Tracking a file at the land registry and the cadastre in Morocco

01First, which file are you tracking?

The land registry office (conservation foncière, المحافظة العقارية) keeps land titles and registration applications; the cadastre service (مصلحة المسح العقاري) checks the plans. Both belong to the National Agency for Land Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (ANCFCC). Depending on your situation, you are tracking one of these files:

• A land registration application (réquisition d'immatriculation, مطلب التحفيظ): the land is not yet titled and the procedure leading to a land title is under way.

• A recording request

  a deed (sale, partition, gift, mortgage, release…) or a judgment has been filed to be recorded on an existing title. This is the most common case after a purchase or an inheritance.

• An online order

  certificate of ownership, cadastral plan or area calculation ordered on the portal.

• A technical file (dossier technique, الملف التقني): subdivision, housing estate, co-ownership, merger, bringing the title plan into line with the site, or re-establishing boundary markers, prepared by a surveying engineer and filed with the cadastre service.

• A request linked to the registration procedure

  objection or withdrawal of an objection, repeat survey, additional survey. Decree No. 2-18-181 of 10 December 2018 allows these to be submitted electronically as well (Article 11).

One project often combines several files. Example in Fez: to divide a titled plot, three heirs will go through a technical subdivision file at the cadastre, then a partition deed filed for recording. Each is tracked separately.

02The numbers to keep, and where to find them

Without the right reference, no service can tell you anything. Keep together:

• The application number

  it appears on the receipt issued when the registration application is filed (Article 13 of the Dahir of 12 August 1913 on land registration).

• The year and the receipt order number

  every filing is entered in the filing register by order number (Article 76 of the Dahir), and the 2018 decree assigns this number "according to the date and time" of receipt, whether the request is physical or electronic (Article 12). It appears on the filing receipt as number/year. The sample receipt published by the ANCFCC ("وصل إيداع وثائق من أجل الدراسة") also shows the filing date, the land reference, the type of operation and a date set for paying or collecting the documents.

• The tracking code

  for an electronic request, the applicant receives a tracking code, which is why a mobile number or e-mail address must be given (2018 decree, Article 12). For a certificate, plan or area calculation order, the code arrives by SMS.

• The Fatourati reference

  generated when the request is ready for payment, with an expiry date.

• The land title number, its index and the registry office

  essential for any request about titled land. A wrong index points to another property.

• The technical file reference

  the surveying engineer who filed the file knows it; ask for it in writing.

03The official ways to track a file

All online services are on the Agency's portal, www.ancfcc.gov.ma, in the "Services en ligne" block. Type the address yourself. Here is what we found there on 6 November 2026:

• Request filed at the land registry

  "Paiement des droits de la conservation foncière – Public –", presented as an online tracking and payment service (خدمة التتبع والأداء الالكتروني). The form asks for your surname and first name in Latin and Arabic letters, your ID number, a phone number, the registry office, the "Année / Ordre de réception" and a captcha code. Payment itself is covered in our online payment guide.

• Certificate, plan or area calculation order

  the "Suivre" button of each service, where you enter the tracking code.

• Registration application

  the "Publicité foncière" service. It lets you consult, by registry office, application extracts, corrective extracts, notices of completion of survey and other notices published in the Official Bulletin whose time limits are still running (2018 decree, Articles 18 and 19).

• Alerts on your own titles and applications

  Mohafadati, covered in our Mohafadati guide.

• Complaints

  the Chikaya platform, reached from the portal ("Réclamer" button). The portal also lists the e-services numbers: 05 30 14 14 14, 08 00 00 29 29 and 08 00 00 20 16.

• At the counter

  the competent land registry office or cadastre service, with your ID and your receipt. This is also where you can see details of a file that the online services do not show.

For a technical file, we found no public online tracking service: filing and exchanges go through the "Cadastre & Cartographie" professional space reserved for surveying engineers. Your engineer is therefore the one who keeps you informed. For an overview of all services, see the ANCFCC online services.

04Land registration application: the steps and their legal time limits

The procedure is explained in our land registration guide. To track it, remember the steps set by the 1913 Dahir and what to check at each one:

1. 01

   Filing and receipt (Article 13). Check the identity, area and neighbours declared: they will be repeated in the public notices.

2. 02

   Application extract: drawn up within ten days of filing and published in the Official Bulletin (Article 17). Find it in "Publicité foncière"; report any error to the registry office.

3. 03

   Survey notice: within two months of publication of the extract, the registrar sets the date and time of the boundary survey (Article 17), posted at the court, the local authority and the commune among others (Article 18). If the survey cannot take place for a valid reason, a new date is set and notified (Decree No. 2-13-18, Article 2).

4. 04

   Boundary survey (bornage, التحديد): it takes place on site in the presence of the applicant and the neighbours summoned. The applicant supplies and places the markers. Absence without valid excuse can make the application void (Articles 22 and 23). See the boundary survey guide.

5. 05

   Notice of completion of survey: published in the Official Bulletin within four months at most after the survey (Article 23). It opens a period of two months during which objections (التعرضات) may be lodged (Article 24).

6. 06

   Registration or court: with no objection, the registrar registers the land within three months after the objection period ends (Article 30). If objections remain, the file is sent to the court of first instance within three months (Article 32).

One point to watch: if the registrar sends you a formal notice and you take no step within three months, the application and its operations are deemed void (Article 50). Always respond to summonses and letters, and keep your address up to date.

05Recording request: from filing to entry on the title

After a sale before a notary or a partition before adouls, the professional normally files the deed, often electronically. You can still track the request yourself. The steps are:

1. 01

   Filing and order number.

   This number sets the rank, but assigning it "has no legal effect" until the subsequent formalities are completed (2018 decree, Article 12).

2. 02

   Review by the registrar.

   The registrar checks the identity and capacity of the parties and the regularity of the documents (Article 72 of the Dahir), and makes sure the entry does not contradict the title (Article 74).

3. 03

   Payment or original documents.

   If the request is accepted, the applicant is invited to pay the fees or, if the deeds are not electronic, to come in with the originals (2018 decree, Article 13).

4. 04

   Entry.

   It is dated and signed by the registrar (Article 75 of the Dahir). To confirm it, request a certificate of ownership: see the certificate of ownership guide.

According to the code of the tracking service page, the statuses provided for include "procedure under review" (إجراء في طور الدراسة), "ready for payment" (جاهز للأداء) and "rejection / rejection confirmed" (رفض/تأكيد الرفض), with a "Motif(s)" column; a formality can also be marked "exempt" or "free of charge".

Two legal time limits to know. Recording of a deed must be requested within three months: from the drafting date for an authentic deed, from the last signature certification for a private deed, and from the day it became final for a judgment; after that, a penalty of 5% of the fees for the first month, then 0.5% per month or part of a month, applies (Article 65 bis). And to protect a right that cannot yet be recorded, the law provides for a provisional entry (prénotation, التقييد الاحتياطي), valid for ten days on the basis of a title, one month on a copy of a claim on the merits, and three months on an order of the court president (Articles 85 and 86).

06Technical file and plan: what happens at the cadastre service

Any application for subdivision, housing estate, co-ownership, merger, bringing the title plan into line with the site or re-establishing boundary markers relies on a technical file drawn up by a private-sector surveying engineer registered with the National Order of Surveying Engineers (ONIGT). It includes the title plan and the boundary report, and it is filed with the cadastre service for checking, transfer to the cadastral map, approval and archiving (Decree No. 2-13-18, Article 17).

The technical file and the deed therefore follow two tracks: the cadastre checks the plan, the land registry records the deed. If the cadastre service makes observations, ask your engineer to send them to you in writing.

For a subdivision governed by Law No. 25-90, amended by Law No. 34-21 (Official Bulletin No. 7533 of 10 August 2026), the subdivision authorisation, or the certificate that replaces it, must come before the deed: without it, adouls, notaries and the registrar must refuse to draw up or record the sale or partition deed (Article 61). Since the reform, the authorisation is deemed granted if the president of the municipal council has not ruled within 30 days of filing (Article 59).

07What holds up a file, and how to react

• Missing or non-compliant documents

  the status stays under review or moves to rejection, with a reason. Read the reason, then check with the drafter of the deed (notary, adoul, lawyer) which document to provide.

• Successive unrecorded transfers

  a right can only be recorded if it comes from the holder already on the title; the latest transfer cannot be recorded before the earlier ones (Decree No. 2-13-18, Article 19). Example: a buyer cannot be recorded until the seller's inheritance has been recorded.

• Identity different from the title

  name spelt differently, old ID card. The applicant is responsible for the accuracy of the data submitted (2018 decree, Article 9).

• Missing subdivision authorisation

  see the previous section.

• Area or boundaries in question

  overlap with a neighbouring title, old plan not tied to the geodetic network, gap between the deed and the land. The title plan can also reveal a difference in area giving rise to additional fees (Decree No. 2-13-18, Article 31).

• Objection or provisional entry

  an objection to an application holds up registration of the disputed part until an agreement or judgment; while a provisional entry on a title is valid, no voluntary entry can be requested (Article 86 of the Dahir).

• Unpaid fees or expired reference

  generate a new reference on the payment service and pay before the stated deadline.

If nothing explains the delay: go to the counter with the receipt, then, if needed, file a complaint on Chikaya with your references. If the registrar refuses to record, the decision must state its reasons and be notified, and it can be challenged before the court of first instance (Article 96 of the Dahir); the same applies to the rejection of an application (Article 37 bis).

08Surveyor, lawyer, notary: who to call depending on the problem

• Surveying engineer (registered with the ONIGT): technical file, observations from the cadastre service, markers, area, overlap, bringing the title plan into line. The engineer decides neither the recording nor the outcome of an objection.

• Lawyer

  an objection to lodge or contest, a reasoned refusal by the registrar to challenge, a provisional entry by court order, a suspicious filing on your title. Appeal periods can be short: consult as soon as you receive a notification.

• Notary, adoul or lawyer who drafted the deed

  missing document, error in the deed, regularising an inheritance before a sale.

• Land registry office

  the only one that can officially tell you where the recording stands and why.

To find out which documents to gather for your project, try our tool Which document do I need?. Ellipsoide, a surveying engineering firm in Fez, prepares technical files and supports land registrations: see our service.