How to Get a Criminal Record Check in Morocco
There is a very little information on how to obtain a carte sejour in Morocco (residency permit) and as a matter of fact I have found only 2 websites with information. Thank you Amanda (married) and Monika (business owner) for your help. I am adding my voice and experience to this because it has honestly been crazy trying to find information and in the end it was remarkably simple.
So – overall I am shooting for a carte sejour, (without employment). Every carte sejour has at least one circumstance. You apply as an employee, a business owner, a married person, a retiree, a student and so on. I am going for it without employment, marriage or a business. I may get blocked, or not. But this is the path I am starting down. Join me won’t you, and let’s see how far I get.
So – here is the list I have been able to cobble together from various bits on the Internet of things I may or may not need to accomplish my endgame.
- somewhere between 8 and 10 passport photos – easy enough so I’ll get a bunch and hope I don’t look as angry as I do in my actual passport.
- 2 legalized (no definition – I will assume notarized for the meantime) copies of my passport and entry stamp.
- a doctors certificate or “certificat medical d’aptitude – apparently easy to get. I have a doctor’s number and will make an appointment in due time.
- 3 forms from the local po-po. I have been to the Police station in question, and I have seen the door to enter and the room in which I will wait for these 3 unnamed forms. (The day we went the person who hands them out was at lunch and since the process was murky at that time, I have yet to go back.)
- a stamped copy of my rental contract – got it.
- an “attestation bancaire” – this is a stamped statement from my bank showing how much money I have in the bank. No one knows what the magic number is so I am slowly importing cash, but not too much because I can’t get it back out, to my Moroccan bank.
- I need a criminal background check – or “Casier Judicaire” (spellcheck broke my head trying to get THAT statement typed).
- I may or may not need an Arabic translation of my birth certificate – not sure. Stand by.
- I may or may not need a French translation of my CV. Stand by.
So – since I am starting this process with the things I have, (most of the above in some form) the two big things I need are the criminal check and the doctors note.
This is how you get a criminal background check if you are in Morocco as a resident of another country as of March, 2016.
- Go to this website –http://www.justice.gov.ma/ (Settle down – yes, it is in Arabic. We will work through this together.)
- Click the 3rd icon down on the right side of the page. Its an icon of a mouse and a form. There are two the same. Click the top one.
- On the page that you arrive at, ask Google Chrome to translate the page. But only for this one step.
- Go to the upper left most spot on the site and choose ENGLISH on the website. OR just go to this link right away http://casierjudiciaire.justice.gov.ma/Accueil.aspx?culture=en-US
- You HAVE to be in English from the website – you CAN NOT use English as translated by Google Chrome for the form fill.
- DO NOT get distracted looking for information, instructions, or anything useful. Stay here. Stick with me. I will help you.
- Have an image of your passport main page ready on your computer for upload. I took a picture of mine with my iPhone. Its 2016. Don’t sweat the format.
- Check the terms and conditions box, check the place where you were “grown” as “abroad”. (That was the Google Chrome translation, not kidding)
- On the next steps page, fill in the information. All you need is your basic information and passport number. Nothing crazy here. Just fill it in, mom and dads’ name, DOB, passport number, nationality. You can’t get through an airport with less.
- OK – click next step. Choose the file name of the image of your passport, and upload it.
- Next step. Choose where you want to pick up the document.
- THIS STEP IS ENLIGHTENING – until this very moment I was convinced I had to go to Rabat to get it. That would mean traveling 4 hours by train there, getting it, 4 hours back. Not so Jeronimo – I can get it from a location 2 blocks from my home in Marrakech.
- Choose from the drop down box, “Court of First Instance…your city”. The address will be revealed to you later. Its Morocco, don’t sweat the details.
- Click send, done, vamonos – just be happy you are done.
Now – you will get a confirmation number screen. I took a photo of that with my phone so I am sure to have it with me when I go to place. (I know – embrace the technology)
THEN – you will also get a confirmation email containing your ID number and the date you submitted your request. There are two links in the email.
Link 1 – you can go to this link “to track the fate of your request”. I know – hilarious.
Link 2 – long. and lat. coordinates leading you directly to the Court of First Instance with your document so you can find it for pick up.
When? When will it be there? No indication. I guess I just have to keep checking my fate.
No need to go to Rabat.
Stay tune for more as this process continues. The only purpose in getting a carte sejour by the way is so that I have ID when I interact with the police at checkpoints, and also because I have a Canadian Passport, a Moroccan number and an address in both countries. It just keeps things neat. It also means I don’t have to leave the country every 90 days to get a new tourist visa and I am just more legal. And I want to do business here and maybe buy things, like a car, so I need to be legal. Legal is good.
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I have been trying to get a Carte de Sejour for two years. Before I left the US, I had an official FBI background check done on me and I also went to Rabat to have a Moroccan criminal check done. They laughed at the FBI check and told me that I needed a criminal check from the local police department where I lived in the US. I tried to explain that the FBI covered any criminal activity I might have been involved with for the entire country – still it was rejected. The Moroccan check for Rabat was only valid for 90 days and was rejected because it had expired. This is getting to be an expensive process, as well as frustrating. To add to my frustration – my wallet was stolen last month. You think you’re ‘bewildered’? I have lived here for two years and I still can’t figure out what they require for a Carte de Sejour…because every time I go to the local Prefecture they seem to change what they need.
Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. I don’t think it’s an easy process at all! I also got a record check from the RCMP in Canada and will have to act fast to submit it because the one from Morocco was not enough. I get the feeling they don’t want us!!!???
amazing info!! thank you, do you have any update how long it takes for it to be ready?
It only took a few days
Hi, new to Morocco and hoping to apply for carte sejour. Any progress? Don’t you need a residence permit /carte sejour to open a moroccan bank account and to obtain a “rental contract”? Also who stamps the rental contract?
Hi Barry. Carte sejours are a complicated beast. You need employment for that. You don’t need one to open a foreigners account (money from outside can be transferred in but no deposits. Nothing stopping you from a rental contract. You just need a passport. Once you have it they will take you to the mohkatar where things get stamped. There are a few in every quarter. The landlord always has taken me. Then you can use that for your carte sejour. Best to inquire at your nearst police station about it – they have the forms you need.
Service-public.ma -I found this recently. It’s in English and remarkably helpful. Must be really new
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Hi Kathi,
Very helpful post! I’m planning to move and apply to Carte Sejours too. I just want to clarify 1 thing:
1. Is the bank statement you have from your bank in Canada? and does it have to be in french or arabic?
Thanks!
Hello, it looks like your post was a while back and you were unsure about some of the requirements. It would be be great if you could update to let everyone know what was actually required and how you did it and most importantly, did you get your card?? thanks!!
Hello, yes I second David B, your post is helpful but would be great if you could update us on the list of documents that was required to get your card. Many thanks!
I haven’t pursued it yet, out of some laziness and some trepidation. But I will get on it and document. I have to first learn how to get my RCMP police check redone in Canada and then I will move forward!
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Im an 80 year-old, American retiree with stable monthly pensions, invited to live with a Moroccan family in Fes, lifelong. So as not to bother the family, cant I just hire a lawyer in Morocco? Any idea what that would cost?
It sounds like all Id have to bring with me is my passport, birth certificate, three bank statements and a local police criminal record check, dated less than 30 days before I leave for Morocco. Everything else has to be done IN Morocco, right?
And Ive lived in two other countries: Do I need criminal record checks from those countries too?
Thanks a million! It sure sounds as if that many thanks are warrented!
Hi Maude. Welcome to Morocco. You don’t need a birth certificate and you need a federal police check for your first time from the States. I don’t think you need the other country criminal checks -just the one you are coming from.
I understand its fairly easy to obtain, but yes it needs to be done within 3 months so you need to watch the clock when you arrive. You will also need a doctors (2 copies) saying you don’t have any contagious diseases which you can get here quite easily.
You will also need to show that you have a steady income stream into Morocco. They are quite fussy about it to be honest and in Marrakech they told me that I could not transfer the money myself to my Moroccan account, but it had to be direct deposited from my financial institution which didn’t suit me at all for a number of reasons.
You’ll also need to show that you are living here, so you will need to registered with the local authorities and get some proof of address.
To be honest, you might be best to bring the criminal check with you, as well as your financials and then seek the help of a lawyer here to guide you through the process. I know that is different in different cities too and my experience has been in Marrakech.
Worst thing that happens is that you need to take a weekend trip to Spain or Portugal before your 90 day tourist Visa runs up, and keep on with the process. The challenging bit is that the Moroccan system doesn’t hurry along and 3 months stale date on the documents is a tricky balance. I would definitely consult a lawyer here.
Sorry I can’t be more hopeful. It’s really a complicated process.
Dear Pretty Kamel, You answered me when I was in the US, on Februaryv25th. Now it’s May 30th. I made it here thanks to you, because neither the Moroccan Embassy, nor the Consulate, answered four letters over months. Everything has been as you said…HARD And tricky, but one thing was worse: my new bank here wouldn’t open an account for me unless I had a Residents Permit, and I couldn’t get the Residence Permit, without a Moroccan bank account,!. Moroccan friends got around that on my behalf. In general, Morocco needs no wall to keep us foreigners out: The do that excellently, just with lots of red tape. None the less I’m quite delighted to be here and thank you wholeheartedly. One reason I wanted to be here is that I’ve been a Muslim for 60 years, and am now 80. In spite of the difficulties, I’m feeling at home in such a traditional Islamic culture. I do miss seeing people of all religions and from all countries around me though. In the US, every cab driver is from another land, and they will usually be friendly with me, in spite of the prejudices in Americans. But here, the Muslims are less open to other faiths too! In Pakistan, when I wanted Christian missionary friends..etc, and on infinitem…People can be narrow minded, anywhere¡ So here I am, praying again, for the various races, religions and nations to live together in peace and kindness towards one another! On the way here too, in the airports, I met grumpy, self-centered people: Then suddenly, there would someone precious on my path! One Christian from Ethiopia, a Japanese man, another was a Muslim from Bangladesh: I was glad to meet several, who were so compassionate and helpful, workig in the midst of others I would rather forget..twas all, in the US, here, and on the way here, a lesson in being widely human! And in that respect, I thank you again for sharing what you have learned, with all those who want to come to peaceful and culturally rich, Morocco. Wherever one is, I think one should be helpful and inclusive!
Hi Kathi,
Thanks for your post! this is great.
After you applied for the police certificate and tracked the progress, how did you actually go about collecting it?
Was someone else able to collect it on your behalf?
Hi Kris – sorry just seeing this comment now. I collected the provincial report myself. In order to have someone else collect it in Canada there is a long process of paperwork to complete. The federal report is mailed to you and therefore you could have someone collect it and mail it to you. But you have to do the application in person with finger prints and a photo, then my report came back within 10 days – not long at all. Hope that was helpful.