Weddings in Dubai are famous across the globe for their grandeur and extravagant celebrations. The new laws have made it rather for expat couples wanting to get married here. If couples are of the same nationality and religion; there’s isn’t much fuss about getting married in Dubai. Although that’s not always the case.

Dubai is a melting pot of people from different nationalities and hence falling in love with someone who belongs to a different background is quite normal. In this article; we share the requirements of a hassle-free civil marriage in Dubai

Legal Document requirements in Dubai for civil marriage:

According to UAE law, marriage is a binding legal agreement between a man and a woman that safeguards the rights of the couple and their offspring.

General prerequisites for marriage

• Acceptance by the bride
• In Dubai, at least one of the parties to the marriage contract—the husband, the wife, or the wife’s guardian—must possess a UAE residency visa. In some emirates, the bride and the groom both need to be UAE citizens.
• A certificate for the couple’s premarital screening that was positive, must be issued by the relevant UAE public healthcare facilities.
• In order to stop the spread of contagious diseases like AIDS, the UAE has made pre-marital screening mandatory for all couples wanting to marry.

New laws of a civil marriage in UAE

Unlike Dubai, Abu Dhabi is more welcoming of marrying people from different nationality. Moreover; the new marriage laws allows non-Muslims to marry in the non-Muslim court. Which explains why many GCC expat couples are flying down from other GCC countries to marry in Abu Dhabi.

In conclusion to having a civil marriage in Dubai

If you and your partner belong to the same nationality and religion; you can always opt for a hassle free wedding at your required embassies. However; if you belong to different nationalities you are likely to face a bit of challenges.

In such instances your best bet would be destinations such as Abu Dhabi or even Georgia & Seychelles. There is no hard and fast rule of which is the destination would be ideal unless we review your wedding situation.

Keen to know more if you eligible for a civil marriage in Dubai; feel free to speak to our team of legal wedding experts.