Morocco Eases Document Process for Children of Expatriate Mothers

Responding to a written question from MP Touria Afif of the Justice and Development group on the problems many Moroccan mothers living abroad, especially divorcees, face in obtaining official identity documents for their children, such as the national identity card and passport, both in the country of origin and the host country, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit said that his department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad are working to establish a legal framework that would grant these mothers the right to issue a passport for their minor children without the express prior consent of the father, reports Hespress.

He stressed that the father’s consent would be implicit unless he requests the court to make a decision preventing the mother from obtaining this passport without his consent. In the event of a conflict between parents, recourse to the courts will be necessary. For the time being, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allows its consular services to grant the divorced custodial mother the right to request and withdraw the passports of her children in the absence of the father, says Abdelouafi Laftit’s department.

And he observes: "After the expiration of this period without a response from the father concerned, or if it is not possible to contact him through the consular service, the passport can be issued on the basis of an affidavit provided by the mother concerned regarding the interruption of contacts with the father and the impossibility of communicating with him, or by judicial decision of the authorities of the country of residence if she prefers to go through this procedure".