Your First 30 Days in Morocco: A Relocation Checklist

The first month is easier when you put tasks in a useful order. An address helps with deliveries and appointments; reliable communication helps with almost everything. Some documents may need arranging before you leave your previous country.

Use the boxes below on paper or in a saved copy. Mark tasks that do not apply N/A. The week headings are suggested planning windows: a legal deadline or an urgent medical need takes priority over the order here. Day 30 is a review point, not a promise that every application will be finished.

Before arrival: remove the avoidable obstacles

• Confirm the basis of your stay. Check entry and residence requirements for your passport and purpose of travel with the Moroccan consulate responsible for your application. If you will work, ask about the permissions needed for that work before starting. Use our entry guide to identify the relevant pathway.
• List actual deadlines. Record the dates relevant to your permission to stay, application appointments, employment and existing insurance. Do not infer them from the title of this checklist.
• Ask about documents produced abroad. Establish whether your particular application needs civil records, police certificates, qualifications or other evidence, and the required translation or authentication. Avoid ordering a generic relocation bundle before checking.
• Arrange an arrival address. Confirm how to enter the accommodation, who will meet you, what happens if the flight is late and whether your phone will work when you arrive.
• Arrange continuity of healthcare. Discuss ongoing treatment and medication with your clinician. Check that your insurance fits living in Morocco rather than assuming a holiday policy covers the move. The British government’s health guidance also warns that sourcing particular medicines locally can be difficult.
• Keep essential records accessible. Save secure copies of identification, bookings, prescriptions and relevant certificates, with originals carried appropriately. Retain access to your existing phone number or another authentication method for important accounts.

Days 1–3: make yourself reachable

• Save your address and entrance. Add the building name, floor, local landmark and host’s contact details. Test that you can find it without an internet connection.
• Get working calls and data. Test a call and message rather than assuming an installed SIM or eSIM is fully working. Keep a backup way to reach your accommodation. See the SIM and mobile data guide.
• Check access to money. Make a modest withdrawal or payment and inspect the fees. Keep a second payment method available separately. Do not carry the whole month’s spending in cash.
• Locate everyday essentials. Find a food shop, pharmacy and transport pickup point close to home. Save your insurer’s assistance number and the location of a suitable medical provider.
• Check the accommodation. Record existing damage and ask how to report maintenance problems. Test keys, hot water, appliances and the internet you expect to use.

The aim is to be able to eat, sleep, communicate and get help without turning each task into a new search.

Days 4–7: confirm the administrative sequence

• Contact the office responsible for your residence application, if applicable. Ask for the requirements for your category and local address, the submission process and any appointment arrangements. The residency guide explains the process. For British readers, the FCDO’s residence section identifies local police or gendarmerie offices as the application contact; confirm your own case with the Moroccan authority.
• Make a document tracker. Give each required item a status: already held, requested, translation needed or ready to submit. Record any stated validity period and who specified it.
• Ask banks what your situation allows. Explain your residence status, income source and how you expect to move money. Ask for the account’s written terms and required documents. Use the bank account guide to understand the questions before choosing a product.
• Try the journeys that will shape your week. Test work, school or regular appointments at the time you would actually travel, including the return trip.
• Start a spending record. Separate deposits and setup purchases from repeat costs such as groceries, transport and meals.

If one institution requires a document from another, write down the dependency and ask what alternatives it accepts. Do not assume a neighbour’s file is a complete list for yours.

Days 8–14: choose a home that works on weekdays

• Review the address against daily needs. Consider noise, stairs, lift access, shopping, transport and the journeys you tested. Revisit a shortlisted property at another time of day where possible.
• Understand the tenancy before signing. Establish the rent, deposit, inventory, payment record, notice arrangements and responsibility for repairs. Get help with language or legal terms you do not understand. Start with the renting guide.
• Record utility arrangements. Ask who holds each account, how bills are paid and what must change when you move in. Keep meter readings and relevant handover records. Follow the utilities and home internet guide for the services at your address.
• Test the connection where you will use it. Make a work call from the room you intend to work in. Ask about installation dates and cancellation terms before purchasing a service.
• Make a healthcare plan. Identify a clinician for ongoing needs, check appointment language and payment arrangements, and establish how prescriptions will continue.
• Submit ready applications at the appropriate time. Keep acknowledgements, receipts and instructions for follow-up. Record what the office says about outstanding items.

Days 15–21: add the parts that make it a life

• Choose one repeat activity. Try a class, sports session or reading group that fits your language, budget and journey home.
• Learn the building routine. Confirm rubbish arrangements, deliveries, shared spaces and the maintenance contact.
• Find two useful local services. A laundry and a repair contact are a reasonable start. Agree prices and turnaround before leaving items.
• Arrange useful language practice. Bring real situations to a teacher: a phone call, an appointment or a shopping exchange.
• Reconcile spending. Compare the first weeks with your intended budget, excluding one-off setup costs when estimating a normal month.

Our guide to settling into daily life develops these tasks. In Casablanca, use the culture and leisure directory to find an activity worth returning to.

Days 22–30: follow up and adjust

• Review every pending application. Check the next required action against your receipts and office instructions. Follow up through the stated channel when due.
• Confirm recurring payments. Record due dates, payment methods and whose name appears on each account.
• Update important contacts. Give the appropriate institutions your current address and contact details where required. Keep your previous accounts accessible until changes are complete.
• Review insurance and ongoing care. Confirm that the arrangements you made before travel still match your address, activities and medical needs.
• Decide what to change next month. A difficult commute, unused membership or unsuitable flat deserves attention before it becomes an expensive habit.

Add the tasks that belong to your household

A useful end-of-month record is simple: completed tasks, pending tasks with a named contact and next action, and changes you want to make. Keep that record even when the cardboard boxes are gone.