Getting Married in Dubai Courts (Part I)

My fiancé and I have decided to tie the knot after 3 years of being together. The decision itself is a giant leap for both of us. You see we have different religious beliefs. I am a Filipina and he is of GCC Arab descent. We were both unwilling to give up each other’s faith that early on the relationship we told each other that we cannot marry. We would simply enjoy the relationship and see what the future hold for us. At the end of it all for whatever circumstances, we ended up with the decision to get married.

I had no idea that preparing for marriage documents in Dubai equates to a major headache. I am told in fact to be so lucky that I was able to put all documents together in about 4 months. I had a Slovak colleague who had initiated the prep 2 years ago. By all luck, she is still not past the official translations and attestations. She moved to Singapore with her beau even before she could finalize her papers in UAE.

I am having a UAE residence status and he is a GCC national. For the lack of online reference, it had become frustrating for my part to prepare the documents. We are both career-strapped individuals and we simply do not have the luxury of time to run around Dubai for requirements. One thing I learned in UAE is that you can never get proper official information by browsing the internet if you don’t understand Arabic text and just by simply calling up. You have to be physically there to get the info right. Even then, it can likewise be exasperating that your best bet is to bring with you a local to do the talking. My quest for acquiring the right information has been so frustrating that I made several mental notes to blog on this. Maybe I can be of assistance to someone in the future.

Even in the court we had to bring our Emirati friend to work as a wasta (a different story in another time). We chanced upon a civil servant who lets his sectarian interest mix with that of his professional duties. We were tormented with thousands of questions, demands and arguments that we took three times longer than normal to finish our registration. We were all more relieved than happy when we got over the “contract signing”. A ceremony less than 10 minutes with less than 2 minutes participation of the bride is worthy only called as such, and not as a “marriage ceremony”. On different thought, this would actually be appealing to hardened souls who cringe at all the sappy ever-lasting vows.

Dubai Courts – Marriage Section: +971-4-3347777.

Part II (requirements)