Before you start

A long-stay visa from a Moroccan consulate for nationalities that need one; many nationalities enter visa-free for ninety days and apply from within Morocco
An address in Marrakech, with a legalised lease, a property deed, or an attestation d'hébergement
A criminal-record extract from your country of origin, obtained before departure
For a work mention: an employment contract visaed by the Ministry of Employment after an ANAPEC attestation

Step-by-step

1
Identify the commissariat for your address
The service des étrangers sits within the police district covering where you live, and a medina address and a Gueliz address are not the same office. In the medina, ask the moqaddem for your derb — he will know, and you will need him for the next step anyway.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Get the attestation de résidence
The moqaddem and the local authority issue a certificate that you actually live at the stated address. In the medina this is a person who knows every household in the derb, and the certificate is straightforward once you have introduced yourself. Without it, the file does not proceed.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–2
3
Legalise the lease, the deed and the passport copy
Morocco requires official legalisation of copies and signatures, done at the moqata'a or commune. Plain photocopies are refused. If you own the property, the title deed and its legalised copy replace the lease.
In personWho: You
4
Add the medical certificate and photographs
A certificat médical less than three months old from any Moroccan doctor, plus around eight identity photographs. Both are quick and both expire — do them last, not first.
In personWho: You
5
Submit, take the récépissé, and use it
A complete file yields a récépissé in around twenty days and the card roughly fifteen days after that. The récépissé is itself usable — for the bank, for NARSA, for a landlord. Do not treat the waiting period as dead time.
In personWho: You≈35 daysAround MAD 100 plus timbres
6
Choose the right mention for how you actually live
'Visiteur' suits retirees and people on income from abroad but carries an undertaking not to work in Morocco. 'Travail' needs a visaed contract. A commercial mention needs a registered Moroccan business. Taking a visiteur card and then running a business is the mismatch that causes problems at renewal.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport plus a legalised copy
Legalised lease, property deed, or attestation d'hébergement
Attestation de résidence from the moqaddem or local authority
Medical certificate under three months old
Criminal-record extract from your country of origin (Moroccan extract at renewal)
Proof of resources, for the visiteur mention
Around eight identity photographs

Things most newcomers don’t know

Living in Marrakech on rolling ninety-day stays is common, and it is not a status.

Many nationalities enter visa-free for ninety days with one possible extension, and a substantial part of Marrakech's foreign population lives on that cycle indefinitely. It is not illegal in itself, but it accumulates nothing: no residence history toward the four-year carte de résidence, no ability to exchange a driving licence, and no answer when a notary or a bank asks for a residence card. It also depends on being readmitted each time, which is at the border officer's discretion.

Source: loi 02-03

In the medina, the moqaddem is a person, and that changes the process.

The attestation de résidence is signed by the neighbourhood official, and in a medina derb that is someone who knows exactly who lives behind each door. Introducing yourself when you move in — rather than turning up months later needing a signature — makes this a five-minute errand instead of an investigation. It is also how you find out about the water, the neighbours and the building.

Source: local practice

The mention on your card has to match how you actually earn.

The card carries a stated purpose. A 'visiteur' card is granted on proof of resources from outside Morocco and carries an undertaking not to undertake paid activity here. Plenty of people take one and then quietly run a guest house or a business, and it surfaces at renewal, at a tax registration, or when a licensing authority checks. If your life here involves earning in Morocco, get the mention that says so.

Source: loi 02-03

Morocco has no visa for remote workers, and Marrakech is where that gap is most visible.

The city has fast internet, cheap living and a European time zone, and a large population of people working remotely for foreign clients. There is no Moroccan instrument covering them. The realistic legal options are a residence card obtained through a registered Moroccan company, or a visiteur card with income from abroad and no Moroccan work — not a nomad visa, because there is not one.

Source: loi 02-03