Nasser Bourita, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Cooperation, has explained that his country’s decision to refuse to issue visas to husbands of Moroccan women that are not of Moroccan nationality is a sovereign right and that each country manages its own system.
During a parliamentary session, the Minister responded to the Member of Parliament Khalid Es-Satte’s question, also noting that the country can apply specific measures according to its own applicable rules, VisaGuide.World reports.
On the other hand, MP Khalid Es-Satte noted that this measure would affect the husbands and children of Moroccan women, especially those that live in countries like Syria, Iraq and Palestine.
“The spouses of these Moroccans are seeing their visa applications rejected for them and their children by the consular services, especially in Arab countries,” he said.
The Minister pointed out that the new laws prevent families from spending time with their loved ones and returning to their home country, giving them “a bad image of Morocco”.
On the other hand, Morocco previously announced it would issue E-visas to nationals of four countries – Jordan, India, Azerbaijan and Guatemala, while the country intends to digitalize the administration service further.
“This decision comes within the framework of the efforts made by the Kingdom, at the national and international levels, aimed at the digitalization of public administration services, in particular those related to consular action at the level of diplomatic missions and consulates of the Kingdom,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out in a press release.
In addition, the Moroccan government launched Access Maroc last year, which is an online platform established to facilitate the process of holding an E-visa, which has a validity duration of 180 days after being issued. By adding Jordan, India and two other countries, Morocco takes the total number of countries with such a service to 53.
The North-African country has been severely hit by restrictions introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the post-pandemic period is showing that tourism revenues reached $6.77 billion last year- a 148.9 per cent increase compared to 2021 rates.
The Spanish Consulting firm, Bloom Consulting, has ranked Morocco as the top third-best destination for tourism in the African continent, in addition to being selected as the fourth-best country for trade.
A total of 10.9 million tourists were recorded in Morocco in 2022, spending a total of 7.9 million overnight stays. These rates are up by 23 percent compared to 2021 and have surpassed pre-pandemic levels by one percent.
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