Morocco Now Accepts the Apostille

More countries are recognising the apostille certificate every year. The latest country to sign up to the relevant section of the Hague Convention relating to apostilles is Morocco.

The Kingdom of Morocco acceded to the Apostille Convention on 27th November 2015. On 14th August 2016 The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 entered into force, thus making Morocco the 110th Contracting State to the Convention, which now counts 112 Contracting States. To give it the full title they signed The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.

The Apostille Convention is the sixth instrument of the Hague Conference to which Morocco is party as they have been a member of the Hague Convention since 6th September 1993, and are already party to five other Hague Conventions.

In simple terms The Kingdom of Morocco now issue the apostille and accept documents from other countries that have been legalised with the apostille.

What does this mean for people legalising documents for use in Morocco?

For anyone submitting documents to Morocco this has made the process of legalisation a lot easier. Previously, documents being used in Morocco had to be issued with both the apostille and then attested at the Moroccan embassy in London. This was expensive, and in many circumstances, very time consuming.

Now that Morocco are members of The Hague Convention documents should only need the apostille. Any UKK document issued with the apostille certificate from the FCO should be accepted by government offices and other organisations in Morocco.

It is possible, that in the short term, you may still be asked to get a document legalised at the embassy in London. This is not necessary and we recommend you direct them to this article. In the event that you are still asked to obtain Moroccan Embassy attestation then please contact us for assistance.

About the Author

The Apostille Service are pleased to provide advice on a wide range of document legalisation matters. Our team of advisors contribute to the blog.