Morocco · visa route
Emigrating to Morocco
Here your passport decides the journey, not your plan: whoever also holds Moroccan nationality falls outside the aliens law, and whoever doesn't lodges a residence application within ninety days of entry. Beyond that two things that are almost nowhere stated correctly: the tax treaty is missing a social security article, so your AOW goes exclusively to Morocco but your government pension may be taxed in both states — and the Moroccan eighty percent reduction hangs on money that has been transferred definitively. This page shows how it really works.
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- Kind of journey
- Residence card — or none, if you're also Moroccan
- The clock
- Lodge the application within 90 days of entry
- Note
- Your government pension may be taxed in both states
Last updated: September 2026
The journey
Five phases, from the passport question to the land check
A route with two paths and three clocks. The ninety days within which your residence application must be lodged, the six months within which your goods must enter the country exempt, and the twelve months in which you have to do something about your driving licence. Plus the treaty of 1977, which works out more favourably than most — provided you know which part of your income falls under it and which part doesn't.
- 1
Orientation
First the passport question, then the rest
Law 02-03 regulates the residence of foreigners. Whoever holds Moroccan nationality alongside the Dutch isn't one, and walks a completely different journey: no residence card, no renewal clock, and with property no ban on agricultural land. That nationality passes by descent and cannot be given up, so many Dutch people have it without knowing for sure. In this phase you find that out, and you learn how healthcare and tax really work out there.
- 2
Your right of residence
Ninety days to lodge, not to have it settled
As a foreigner you apply for the carte d'immatriculation with the police or the gendarmerie of your place of residence, within ninety days of entry. The clock runs on lodging and not on issue, and that helps — because gathering the documents takes more time than ninety days suggests. The card is valid one to ten years and carries a mention according to your purpose; pensioners fall under visiteur. Whoever is also Moroccan instead arranges their identity card, and that can be a file of months if the parents' certificates are missing.
- 3
Closing the Netherlands
One missing treaty article decides your monthly income
The tax treaty of 1977 has no social security article. Your AOW therefore falls under the residual article and goes exclusively to Morocco, just like your occupational pension. Your government pension is the exception: it may be taxed in both states, so whoever has ABP cannot be done with one exemption application. Apply for the wage tax exemption before you leave, arrange healthcare through the CAK — Morocco is a treaty country — and take the decision on the eighty percent reduction before your first transfer.
- 4
The move
The goods may come along free, the car almost never
Your household goods enter the country exempt, provided you can produce a detailed inventory and a certificat de changement de résidence, and provided you stay within six months. The car is the opposite: on a foreign plate you may only drive part of the year, and definitive import has an age limit plus import duty and VAT. Count on selling and buying again. The pet has the longest clock of the journey, and there the order matters more than the time: the chip must come before the vaccination.
- 5
Arrival in Morocco
Address, card, bank — and only then the home
The chain hangs on your proof of address: without it no residence card, without a card or identity card no bank. Then you activate your healthcare by actually registering with the CAK form, and you sort the driving licence within twelve months. If you're going to buy, one check comes before everything: the designation of the plot at the land registry. A foreigner may not acquire agricultural land, not even with a house on it — and whoever is also Moroccan falls outside that ban.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Morocco journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 1.1 of your plan
First determine which route applies to you
- Lead time
- reading step, but sometimes an application at the consulate
- Costs
- none, unless you need your Moroccan papers established
Law 02-03 regulates the entry and residence of foreigners. Whoever holds Moroccan nationality alongside the Dutch is not a foreigner in Morocco and falls outside that law: no carte d'immatriculation, no renewal clock, no mention of purpose.
That is no theoretical distinction. Moroccan nationality passes by descent and cannot be given up, so many Dutch people have it without ever having done anything with it. For them this journey starts with applying for or renewing the Moroccan identity card, not with a residence application.
If you're not sure, this is the first step of your whole emigration and not a detail for along the way: the rest of this plan turns out differently. The Moroccan consulate can establish whether you're in the registers.
What this step rests on
This is step 1.1 of 30. The other 29 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
See all 30 steps for MoroccoWhat it costs
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 2.000 – € 6.400
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 1.800 – € 4.500
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 100 – € 550
- De verhuizing
- € 60 – € 350
- De eerste maanden
- € 1.800 – € 5.500
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Carte d'immatriculation(estimate)€ 20 – € 150
- Documents, apostilles and translations(estimate)€ 80 – € 400
Morocco is party to the apostille convention, so legalisation stays limited to an apostille from the court (€ 27 per document, 2026 rate). On top comes the translation: Moroccan counters want French or Arabic documents, sworn translated. Count on € 40 to 90 per document. A family with a marriage certificate and two birth certificates quickly reaches four documents. Whoever has their Moroccan nationality established because the parents' certificates are missing can end up well above this — that is a file, not a form.
De verhuizing
- Flights(estimate)€ 60 – € 350
One way from Amsterdam or Rotterdam to Casablanca, Marrakesh, Tangier or Agadir. On this route the spread is larger than on most: outside the season and with hand luggage only it's a budget-airline hop, in the summer holidays and with ample luggage a multiple of that.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 1.800 – € 4.500
Deposit and rent paid in advance, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you still run double. Renting is low by Dutch standards — outside the tourist centres an apartment sits well below what you're used to in the Netherlands — but Marrakesh, Tangier and the coast around Agadir have a separate, much more expensive market for foreigners. Count with a margin, and count on the first months being more expensive than the months after.
- Bank, phone and the first counters(estimate)€ 60 – € 250
- Sorting out the driving licence(estimate)€ 30 – € 700
Morocco only exchanges a foreign driving licence if a reciprocity agreement exists with the issuing country, and the application has to be lodged within twelve months of settling. Whether the Netherlands is on that list hasn't been confirmed against an official source; what is certain is that a Moroccan licence cannot be exchanged in the Netherlands and requires a full CBR exam. The bottom of the range is the exchange, the top a lesson package with theory and practical exams. Count on the top until the opposite is shown.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 5 to 8% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 12.500 to € 20.000.
Registration duties, notary, and the entry in the titre foncier at the Conservation Foncière. Unlike in Spain or Turkey, another question first decides here whether you may buy at all — see the restriction below.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
A foreigner may not acquire agricultural land in Morocco, and that ban extends to a home standing on agricultural land, even if it was built long ago. Whoever holds Moroccan nationality alongside the Dutch buys under that nationality and falls outside the ban. Check the designation of the plot with the ANCFCC before you pay a deposit — urban, agricultural or collective is the difference between a valid purchase and an invalid one.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
The rates in this calculation haven't been checked against the official sources yet.
Your complete, personal cost picture — with your route, your documents and your deadlines — you get in Vertrekklaar.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Morocco, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsThe departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Morocco: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Morocco really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Read on
The knowledge base on Morocco
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
Orientation
- 5 min
AOW, pension and tax in Morocco: the treaty is missing one article
The tax treaty with Morocco has no social security article. As a result your AOW falls under the residual article and goes exclusively to Morocco, just like your occupational pension. Your government pension is the exception: it may be taxed in both states. And the Moroccan eighty percent reduction belongs to money that can't leave the country anymore.
Updated 11 September 2026
- 3 min
Healthcare in Morocco: the treaty route through the CAK
Morocco is on the official list of treaty countries. Pensioners with a Dutch statutory pension register with the CAK and get access to the Moroccan system through a treaty form, for a treaty contribution — so no lifelong private policy. What exactly that entitlement covers, and why where you live decides what it's worth to you.
Updated 11 September 2026
The move
- 2 min
Bringing a pet to Morocco: the chip must come before the vaccination
The order matters more here than the lead time, and that's exactly where it goes wrong. If the rabies vaccination is registered before the chip, your file isn't right and you have a problem at the border. Further: twenty-one days' wait after the first jab, a certificate within twenty-four hours before loading, and a titre test if you want to travel back and forth with the animal.
Updated 11 September 2026
- 3 min
Your household goods to Morocco: the papers, and the car that usually doesn't come
Your goods enter Morocco exempt from duties, provided you can produce two papers and make the six-month deadline. The car is a different story: the scheme for a foreign plate only gives part of the year's driving, and definitive import has an age limit plus import duty and VAT. Count on selling and buying again.
Updated 11 September 2026
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 2 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
- 2 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
- 2 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 2 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 2 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 10 min
Partner comes along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you come along without a job of your own. Administratively you're then no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and when "just staying registered" is allowed after all.
Updated 9 September 2026
- 2 min
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 3 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 6 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
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