Employment in Morocco: Hiring a Foreigner, The Procedure to Follow

Hiring a foreign employee is subject to a procedure strictly regulated by a circular from the Ministry of Employment. In its general economy, the prescriptions of this circular are inspired by the principle of national preference. To hire a foreign national employee, an employer must prove that there is no equivalent national profile on the market.

1- Except for three cases: Senegalese, Tunisians and Algerians
All other foreigners are subject to the obligation of a work permit to carry out salaried activity in Morocco. This permit is issued by the services of the Ministry of Employment after an opinion issued by the Anapec (National Agency for Employment and Skills) at the end of the processing of a detailed application submitted by the employer.
To justify the non-existence of the profile sought among Moroccans, any request is subject to the prior publication of two job advertisements in the press (one in a French-speaking newspaper and another in an Arabic-speaking newspaper). Not in just any newspaper, however. This advertisement must benefit from a minimum of visibility and audience. Only newspapers with a circulation of more than 10,000 copies can receive these advertisements. This lock has been put in place to combat any possible circumvention of the spirit of the procedure.
Applications will be sent to the newspaper which will forward them to the Anapec. A period of 10 days is allowed to receive the application files and process them. At the end of the processing of a file, a selection report is drawn up by the Anapec, the conclusions of which are decisive on the opinion of the Agency as to the availability or not of a Moroccan profile. The problem is that the Anapec only consults its database, which does not list all the people looking for a job.

2- Exemption from the Work Permit
The following are exempt from the work permit:

• Nationals of Tunisia, Algeria and Senegal,
• Spouses of Moroccan nationals,
• People born in Morocco and having resided there for at least 6 months
• Managers, co-managers and shareholders of companies, experts seconded as part of technical expertise and for a period of less than 6 months,
• People seconded to Morocco by the parent company for a limited period (2 to 3 years) are not subject to this obligation.
• Chairmen and CEOs of companies are also exempt, no doubt so as not to hinder foreign investors. It would have been inconceivable to impose on them the management of their company.

This flexibility also concerns sport and cultural activities. Football players and artists are exempt from the work permit. For the latter, the duration of residence must not exceed three months.



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