Reviewed by Carlos Vargas, Texas Licensed Funeral Director (TFSC #119648) ·
Which Moroccan office covers Texas is not published
We could not establish from an official source which Moroccan office serves a family in Dallas. The Texas Secretary of State’s list of foreign consulates in Texas has no Morocco entry at all. The Consulate General in New York publishes its address but states no consular jurisdiction and does not mention Texas. No Moroccan page we found assigns United States states to a particular office.
So begin with the embassy in Washington, which publishes the procedure. Its services page gives the consular annex at 1601 21st St NW, Washington, DC 20009, the address sc-washington@maec.gov.ma and the telephone +1 (202) 499 1050, and says appointments are mandatory for all consular services. One line in that notice matters here: appointments are not required for pick up, and the page lists requests for body repatriation among the things collected that way.
The checklist the embassy publishes
Under the heading transfer of body remains for inhumation in Morocco, the embassy’s page lists nine items: the American death certificate; the CNIE or the Moroccan passport of the person who died; a hermetic certificate issued by a funeral home; a burial-transit permit; an affidavit of embalming and shipping certificate; the address and telephone number of the family in Morocco; the place of burial in Morocco, meaning cemetery and city; the border of entry of the remains; and proof of covering repatriation costs, which the page describes as insurance or engagement of the family.
A note on wording. The embassy’s English page prints hermetic beer certificate, which is plainly a slip for bier, the sealed casket. A Texas funeral director will know the document meant, but write it out in full when you ask, so nothing is lost between two offices.
Three items families do not expect
Most of the list is the ordinary file any country asks for. Three items are decisions, not documents, and each one can hold up the rest. The place of burial must be named, by cemetery and by city. The border of entry of the remains must be named, which means the airport the body will arrive through is settled before the file is submitted rather than when a flight is booked. And the embassy asks for proof that the cost is covered, either an insurance policy or a written undertaking by the family.
Settle all three in the first days, with the relatives in Morocco on the call. Families often assume the cemetery can be chosen later, and in this procedure it cannot. Our guide to costs explains what a written undertaking usually has to show.
Registering the death with Moroccan civil status
The same page carries a separate and shorter list for death registration, and it is a different task from moving the body. It asks for a declaration form downloaded from the page, the American death certificate, the Moroccan family book, the Moroccan passport and identity card of the person who died, the marriage certificate if the person was married, and the identity document and birth certificate of the widow.
The family book is the item that catches people out, because it usually sits in Morocco rather than in Texas. Ask early who holds it. Registration matters later for inheritance, pensions and bank accounts, and it is not done by the same visit that produces the transfer authorization.
Morocco is in the apostille system
The HCCH status table, read on September 21, 2026, shows Morocco acceding on November 27, 2015 with the Convention entering into force for it on August 14, 2016. The table records one objection to that accession, from Germany, and none from the United States, so a certificate issued by the Texas Secretary of State is the normal route for a Texas document; the authentication FAQ explains how to obtain one.
Having said that, the embassy’s own list does not mention an apostille, a legalization or a translation anywhere. Do not assume either way. Ask the embassy in writing whether it wants the Texas death certificate apostilled and whether an Arabic or French translation is required, and order more certified copies than seem necessary, because one original goes into the file.
Routes and what the carriers publish
Royal Air Maroc sells tickets between Dallas/Fort Worth and Casablanca, which makes it the obvious carrier to ask about first, though a passenger route is never by itself acceptance of a casket. RAM Cargo’s special cargo page says it specialises in transporting both cremated and uncremated human remains worldwide, but publishes no document list, no packing standard and no fee. Turkish Cargo is the main alternative through Istanbul, and it does publish a list, including a death certificate approved by the consulate and translated into Turkish.
That Turkish requirement is a useful warning. A carrier can impose its own paperwork on top of the embassy’s, and the two lists are not the same. Ask the funeral director which carrier and routing are proposed, and have the cargo desk confirm acceptance for the date before any relative is given one.
| Step | Who to ask |
|---|---|
| Death certificate, hermetic casket, embalming affidavit | The funeral director here |
| Apostille on the Texas documents, if asked for | Texas Secretary of State |
| The transfer authorization and which office handles Texas | Embassy of Morocco in Washington |
| Cemetery, city and the point of entry | The family in Morocco |
| Acceptance of the casket and the routing | The airline’s cargo department |
Who pays
We found no Moroccan statement that the state meets the cost of a return. The embassy’s list points the other way: it asks the family to prove the cost is covered, by insurance or by its own written undertaking, before the transfer is authorized. Plan on the family, an insurer or an employer paying, and read the guide to government schemes and the insurance and assistance guide for the places worth asking.
Questions families ask about a return to Morocco
- Is there a Moroccan consulate in Texas?
- The Texas Secretary of State's list of foreign consulates in the state has no Morocco entry, and no Moroccan page we found assigns Texas to a particular office. Start with the embassy in Washington and ask it to confirm which office handles your case.
- What does the embassy ask for that other countries do not?
- Three things that are decisions rather than papers: the cemetery and city of burial, the border of entry the remains will arrive through, and proof that the cost is covered by insurance or by the family's written undertaking.
- Does a Texas apostille work for Morocco?
- Morocco has been in the Apostille Convention since August 2016 and the United States raised no objection, so the Texas certificate is the normal route. The embassy's own list does not mention it, so confirm in writing what it wants.
Sources checked and case confirmation
Sources checked September 21, 2026. The embassy publishes no fee for this service, no translation rule and no jurisdiction map, and each of those absences is stated above rather than filled in. Rules change, so confirm the documents, any fee, the route and the receiving arrangements for the individual case. Contact Vargas–London with the city in Morocco and where your relative is now, without sending medical or identity documents through the inquiry form.
