TANGIER – The Morocco’s E-visa is turning out to be a massive successs as the country has issued more than 80,000 visas to foreigners interested in visiting the country.
As per the figures shared by the head of government, Aziz Akhannouch, Morocco launched its online e-visa platform in July last year and facilitated the process of obtaining visas for foreigners from 49 countries.
The vision behind the e-visa was to present the country as an attractive destination for tourists who had to go through bureaucracy to get the visa earlier. The interesting aspect of the visa is that the approval can be granted within 24 to 72 hours.
Through the e-visa, stay for upto 30 days is allowed with the option to extend it for up to six months. The country reopened its borders last year as the social distancing protocols were relaxed and since then has been able to attract tourists in large numbers.
Data compiled by the Morocco’s Ministry of Tourism said the country was visited by nearly 11 million tourists in 2022, representing 84% of the tourist arrivals recorded in 2019. As far as the economic impact is concerned, these visitors generated more than 91 billion dirhams in revenue, exceeding the global average of 63% in tourism recovery.
By the end of 2022, Morocco recorded more than 19 million overnight stays which is an increase of 75.2% compared to pre-Covid levels.
The Tourism Minister Fatima Zahra Ammor expects the country to welcome more visitors due to the e-visa system; a 2023-2026 roadmap to further strengthen the tourism industry has also been unveiled, which includes attracting 17.5 million tourists and generating MAD120 billion in revenue by 2026, as well as creating 200,000 job opportunities.
Eligibility for E-visa
The citizens who are able to get the e-visa for morocco are listed below:
Nationals of countries, defined by the competent Moroccan authorities (Thailand and Israel as a first step); foreign nationals holding a residence or stay permit valid for at least 180 days on the date of application for the e-visa and residing in one of the EU countries, the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, New Zealand and Switzerland as well as foreign nationals holding non-electronic visas of Schengen countries, the United States Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand, with multiple entries and that are valid for at least 90 days as of the date of submission of the eVisa application.
