Getting Married in the UAE

Many expats come to UAE with the intention of staying here for a couple of years and then leaving. However, as many of us know, a large number end up staying here for much longer than anticipated. In that time, people establish their careers, establish a vast professional network, make life long friends and forge romantic relationships. So, it makes perfect sense that a large number of expats also end up getting married here rather than going back to home to tie the knot.

Paperwork Complications

For most people, getting married in their country of citizenship is a relatively simple process; a marriage license and/or a religious authority and its done! But, here in the UAE, for expats the process becomes a little more complicated.

Many people don’t realize the amount of paperwork involved in an expat getting married here in the UAE. Birth certificates, blood tests, Embassy approvals and more are all needed before you can say ‘I do’. Furthermore, the process will differ slightly for Muslim & non Muslim marriages & also for mixed religion marriages.

Mixed Religion Marriages

In terms of mixed religion marriages, that can only happen between a non Muslim woman and a Muslim Man. The UAE is a Muslim Country and Islam does not allow for Muslim women to marry non Muslim men. For a non Muslim Man to marry a Muslim woman, he would have to legally convert to Islam and a certificate proving such will have to be provided at the time of marriage.

Muslim Marriages

2 Muslims getting married have 2 options on where to get married. You can either get married in a court in front of a judge, or you can have a “Ma’azoon” (the Islamic Sheikh) come to your house (or the wedding venue) to complete the legal aspect of it.

Regardless of where you choose to get married, the conditions to be met beforehand remains the same:

• The legal male guardian of the bride must be present. Usually it is the father of the bride. Where the father is unable to attend, an attested & translated (to Arabic) letter of consent must be provided. Where the father is deceased, an attested (and translated to Arabic) death certificate must be provided & instead a brother or uncle (from the father’s side) must be present. If no male relatives are available to act as a legal guardian, documents proving this would have to be presented.
• If the bride is divorced or widowed, the documents proving this (death certificates, previous marriage & divorce certificates) would have to be attested, translated to Arabic & presented to the authority.
• A fully attested birth certificate of both parties will need to be presented, along with their passports & ID copies.
• 2 male witnesses (with their original passports & ID copies)
• Marriage blood test certificate – this will be provided by the health authority in the emirate.
• For expats, some consent/status documents may be required from your embassy – you will need to check with your relevant embassy early on to avoid any delays in your marriage

Non Muslim Marriages

As per our understand, non Muslim couples cannot get married in any courts in the UAE. Marriages can be completed in a:

• Church
• Temple
• The respective embassy of either the groom or bride. These would be considered foreign documents and will have to be attested to be legally used in the UAE.

Those documents will most likely be issued in English and so for them to be considered legal documents in the UAE, they would have to be:

• Stamped by a Notary
• Attested by the UAE Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice & translated to Arabic.

Some countries require that their citizens submit an intent to marry document up-to 2 months prior to the date of marriage. Again, you should check with your embassy early on in the process to avoid any delays.

The other documents needed are some of the same as for Muslim marriages and are:

• A fully attested birth certificate of both parties will need to be presented, along with their passports & ID copies.
• Marriage blood test certificate – this will be provided by the health authority in the emirate.
• For expats, some consent/status documents may be required from your embassy – you will need to check with your relevant embassy early on to avoid any delays in your marriage

Start Early

The last thing you want delaying the happiest day of your life is paperwork you did not know you had to do. So make sure you find out everything you need in your specific case & you definitely want to get started on putting it all together as early as possible so your big day goes off without a hitch!

More information

You can find information here at the UAE Government website and get in touch with us for the attestation & translation requirements here or give us a call on +971 (0)4 556 7338.