Before you start

Passport, and carte de séjour or récépissé
Proof of address in Casablanca
Evidence of the source of funds — an employment contract, or foreign currency import declarations and exchange receipts
A decision, made in advance, about which type of account you need

Step-by-step

1
Work out where your income comes from before you walk into a branch
Paid by a Moroccan employer in dirhams? You need an ordinary resident account, and the transferable share of your net salary is handled separately under the exchange rules. Paid from abroad? You want a convertible-dirham or foreign-currency account so the money keeps its right to leave. Many people need both.
In personWho: YouBefore opening anything
2
Open the convertible-dirham account with the right paperwork
Funds must be credited from the proceeds of selling foreign currency, or from transfers from abroad, with the currency import declaration or exchange receipt — and those receipts are time-limited, generally a month. Keep every one. The receipts are what prove the money came in from outside, which is what makes it eligible to go back out.
In personWho: You
3
Pick a bank with a functioning international desk
Attijariwafa, BMCE Bank of Africa, Banque Populaire and Société Générale Maroc all handle foreign residents routinely and have English- or French-speaking desks in Casablanca. Branch quality varies far more than bank quality — ask colleagues which specific branch they use.
In personWho: You
4
Set up your cards and expect cash to still matter
Card acceptance in Casablanca is good in supermarkets, chains and restaurants and poor in the medina, small groceries, taxis and among tradespeople. Withdrawal fees at other banks' ATMs are real. Keep small notes; breaking a MAD 200 note in a petit taxi is a daily friction.
In personWho: You
5
Declare foreign investment when you make it
If you are putting capital into a Moroccan company or buying property with money brought from abroad, the investment should be declared to the Office des Changes at the time. That declaration is what preserves your right to repatriate dividends and sale proceeds later. Undeclared money is very hard to send home.
In personWho: You
6
Never assume you can move money out later
Transfers abroad by residents are permitted only within defined categories and against justification — net salary after tax, investment income, pensions, and specified current transfers. There is no general right to wire dirhams overseas. Plan your currency position on the way in, not on the way out.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Carte de séjour or récépissé
Proof of address
Foreign currency import declaration or bank exchange receipts, for a convertible account
Employment contract or company documents, depending on income source

Things most newcomers don’t know

Convertible versus ordinary dirhams is the single most consequential decision a newcomer makes here.

The dirham is not freely convertible, and the difference between the two account types is whether your money can ever leave Morocco. A convertible-dirham account is funded from foreign currency you bring in — with the exchange receipt or import declaration as evidence — and can be debited to buy currency and transfer abroad. An ordinary resident account cannot. People paid from outside Morocco who convert into an ordinary account have effectively committed that money to the country, and no amount of arguing with a branch afterwards changes it.

Source: Office des Changes

Keep every foreign-currency exchange receipt, and note that they expire.

Crediting a convertible account requires the currency import declaration or the bank's exchange receipt, and those documents are generally only accepted within about a month of issue. This turns a filing habit into a financial control: the receipt is the proof that the money originated abroad. Lose it, or leave the cash in a drawer for two months, and the same money becomes ordinary dirhams.

Source: Office des Changes

Retirees taking the 80% tax reduction are choosing to give up convertibility.

Article 76 of the Code Général des Impôts grants an 80% reduction of tax due on a foreign-source pension — but only on the portion transferred permanently into a NON-convertible dirham account, with bank evidence that it cannot be re-transferred. That is a genuine, generous benefit and it is a genuine, irreversible commitment of the money to Morocco. Relocation blogs describe the reduction and omit the condition.

Source: Direction Générale des Impôts, CGI art. 76

Declare the investment when the money arrives, not when you want it back.

Foreign capital invested in Morocco — a company, a property, a business — carries a right to repatriate income and sale proceeds, but that right rests on the investment having been declared to the Office des Changes at the time it was made, in convertible currency through the banking system. Buying a riad with cash brought informally is the version of this that goes wrong, and it goes wrong years later when someone wants to sell.

Source: Office des Changes

Common mistakes to avoid

Opening an ordinary resident dirham account when your income comes from abroad.
Discarding currency import declarations and exchange receipts.
Assuming a Moroccan bank can wire dirhams abroad on request — there is no general right to do so.
Bringing investment capital in informally instead of through a declared banking transfer.
Relying on cards outside the modern retail districts.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.