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Moroccans abroad free to choose their children's names

Thursday, 13 August 2015

A few days after freezing the annual leave for consuls and their staff in all of Morocco’s consulates abroad until further notice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just sent jointly with the Ministry of Interior a circular to the heads of Moroccan diplomatic and consular representations abroad with the aim to simplify the procedures for issues related to the civil status of Moroccans living abroad (MRE).

According to the circular, the heads of diplomatic and consular representations abroad are obliged to guarantee the freedom of parents to choose the first names of their children unconditionally “without attempt to morals and public order ".

The circular reminds the consular staff that there is no list of names banned by the Moroccan authorities. In fact, this list that prohibited certain Amazigh names did exist, but it was abolished in March 2014.

Further, the validity of birth extracts necessary for having a national identity card is now of six months instead of three, currently in place.

Wednesday, August 12, the Foreign Minister, Salaheddine Mezouar, was also briefing at a meeting the managers of his department, selected to strengthen the consular corps.

For the record, these new measures follow the speech of the King on the occasion of the feast of the throne, in which he strongly criticized some of the Moroccan consular corps because of bad treatment of MRE.

King Mohammed VI had therefore called the Foreign Ministry to take the necessary steps to end the dysfunctions observed in some consulates.

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