Hello,

In Rabat at the moment (Jan 2017) and heading south to Mauri. I thought that I would get my Mauri visa whilst in Rabat to save some time.

A couple of fairly surly and unhelpful gents told me that the visa would cost 1,450 Dh, which I suppose is still the old price.

I politely thanked them and told them that I would rather get the visa at the border for the new price of 55 Euros.

Only thing is, they had got hold of some of the details of my passport which they seemed to enter into the computer. I hope they didn't get pissed off with me and put a notation into the system that will make things difficult later on. Only time will tell.

We paid in Euros. I don't think they'd even want local, but I suppose anything's possible.

For the fixer question, having now done it once already, I would use cheikh again.

For a first-timer, nothing is labelled, and finding the right place (particularly when the biometric guys show up 3 hours late) is near impossible. Nobody is helpful.

That's not why I'd buy the fixer, though.

Once the people show up to start doing biometric work, the fixers, on behalf of their clients, re-arrange the order of "presentation" for the border personnel. Constantly. like, fixer A puts his dude on top, then fixer B notices, puts his dude on top, repeat. The border people are diddling with their cell phones while this all goes on. Negotiations occasionally "break out" among the parties. The applicants just line the wall, shell-shocked, while the game plays out.

Cheikh is clearly the biggest A-hole of the group. You want to be the passports he's putting on top of the pile, and you want to be the one on whose behalf he yells at guards, visa processing people, and other fixers, because he seems to win the arguments.

Treat it like an amusing bit of African or Arab bureaucratic theater, and it all makes a bit more sense.

My $0.02

- Mike

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I can confirm the visa fee is now €55 in euros with change given plus €10 for TIP. 6/1/17

I didn't use a fixer, and thanks to wanted's excellent description a few pages back navigated all the buildings with limited French. No coruption or 'cadeau' requested, just bureacracy. Took 3.5 hours from arriving at morocco side to finishing mauritania side. Most time was waiting for the visa guys in mauritania to finish lunch and then prayers (1.5 hours).

No fixer used, again thanks to wanted's descriptions. Those that are therequired generally aren't too bothersome. Cheikh is clearly top dog amongst them and seems pretty reasonable to deal with. All the fixers do is get you to the top of the pile, but it wasn't busy when I crossed so no issue.

I got tip for 20 days just by asking, so no need to extend in nouakchott.

One other thing, the Internet connection they have is unreliable and they can't do the visa without it. This meant the people an hour after me took 7 hours to cross. I also met an Italien guy in nouadhibou who had the same problem. It took him 13 hours including them escorting him and others to nouadhibou airport to do the visa and then taking them back to the border to finish off!

Hope that helps

Thanx for all the info, especially to jamesallen and wanted. Really appreciate it.

Now to other things...I travel low-cost with my friend and we are now in Dakhla. We want to cross the border and get to Noadhibou. We don't have a vehicle and are travelling by hitch-hiking (preferably) and/or public transport.

As far as I understand the border closes at 18h and it is wise to be there as soon as possible in the morning. So...does anyone know about decent hotel options in Guergerat? Decent would mean that the price is ok (up to 100 dh for room for 2 persons) and hassle-free. What are options to get to the border crossing and then navigate the border from Morocco post...through no-mans-lan....to the end of Mauritania post...*without* own vehicle? Is it feasible to count on some european travellers that would be ready to take us with them?

After we successfully navigate the crossing, have visas in our passports and say goodby to the police...what about getting to Noadhibou...? I understand it is still 60-70 km to the town. Buses? Taxis? Hitch-hiking?

Sorry for asking so much...really thanx for all the answers!!
A

Not been there myself for years but the Barbas hotel is 85km form the border and a likely place to get a lift.
No formal lodgings at the Mk border post, afaik.

Most overland travellers have little space in their vehicles, but locals use taxis I'm sure.

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Barbas will be your only lodging. It's basic, cheapish (I seem to recall 30 Eur for a double), and has a restaurant and fuel (which you won't need ) -- No A/C, Fan, or hot water. Wifi is janky and terrible but worked occasionally. Food was good.

...if you don't already have iOverlander, it is vital for discovering these sort of places that everyone uses.

You'll want to get there in early afternoon to start working your hustle to get a ride. I'm sure at some point a taxi or van roll through there, but we didn't see any.

Getting to the border at 9am sharp is possibly to your detriment, as the staff arrive late and there was a backlog for us, which caused delays. I imagine by noon the place is deserted and you can sail through.

$0.02 -- Good luck.

- Mike

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Thank you for the really useful information!!
There is one thing that I would like to confirm.

That means you exchanged Moroccan DH into Euro at Moroccan side at the border?

I don't have enough Euro, so I am worried about it.

Regards,
Yuko

You pay in euros.
Mauretanieans say the northern border post is run by two of the president's sons, so it is a family enterprise (must be lucrative) and if they can't decide on the cost that is a family feud.
Would be interesting to know if they offer multiple entry visa at the border. And what they offer in Rabat.

Moroccans pull back from contested border area:
https://ledesk.ma/2017/02/26/mohamme...-de-guerguerat

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Slightly more detail on the above in an English version...

Morocco says forces to withdraw in Western Sahara's Guerguerat standoff | Reuters

Polisario remain in Guergerate. If they were a bit smarter they would use this strip of land better to their advantage, for information/propaganda/political leverage/commerce (commerce not meaning their beloved contraband)
Sahara occidental : le Front Polisario campe sur ses positions dans la zone de Guergarate - JeuneAfrique.com

Ive been reading all these threads and am driving a vehicle to ghana for an NGO in june.

Has anyone done the crossing morocco to mauri in the last week?

has anything changed due to recent events?

"Morocco says forces to withdraw in Western Sahara's Guerguerat standoff | Reuters"

can anybody tell me the cost of visa/insurance etc and whether they are still doing visa at the border?

When you enter Bir Gandouz (& as marked on the map) there is a hotel behind that first filling station on the right about 200m before Barbas Hotel. It was great, a very clean room with en suite, from memory it cost us about 200Dh or less for a twin room, there's a restaurant downstairs & good wifi.

As for driving down Hazel, I did the same to Cote d'Ivoire mostly alone as a female in December, it's absolutely fine - we all had to drive through the stand off between the Polisario & Moroccans, UN chopper flying overhead & a few UN vehicles on the little mound to the left after the tarmac

At the Mauri border, I kept the fixers at bay and did it myself, I was done in 20mins or so (internet obviously had a good day) ... insurance took minutes, again from memory (left all the details in Cote d'Ivoire) it cost me about 15euros for a Mercedes Sprinter on the shortest time they'd give me, spent a total of 3 days in Mauri.

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Here is a quick update on the visa situation in Rabat.

I got to the embassy at 8am, first in line. Yes! 5 minutes later, the embassy caretaker comes out and tells me that I can not obtain a visa. He said to go to the border.

Upon closer inspection of the information board, there was a partially obstructed notice dated 07 March 2017 that read (Google translation from French):

No more (at least temporarily) visas in Rabat. Saving time at the border turned into wasting time in Rabat.

What else was of interest was a notice dated 17 January 2017:
* please tell me this is just the application itself! The French is: "Invitation au nom de l'intéressé"

Has anybody obtained a visa since 17 Jan and can confirm requirements?

I just came back from Morocco-Mauritania-Senegal trip.(March-April 2017)
No problem for visa at the border
55€ - no photo - biometric visa
10€ for motorcycle importation
25 for insurance
1 hr total
that's all