Certification of signatures by consular services

The MRE may have its own signature, affixed to various documents*, legalised by the consular services. It may also have the signatures of civil servants, local authorities and foreign consuls legalised there, provided that the consular services have specimens of those signatures on file.

In the case of the legalisation of one’s own signature, the person concerned must be present and must sign in the presence of the consular officer. In addition to presenting the document to be legalised, you must bring proof of identity (national identity card or passport) and your consular registration certificate.

* See specific cases: Apostilles and powers of attorney for property transactions.

Legalisation of signatures by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

It applies to documents bearing signatures by Moroccan civil servants or by foreign diplomatic and consular officials accredited to Morocco. This also applies to signatures affixed by Moroccan diplomatic and consular authorities, accredited abroad, on documents intended for presentation in Morocco.

In any case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can only legalise these signatures if it has a specimen of them on file.

These legalisations can be carried out at:

• Rabat: Rue Tamasloht, Rabat-Hassan (for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Spain) or 8 Rue de Tétouan, Rabat-Hassan (for other countries).
• Tangier: 44 Avenue Tarik Ibn Ziad, Wafabank Building, Drissia, 1st Floor.
• Nador: Derdiz Building, Hassan II Avenue, 1st floor.
• Béni-Mellal: 33 Avenue Mohamed V, 1st floor.
• Agadir: Avenue Hassan II, Wafabank Building, Hay Al Inbiaat, 1st floor.

Powers of attorney for property transactions

Powers of attorney relating to property transactions must be drawn up in the presence of adouls, notaries or solicitors. Otherwise, they will be rejected (by the National Agency for Land Registration, Cadastre and Cartography) in respect of any application for registration or amendment relating to a land title.

Apostille cases

In certain cases, Moroccan public documents (administrative or judicial) intended for use in the countries of residence of Moroccans living abroad may be subject to a request for an ‘Apostille’ from the relevant Moroccan authorities, so that it can be attached to the document to be legalised in order to confirm its authenticity. This procedure avoids the need to travel to the embassy or consulate (in Morocco) of the country of residence in question.

The same procedure also applies to certain foreign public documents intended for use in Morocco.

Applications for an ‘Apostille’ certificate can be made via the website www.apostille.ma. The website also contains:

• The list of the countries of residence concerned;
• The types of documents that may be covered by the request;
• A list of the competent authorities responsible for issuing the apostille for each type of document.

Certification of document conformity

French nationals living abroad may contact the consular services to have a photocopy certified as a true copy of the original.  All you need to do is go there with the document to be certified (copy and original), a form of identification (national identity card or passport) and your consular registration number, if applicable.