Tourist or resident in Morocco, the law is the same: relationships outside marriage and therefore cohabitation is forbidden.
Moroccan law
In a Muslim country like Morocco, even if it is very tоlеrаnt, relations between men and women are governed by the Personal Status Code, which sets up a religious legislation, the Sharia (even if it has nothing to do with the extremely hard Sharia that we can see in other countries).
As long as one of the two people in the couple is of Moroccan nationality (even if they are part of the Jewish minority), this law applies in full.
And for tourist couples, a lesser part of the law also applies, that which prohibits аnу amorous demonstration in public.
Kissing in public is a crime in Morocco.
And on top of that, it is a practice that will shock those who see you doing it. If you pay attention, you will notice that even holding hands is quite rare, even in big cities. Of course, practices such as toplessness on the beach are unimaginable, outside the enclaves of private clubs (and are similarly to be avoided on hotel terraces, which are not safe from view).
As long as you are in a relationship with a Moroccan, the law prohibiting cohabitation outside of marriage applies.
This means that many hotels will refuse to rent a double room without a marriage certificate. In theory, flat renters should do the same check, but in practice they are a haven of peace for unofficial couples.
Other hotels will ask you to pay extra to get a double room. This is the price of risk, as they can theoretically be checked every night by the police, who collect the hotel records. If they are fоunԁ guilty, they are also guilty, and face, at worst, closure of their business and prison.
Finally, in the higher category hotels, this rule is rarely, if ever, applied.
With a Moroccan living in Morocco
The law applies in all its rigour.
The risk in case of a control is real: fine, court, prison sentence for the Moroccan, and the foreigner (especially if it is a foreigner and a Moroccan woman), at best confiscation of passports during the police investigation.
And believe us, the Moroccan police are not very pleasant when you are at fault! If you are controlled (which can also be done on denunciation), there is legally not much to do, except to obtain the clemency of the court by promising to regularise (and by doing so).
Less legally, there is often the possibility of arranging things with money. Be careful, this must be ԁоnе by a Moroccan who knows how to manage it (often it will be taken care of by the Moroccan family). In short, avoid getting into trouble, there is no good way out.
And be careful with whom you go out, because there are also Moroccan women who may inform the police themselves, to force your hand, or, at worst, share the bribe with the policeman.
With a Moroccan living abroad
With regard to Morocco, he/she will always be Moroccan, even if he/she lives abroad, even if he/she has dual nationality. And therefore subject to the same laws.
Everything depends on how he/she entered Morocco: with a foreign passport, without any problem, with an entry number in Morocco? Nobody can prove that he is Moroccan, so he is considered a foreigner. You can rent a common hotel room, you just have to respect the conveniences.
But if at the time of customs clearance, he was identified as Моrоссаn, and had to give his Moroccan identity card instead of a foreign passport… you are back to the previous situation.
Marrying a Moroccan
We have made a series of posts on our blog about Foreigner-Moroccan marriage. It is the fruit of our experience, since this site was born from the adventure of a Franco-Moroccan couple, and also from the research we did.
The risks involved?
Fornication, which is the legal name for relations between а mаn аnԁ а wоmаn outside of marriage, is punishable by prison.
For a couple living abroad, it can start with a fine, and confiscation of passports. It can then indeed go as far as prison, but usually it is arranged beforehand.
If this happens to you, be aware that you need to intervene quickly, before entering the judicial process. And that the judges will be more lenient if you had the intention to get married, which makes up for the fault…
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