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Apply for Moroccan citizenship or remain a foreigner?

hkh m43

Salaam,

My wife is Moroccan but me and our two children (<13) are British.
We're planning to live in Morocco very soon and have been thinking about applying for Moroccan citizenship.

Anyone had a similar situation?
What are the pros and cons of being a foreigner vs a Moroccan national?

At the moment, from the little I've read, I don't see many advantages of applying for Moroccan citizenship for the kids or me, but happy to hear advice.

Here are my initial pros and cons:

Pros: Simpler paperwork generally, easy to gain employment, buy agricultural land
Cons: Become a dual-national

See also

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Katti_09

I'm not sure if there is such a thing as citizenship for foreigners in Morocco. Usually you apply for a Carte Sejour/Carte Residence if you want to live here.
For your kids it might be different. If their mother is Moroccan they could get a passport here. So they don't need the residence and can stay as long as they want.
Me personally I don't see why having two nationalities is a con. I would have it on the pro column.
Good luck with your decision!

hkh m43

Thanks.

Cons for having dual nationality might include:
- some countries require declaring this and may view the Moroccan nationality negatively
-  the UK will not help dual nationals in the country of the other nationality
- you no longer benefit as a foreigner in Morocco (what are the benefits?)

Katti_09

Did you do some research if it would be even possible for you or your kids to get a moroccan passport?
As I said, for you I guess not, for your kids you could get both and let them decide themselves after they reach age of consent what to with it. There is no military service so don't worry for that.
I don't see why it should be negative having UK passport plus moroccan nationality. They are moroccan anyway by genes.

tajiouti

Me personally I don’t think  u need to apply for Moroccan cotizenship, u can get residency so easily given the fact that ur spouse is Moroccan, no need for that !! Good luck

hkh m43

Thank you all for your advice and good wishes.

Given that it's not easy to undo/reverse, I think we'll delay the decision until we're on the ground and gain a better feel of the pros and cons and will hopefully share our experience.