Getting married or registering a civil partnership abroad: Information based on your answers

Marriage in Morocco

Before you start

Contact a Moroccan marriage office (Laadoul) to find out about local marriage laws, including what documents you’ll need.

Check the travel advice for Morocco and get legal advice before making any plans.

What you need to do

To prove you can legally get married, you will need to:

apply for and swear an affirmation of marital status (this is official proof that you’re free to get married)
get your affirmation ‘legalised’ (certified as genuine), then translated into the local language
get a certified copy of your passport - this costs £25

You will need to get married within 3 months of the date you swear your affirmation.

Apply for an affirmation of marriage

You can only apply online if you have a UK passport. It costs £50.

You’ll need:

a photo of your UK passport
a photo of your partner’s Moroccan passport or national identity card
a debit or credit card

You’ll be told if you need to provide any other documents. For example, if you’ve been married before you’ll need proof that the marriage is over.

Apply for the affirmation of marital status.

Swear your affirmation

You must swear your affirmation of marriage at the British Embassy in Rabat or the British Honorary Consulate in Marrakech.

You’ll find out how to book an appointment and what documents to bring when you apply for the affirmation.

The embassy or honorary consulate will print out your affirmation on the day of your appointment.

Translate and legalise your affirmation

After you have sworn the affirmation at the embassy or consulate, you need to get your affirmation both:

‘legalised’ (certified as genuine) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Morocco
translated into Arabic

Get married

You should take your legalised and translated affirmation to the Moroccan family courts where you’re getting married.

The registrar will marry you and give you a marriage certificate.

After you get married

Your marriage will be recognised in the UK if:

you followed the correct process according to the law in Morocco
it would be allowed under UK law

You do not need to register your marriage in the UK.

If your partner is not a British citizen, they can apply for British citizenship once they’ve lived in the UK for 3 years.