Hi
Has anybody parked long term in Marrakesh airport
thinking of parking Irish Registered 4x4 and using Ryanair to fly in and as we now have direct Dublin Marrakesh flights at good price

Any feedback welcome

Thanks
Maurice

Not used the parking but your vehicle needs to enter and leave morocco with you.

Unless things have changed leaving a vehicle behind is very difficult/impossible

There are a number of euro registered vehicles in the long term airport car park
Customs / Duane at airport tell me I must leave Keys and Vehicle Documents with them
I know 6 months is the maximum stay in Moroc for a vehicle , but that is ok by me I can bring it to Mauratinia of Cuta and start another 6 month stay if required

Maurice

Yes you can leave the vehicle, I did the same with the customs at Ouarzazate airport. Your original entry documents will probably be for three months—same as personal entry—so get that sorted at same time. Big penalties if not back and out of the country within six months.

The six month limit is per each calendar year so it includes any earlier visits the same year. The limit is tied to you, not the vehicle. I saw the computerised system in action at Ouarzazate and it records each entry and exit together with vehicle details. The only slip in the system is when you get a new passport and a new police control number is issued rather than carrying over the old one.

.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

On a related point, do you know if we could overnight in the airport car park? Our camper would be quite obvious, but it would be convenient for us and the car park charge woudl be good value.

Yes you can , my friends do it all the time , just be discreet . Failing that there are lots of parking lots very near by .

I have temporarily imported my Landrover Defender into Morocco (but I assume all the following applies to lovely 2 wheeled beauties).

I am writing this post as I have previously searched for this info in the HUBB and could not find a clear answer, maybe its because I have actually stopped my overland trip to work here. So my situation is unique, but isn’t every overland trip unique. I think overlanders on extended trips around Morocco may benefit from this info.

Anyway – the info:

If you drive into Morocco as a tourist you will be given a THREE month tourist visa for yourself.
You will also get a SIX month temporary importation document for your vehicle. (I arrived at the start of October 2014)

You can have your vehicle in the country for a maximum of SIX months … per calendar year.

As I was working here I wanted to FLY home at Christmas and leave my vehicle here. I heard that you could get in trouble if you try to fly out when you have actually driven in to the country as they could assume you have sold your vehicle and not paid import taxes…..

So, I went with a Moroccan friend to the customs office in Casablanca and they advised me what I needed to do.

When I went to Marrakesh airport to fly out I had to
1) Park the car in the general airport car park (Approximately €3 per day)
2) Check in and get my boarding pass
3) Go to customs office (located to the right hand end of the main building when you enter) and give them:

A) The Keys (I guess they could have been any keys really)
B) The original registration document
C) Car parking ticket

Fill in a document with the customs official and he stuck the three things in an envelope with a number on it and put it in a box in a cabinet, this number was then written on a basic sticker that was put on the back of my passport and then I was free to fly out, it was pretty easy to be honest.

When I flew back in a week later I went to the customs office, showed them the passport and they retrieved my keys, reg. doc and car park ticket and I signed a line on a page in their book to say I got the keys back and off I went.

-> THE END!


Next steps:
So I now have a new 3 months tourist visa and I have about the same on my temporary import document. The temporary import doc will run out in April 2015, so I will need to leave the country with my vehicle and re-enter before this date. I will do this in Ceuta, which is a Spanish territory city on the northern coast of Morocco.

I have been advised that when I return into the country I will be given the extra months my vehicle is allowed to be in the country from the calendar year of 2015. So the fact that my vehicle has been in the country for almost 3 months in 2014 right up to new years eve should not effect the 6 months I am due in 2015.

Fingers crossed that’s all correct.

See some posts and pictures from my recent tour around Europe:
Wanderly Wagon | A meandering overland 4x4 Adventure


or …. from my previous Adventure
Argentina2Alaska's Photo Albums at Footstops.com - Free Travel Map & Photo Blog for Travellers

__________________
Thanks
Stephen

For adventure, crashs and breakdown stories go to www.footstops.com/argentina2alaska

Hi Stephen,

Excellent, first hand, up to date information!

Thanks for posting,

Peter

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Atlas Overland - Specialist adventure tour company providing off-road holidays for 4x4 enthusiasts in Europe and North Africa.
Tours to Morocco, Iceland, Arctic Circle, Portugal, Alps, Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Corsica, and UK weekend tours.

So, as I understand the six-month-per-year rule, I could come in July and keep the car in Morocco until June the year after, provided I made a detour to Ceuta around New Years (to renew the laisser passer)?

Has anyone done this or know if it's correct? Thanks Mark

From the Moroccan Douanes website

As a foreigner visiting Morocco, the temporary admission (TA) regime applicable to your personal vehicle registered abroad will be granted to you for a maximum duration of:
Six (06) months , continuous or split per calendar year, in the case of a passenger vehicle ( including motor homes ) or a motorcycle
Three (03) months , split or continuous in the same calendar year, for light commercial vehicles (vans or vans fully coated but without side windows and not equipped with rear seats) used for purely tourist purposes Commercial excluded)

GOOD TO KNOW
- The periods of stay referred to above may not be extended.

- A vehicle which has remained in Morocco for six (6) months may not be reintroduced under the temporary admission regime during the same calendar year even if the vehicle in question is imported by a third party under cover of a non- power of attorney.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Has anybody tried to have another person pick up the vehicle from airport Customs
as I would like to leave my Disco at let friends pick it up and use it

Regarding insurance can anyone see how to purchase Moroc insurance from say AXA on line , as no AXA office in Airport
I usually get mine at car ferry port on the way in to Maroc


Thanks
Maurice

Threads merged and renamed

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

I also would like to hear from anyone who has first hand experience in handing over a vehicle to another person - esp at Marrakech airport.


Thanks


John H


Dessert Worrier

In Agadir a few weeks ago, I went to the customs/douanes office, and asked them about leaving my moto in Maroc. Found a good English speaking agent, who queried the idea, and came back with a single piece of paper which he helped me fill out partially. The only other requirement will be to store the bike in a customs approved storage facility. How many there are of these I did not ask, but the agent called someone at an approved location, and he told me approximately 250 dh per month, so very reasonable.

No one at that time mentioned a six month limit, so this is news to me, although probably true. Also, whether airport parking lots are considered approved storage is a question anyone interested should confirm with customs.

On a similar point, I and my bike are from Canada, and I am now considering leaving the bike in Europe instead of Morroco. Can anyone tell me if this is an expensive proposition, or if it is a different concern in every nation in the EU? Is there a "best country" to leave it in, regarding the difficulties involved? Is there a time limit, just as there may be here in Morroco? I am already 45 days into my 90 days of EU visit allowed out of each 180 day period.

I should probably move this post elsewhere, and will if no one answers here, but on a second note, if my UK passport and nationality are approved this year, how difficult or expensive might it be to import my bike to the UK, or into the EU, perhaps Spain or France?