Moving to morocco in may & have some questions!

Hello all--I'm new to the group.  moving to Marrakech in May and am hoping someone can help me out with a few questions--I appreciate any advice!

what documents I'll need to get a residency permit (not to work, just to stay)--do I need fingerprints/FBI background check or anything from the US before I leave here?

should I buy a kindle to read books?--shipping books is too pricey.  will I be able to download books (and movies off of Netflix) in Marrakech?

is skype the way to go for international calls?

Thanks so much for any help--Jen

Welcome on board jenwass ;)

I hope you will get some responses in regards to your various interesting questions soon.

Regards

Kindle and Skype are indeed the way to go, internet connection here is good, you can buy a dongle for your laptop from Maroc Telecom for Mad200, works pretty well. As far as I'm aware you can't get residence just to stay, you have to have some kind of reason - job, marrying a local etc etc and the process will be dependent on the reason you are applying so you would have to check this out specifically for your case. I guess the Moroccan embassy in the US should be able to advise. Good luck with it, from first impressions Morocco is a great place....!!

hello i live in Morocco and have the nationality.  I am also working here. when you come here in May I'll certainly be able to help in finding a job.

Regards

hi there,

Netflix does not work here, for some reason Netflix decided to block ip addresses that are not US or canada based. There are some ways around it like if you have a VPN access, but don't bother, you can find all kind of movies and shows for 7DHS/DVD, that's about $1. Kindle of course you can bring one, and I recommend that you bring it cuz it's not easy to find US literature here.
Skype is one way to go, internet connection is good and cheap, but I have an iPhone so there are few apps I use to text and call for free, whatsapp for text and viber for phone. Another phone alternative is Vonage, it's great, get a line from there and bring the modem with you, you can plug it to your internet at home and you will be using it with a US phone #
As far as i know you don't really need documentation, your passport should do and you can get everything you need from the US consulate in Casablanca. But like the gentleman said, you have to have a reason to stay in Morocco for the authorities to provide you with a Moroccan green card, a job with a contract should do it. Make sure you bring your degrees, certifications or whatever you have, plus your pay tubs from previous jobs, that's how they verify your past job experiences, I had tons of problems with that because I couldn't get pay stubs.
The one thing I highly recommend you do is register with the Consulate in Casablanca as soon as you get to Morocco. 

Feel free to hit me up in my inbox if you have questions or even need assistance, I'll be happy to help a fellow American...

Good luck

T

Hi Jen-

Just make sure you "border hop" every 90 days if you're staying here without working.  You may think the rules are pretty lax as far as residency goes, but they are definitely not... and you could get into trouble for overstaying without working.  There are SUPER cheap flights (we're talking 80 bucks roundtrip) to European cities, especially Spain through cheap carriers like easyjet, jet4u and Ryanair OR you can drive up to one of the Spanish provinces (Ceuta) and do a quick border crossing and back into Morocco.

I know, a pain... but don't get caught overstaying.  Not worth the trouble!  Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions. :)