to a nomad visa, but officers decide case by case.
• Study: enrolment in a Moroccan university or recognised school, including Arabic language schools.
• Family: marriage to a Moroccan citizen or joining a family member with residence.

Requirements and processing times vary by city, and documents are usually needed in French or Arabic. Many foreigners use a local lawyer or fixer for the first card.

This is a general guide, not tax advice. See our digital nomad tax guide for the basics.

• Residence: you’re tax resident in Morocco if you spend 183 days or more in a calendar year there, or have your home, main professional activity or centre of economic interests in Morocco.
• Residents are taxed on worldwide income, with relief under Morocco’s tax treaties for tax paid elsewhere.
• Non-residents are taxed only on Moroccan-source income.
• Rates: income tax is progressive, from 0% on the first MAD 40,000 a year through 10%, 20%, 30% and 34% to 37% above MAD 180,000, under the scale in force since 2025.

There’s no special tax regime for remote workers. A nomad who stays under 90 days at a time and keeps their home elsewhere is very unlikely to become tax resident; someone on a residence card who lives in Morocco most of the year almost certainly is, and should get advice from a Moroccan accountant.

Morocco uses the Moroccan dirham (MAD), at about 9 to 10 to the US dollar and 10 to 11 to the euro. It’s a closed currency: travellers can take only up to MAD 2,000 in banknotes in or out, so you buy dirhams after you arrive. Bureaux de change at airports, banks and in town centres give fair rates on euros and dollars. Keep the exchange receipts, because you need them to change leftover dirhams back when you leave. Foreign cash of MAD 100,000 or more must be declared on arrival.

ATMs are everywhere in towns and give dirhams; some add a fee for foreign cards on top of your own bank’s charges. Always decline the ATM’s currency conversion. Cards work in supermarkets, chain cafes, hotels and many restaurants, but taxis, markets, small shops and most rents are paid in cash.

Visitors can open a convertible dirham account (compte en dirhams convertibles) at major banks such as Attijariwafa Bank, Bank of Africa and CIH Bank, funded from abroad and convertible back to foreign currency. A standard resident account needs a residence card. Wise and similar services can send money to Moroccan accounts.