Morocco's Foreign Ministry vows to digitize MREs services

Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita said, on January 24, that his ministry is processing in digitizing a number of services for the Moroccan community living abroad (MREs).

Bourita confirmed during the oral questions session in the House of Representatives, that 20 Moroccan consular services abroad will enable the Moroccan community overseas to obtain a national card and passport remotely in the upcoming weeks, without the need to travel.

This government official stated that the digitalization of services will be generalized, even for birth certificate extracts.

Bourita indicated that the solution to the community’s administrative problems lies mainly in digitization, noting that the number of consulates and employees remains insufficient.

“We have started experiencing taking appointments remotely, which enabled 1.37 million Moroccans to make an appointment without the need to come to the consulate,” he added.

This government official also called on parliamentarians to invoke the reality of the Moroccan community living abroad during the approval of some bills, noting that the civil status law neglected the community, adding his Ministry is trying to collaborate with the Interior Ministry for this aim.

On the other hand, the Foreign Affairs Minister revealed that the number of Moroccans living abroad registered with the consulates is 5,300,000, indicating that this community needs closer consulates.

“For now, we have 56 consulates, and during the last three years we have opened 3 consulates in Naples, Murcia, and Toronto,” Bourita said.

“There are criteria we adopt in order to open consulates, but for now the consular map has to be reconsidered in order to respond to the presence of the Moroccan community in some places abroad,” he said, noting that there is some work to be done in the Paris region, Galicia, northern Italy, the Gulf states and Africa, but the goal is not to open more consulates, but to reconsider the map.