Algerian media outlets have been circulating information over the past two days about a new tightening of restrictions on Algerian citizens traveling to Morocco . According to these reports, this is represented by the refusal to allow a number of them to board flights to the Kingdom because they do not possess a valid Moroccan residence permit.
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The Algerian that Air France had refused in recent days to board a number of Algerian nationals who were heading to Morocco, whether through French airports or through flights that included a stopover in them.
The citing sources it described as identical, said that the travelers had the required travel documents, before the company justified its decision by saying they did not possess a “valid residence permit issued by the Moroccan authorities.”
Algerian travelers last Saturday who were prevented from entering Moroccan territory after arriving at Casablanca International Airport in Morocco on a flight of Tunisian Airlines, and they returned to Tunisia on the same flight they came from.
One of the travelers who came to Morocco for tourism said that Moroccan border guards at the airport informed them that they could not enter Morocco, speaking of instructions they had received not to allow Algerians to enter without giving specific reasons.
According to the Algerian the Moroccan authorities have issued new instructions prohibiting Algerian citizens who do not hold a valid Moroccan residence permit from traveling to the Kingdom, in a measure that the newspaper said came into effect as of September 16, 2026.
it obtained a copy of an internal document stating that the teams responsible for handling passengers of Swissport, which operates Air France flights from Algiers and Oran airports, were informed of the need to verify that every Algerian passenger heading to Morocco has a valid Moroccan residence card.
According to the document published by the newspaper, the instructions stipulate that Algerian travelers will be permitted to travel if they possess a valid Moroccan residency permit, but will be denied entry to Morocco if they do not have this document. Al-Hayat newspaper indicated that the correspondence attributes these instructions to the Moroccan border police.
According to the instructions required the agents to place an alert in the “ALTEA” system on the files of travelers heading to Morocco, including travelers whose journeys include a transit station, while refusing travel to the Algerian citizen who does not hold a Moroccan residence card and informing him that the procedure is issued by the Moroccan authorities.
The correspondence, according to also included instructions to strictly implement the procedure to avoid "INAD" cases, which are instances where a traveler reaches the borders of the destination country but is then refused entry by the authorities of that country. According to the newspaper, these cases can result in the airline incurring costs and liabilities related to the passenger's return.
In contrast, according to the information currently published on the Moroccan tourism portal, Algerian nationality is still listed among the nationalities exempt from visa requirements for short tourist stays.
These developments come amid the ongoing diplomatic rift between Algeria and Morocco, which began on August 24, 2021, and the accompanying reciprocal measures that have affected the movement of people and transport between the two countries. The land border has been closed for 33 years, and there are currently no direct flights between Algeria and Morocco, forcing travelers wishing to cross between the two countries to transit through other nations.
In September 2024, Algeria took a further step in the crisis by reinstating visa requirements for Moroccan passport holders. The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced at the time that the government had decided to "immediately reinstate" the requirement for all foreigners holding Moroccan passports to obtain a visa to enter Algerian territory. Authorities justified the decision on national security grounds, citing what they described as the exploitation of the visa exemption system for activities that undermine Algeria's stability and security.
It is worth noting that Algeria announced on August 24, 2021, the severing of its diplomatic relations with Morocco due to what it described as its neighbor's "hostile policies since independence." Among the reasons cited by Algeria in its decision were "the Moroccan royal representative's demand for the right to self-determination for the Kabylie region in Algeria, the Israeli foreign minister's threats against Algeria from Moroccan territory, Morocco's use of the Israeli Pegasus spyware to spy on Algeria, and other historical issues between the two countries."
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