France Denies Citizenship to Moroccan Man Over Ties to Home Country

The 24-year-old MRE (Moroccan living abroad) appealed after an initial rejection of naturalization, decided by the Ministry of the Interior in September 2021, reports Le Desk. He was denied French nationality a second time in 2022. Persevering, he appealed to the administrative court of Nantes to annul the ministry’s decision. Without success. The Nantes court justifies its refusal decision by the strong ties deemed to exist between this Moroccan and his country of origin, questioning his "loyalty towards France."

In its report on the MRE in 2024, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) indicated that the latter "defended, during his media interventions, Moroccan interests on the international level and praised the policy led by the King of Morocco." According to the French intelligence service, the applicant for French nationality maintains "contacts with an information network run by the United Arab Emirates" and would have even, during his interventions, "criticized France’s positions on the international level."

The MRE would have also "publicly expressed his aversion to French institutions following the first decision to reject his naturalization request." The Moroccan, who does not deny these facts, still has the possibility to appeal the decision of the Nantes court. This case is reminiscent of that of a Moroccan woman, an employee of Chaabi Bank, a Moroccan bank in France, who was denied nationality in January 2023, then on appeal in October 2024 on the grounds that she "maintained a special link with her country of origin that was not compatible with French allegiance."