Bringing €1,000 into Morocco? Declare it if you plan to deposit it in a bank

It all comes down to what happens when you arrive. Travellers planning to keep their euros and deposit them at a Moroccan bank would be wise to have their banknotes registered by customs officials. This optional border formality can later be used to prove where the money came from.

The Foreign Exchange Office sets the threshold for mandatory declarations at 100,000 dirhams, or the equivalent in foreign currency. Below that amount, travellers can choose whether or not to declare the cash they are carrying. But when those banknotes are used to fund a foreign-currency or convertible-dirham account, banking rules require proof that the money was brought into the country.

This applies in particular to accounts opened in Morocco by MREs, which are designed to receive funds from abroad and enable payments in Morocco or internationally. Simply exchanging banknotes for dirhams at a bureau de change is a different transaction. A bank transfer from abroad is another option that does not involve physically carrying banknotes.

The declaration must be kept until the deposit

To credit the account with the 1,000 euros brought into the country, the bank will normally ask for the original declaration completed upon entry into Morocco. The document remains valid for six months for non-residents and one month for residents. Each deposit is recorded on the declaration for the amount received.

Another document is accepted if the banknotes came from an earlier withdrawal from the same account: a currency-exchange receipt or equivalent proof dated no more than one month earlier. These procedures are set out in the rules governing foreign-currency and convertible-dirham accounts.

The useful step, then, is to take at the airport or border crossing: for an MRE planning to deposit cash euros into this type of account, requesting a declaration upon arrival ensures they have the document required when they go to the bank.