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When a loved one dies abroad

The consulate issues the authorisation to bring the body home. Insurance usually pays; the State helps families who cannot.

Checked: October 2026

Key facts

  • The authorisation to transfer the body is requested at the consulate that covers the place of death. No appointment is needed.
  • Costs are paid by the family or by repatriation insurance, often included with a Moroccan bank account for residents abroad.
  • For a person without insurance whose family cannot pay, the ministry in charge of Moroccans abroad can cover repatriation. The request goes through the consulate.
  • The body must be met at the Moroccan border by the person who signed the commitment.

Steps

  1. Call the consulate and a funeral home. The funeral home handles the local formalities.
  2. Give the consulate the details: identity, date, place and cause of death, burial place in Morocco, arrival date and border post, and who pays.
  3. Collect the authorisation with the documents below. Two sets travel with the coffin.
  4. Afterwards, have the death transcribed in the Moroccan civil register at the consulate.

What to bring

  • Death certificate
  • CNIE or Moroccan passport of the deceased, or failing that the CNIE or passport of a close relative
  • Certificate from the funeral home that the coffin is hermetically sealed
  • Medical certificate of no contagious disease
  • Local authorisation for the body to leave the country
  • For State support: proof of the family's lack of means, proof that the deceased lived abroad more than six months, and a signed commitment to receive the coffin

Watch out

  • Check today whether you and your parents have repatriation insurance. It costs little and spares the family a collection at the worst moment.
  • The consulate emergency lines are in our Directory.

Official sources

consulat.maconsulat.ma (2)

Checked: October 2026. Independent guide, not a government site. Rules change: confirm on the official page before you act.

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Health and assistanceThe assistance and repatriation contracts sold by each bank, the main hospitals, and what your health insurance covers during a stay.

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