Your driving licence in Morocco: one year of driving, then an exam, and starting again with twenty points

You may drive in Morocco on your Dutch licence, but not for long. The Moroccan road traffic code, law 52-05, gives a foreign driver one year at most, counted from the date of their residence in Morocco. After that you need a Moroccan licence. An exchange is only possible along two routes, a treaty or reciprocity, and the Netherlands has no driving licence treaty with Morocco. So count on an exam. And whoever passes that exam starts again in Morocco as a beginner, however many years they drove in the Netherlands.

How long may I drive on my Dutch licence?

Article 2 of the road traffic code makes two exceptions to the rule that you need a Moroccan licence:

• a driver of foreign nationality may drive on their valid foreign licence, but for one year at most from the date of their temporary residence in Morocco, as the immigration law defines that residence;
• a Moroccan living abroad may drive on the licence they received there, for one year at most from their residence in Morocco.

An international driving permit changes nothing: under article 4 you may drive on it for as long as it is valid, but not beyond that same year.

As a tourist you notice none of this. NederlandWereldwijd says briefly in the travel advice that your Dutch licence is valid in Morocco. The clock only starts once you go to live there.

Can I exchange my licence?

Article 3 names three ways to exchange:

Route	Condition	For a Dutch licence
Treaty	Morocco and the issuing country have a treaty on mutual recognition	the Netherlands has driving licence treaties with Greece, Austria and Sweden; not with Morocco
Reciprocity	the issuing country exchanges Moroccan licences for its own	only if the Netherlands does so, on conditions set by the Moroccan administration
Final return	for Moroccans who lived abroad and return for good	on conditions set by the Moroccan administration

Whether the second route is open to you cannot be said in one sentence. The RDW has a checklist decide per country whether a foreign licence can be exchanged here, and where it cannot, a full theory and practical exam at the CBR follows. So ask before you leave whether Morocco accepts your Dutch licence on the basis of reciprocity, and plan the exam if the answer is no or does not come.

The third route is the most important one for a large share of the Dutch who move to Morocco. Whoever also holds Moroccan nationality and returns for good can exchange under the law. How that works is set by the administration; ask for the conditions before your year is up.

How do you get a Moroccan licence?

Whoever has to take the exam takes two: a test of knowledge of the traffic rules and safety, and a test of driving ability. For a car (category B), article 11 sets three conditions:

• you are at least eighteen;
• you are physically and mentally fit, shown by a medical certificate after a compulsory prior medical examination;
• you took lessons at an authorised driving school.

That last point means that even an experienced driver cannot sit the exam without a driving school: count on lessons, even if you have been driving for decades.

You start again as a beginner. Whoever obtains a category B licence in Morocco gets a probationary period of two years with a balance of twenty points; only after that does it go to thirty. If you lose all your points within those two years, the licence lapses, and you may only sit the exam again after six months and a road safety course. Twenty years of claim-free driving in the Netherlands does not count here.

Which clocks are running?

Clock	Period
Driving on your Dutch licence	at most 1 year from your residence in Morocco
Probation after a new Moroccan B licence	2 years, with 20 points
Points balance after probation	30 points
Waiting time after cancellation during probation	at least 6 months, plus a course

What does this mean for your planning?

Start in your first months. Not because an application deadline is running, but because otherwise you will be without a valid licence on the day that year ends, with a driving school and an exam still ahead of you. The year counts from your residence, so record the date of your residence application; how that application goes is in the residence routes to Morocco.

If you drive into the country in your own car, according to NederlandWereldwijd the registration is recorded on arrival, and you may only leave Morocco with the vehicle you entered with. What happens to the car itself once you go to live there is in your household goods and car to Morocco.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.5: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Morocco or go straight to step 5.5 in the open plan.