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For Couples From the UK

Married Abroad in the UAE

British couples who meet the Abu Dhabi court’s conditions can marry legally in the UAE without living there. The court takes your application while you are still in the UK and needs you in person only for the ceremony. Its certificate is in Arabic and English.

Start Your JourneyChat on WhatsApp Can British couples marry here?

Proof of Marriage at Home

The Abu Dhabi certificate. There is no UK one.

  • Apply From the UK
  • Ceremony in Abu Dhabi
  • Bilingual Certificate
  • MOFA Attestation
A bride in an ivory silk slip gown and a groom in a navy dinner jacket stand at the rail of a private yacht at golden hour, champagne and white roses beside them, the towers of Dubai Marina beyond

Can We Marry There

Getting Married Abroad — Can UK Couples Marry Legally in the UAE?

Yes, if you meet the court’s conditions. You may read that one of you needs a UAE residence visa. The Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court, the route we arrange for couples who live abroad, does not ask for one. It takes applications from anywhere in the world and encourages tourists to apply. The application is filed from the UK, the court approves it, and you travel for the ceremony itself.

  • No UAE Residence Needed

    Neither of you has to live in the UAE. The court accepts the application online, so your file is opened while you are both still in the UK.

  • Aged 18 or Over

    Among the court’s conditions: both of you are at least 18, and neither is married to anyone else. We check the rest against your situation before anything is filed.

  • One Trip, in Person

    Ceremonies by video are only for couples where everyone lives in the UAE. From the UK, you travel to Abu Dhabi and attend together.

  • No Witnesses to Bring

    The court requires no witnesses. Family and friends are welcome to come, and the ceremony goes ahead with or without them.

  • No Medical Certificate

    Abu Dhabi’s civil marriage law spares couples a premarital medical certificate, so there is no health screening to arrange before you fly.

  • A Certificate in English

    The court issues the certificate in Arabic and English, so the English text is part of the original rather than a separate translation.

Recognition at Home

Is a Marriage in the UAE Recognised in the UK?

Yes, when two conditions are met, and GOV.UK sets them out for every marriage abroad: it was lawful in the country where it took place, and it would be allowed under UK law. GOV.UK names no registration or other formality in the UK for it. A civil marriage before the Abu Dhabi court is made under the emirate’s own law, with a certificate from the court.

Registered in Abu Dhabi, recognised in the UK on GOV.UK’s two conditions.

GOV.UK is plain about the record: only UK marriages are registered in the UK, with consular marriages at British embassies as the exception. Your proof of marriage at home is the Abu Dhabi certificate. If a UK certificate matters to you, the usual answer is a legal ceremony in the UK; the British Embassy in Dubai offers a consular marriage only in narrow cases.

  • Lawful in the UAE

    The first condition.

    Your ceremony takes place before the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court, under the emirate’s civil marriage law.

  • Allowed Under UK Law

    The second.

    A question about the two of you under UK law, such as whether each of you is free to marry. We ask about it in the first conversation; anything beyond GOV.UK’s test belongs with a UK solicitor.

  • No UK Certificate

    What you will not receive.

    The UK issues no certificate for a marriage made under another country’s law. The Abu Dhabi certificate is the one you keep and show.

  • Attested Before It Travels

    What we add.

    We have the certificate attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If a UK office asks for anything more, that is its decision, and we check before you rely on it.

A man’s hand holds a gold fountain pen over a blank ivory sheet with a wax seal; his other hand, wearing a gold band, rests on the paper beside sprigs of dried gypsophila on a travertine table

Two Ways to Do It

Legal or Symbolic: Why the Order Matters

If a UK marriage certificate matters to you, GOV.UK’s own option is a legal ceremony in the UK and a commitment ceremony abroad. In England and Wales, that usually means giving notice at your local register office at least 29 days before the ceremony. Marry in Abu Dhabi instead and the order reverses: the court gives you the legal marriage, and any celebration at home afterwards is the symbolic one. Both work. What matters is knowing which of your two days is the legal one before you book either.

What a celebration in Dubai involves when you live in the UK

Papers From Home

The UK Documents the Abu Dhabi Court Asks For

The court’s own list is short: your passports, its application form and, if either of you was married before, proof of how that marriage ended. Papers that come from a court or registry in the UK keep their own timescales, so those are the ones to order first. A UK divorce order goes in as it is, with no legalisation.

  1. 01

    From Both of You

    • A copy of each passport
    • Entry rule for the UAE: each passport valid for at least six months from the day you land
    • The court’s application form, declaring you are not married to anyone else

  2. 02

    If Either of You Was Married Before

    • England and Wales: the final order, or the decree absolute if the court issued the divorce application before 6 April 2022
    • Scotland: the divorce certificate, or ‘extract’
    • Northern Ireland: the decree absolute or final conditional order
    • Widowed: your late spouse’s death certificate

  3. 03

    What the Court Does Not Ask For

    • A certificate of no impediment or an affirmation of marital status
    • A translation of papers that are already in English
    • A premarital medical certificate
    • Any paper on the day beyond your passports
    • Legalisation of a UK divorce order or decree absolute

From Home to the Court

From a UK Address to the Abu Dhabi Court

  1. 01

    Route and Season

    Regular or express, and a month that suits both families. On the regular route, dates are booking about three months ahead in our experience.

  2. 02

    UK Papers First

    Passports checked, and any final order, decree or death certificate ordered early. UK courts and registries keep their own timescales.

  3. 03

    Filed From Home

    We prepare the application with you, and it is filed online while you are still in the UK. Once the court approves it and the fee is paid, the date and time arrive by email.

  4. 04

    Flights to Fit

    Booked once the date is fixed (on express, you choose it yourselves) and in the names on your passports.

  5. 05

    At the Court

    The Civil Family Court sits next to Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi. The ceremony is brief, and no witnesses are needed.

  6. 06

    Back in the UK

    The attested certificate is your proof of marriage, and the document to send with a passport application in your married name.

Frequently Asked Questions

What British Couples Ask Before Marrying in the UAE

01 Do we need a Certificate of No Impediment to marry in Abu Dhabi?
No. For a civil marriage at the Abu Dhabi court, neither of you needs a certificate of no impediment or any other proof of single status: each of you declares on the court’s own application form that you are not married. GOV.UK’s UAE page, last updated in 2017, describes an affidavit or affirmation of marital status sworn at the British Embassy for marriages under local law; the civil court does not ask for one. The UK government’s marital status forms for the UAE Everything the Abu Dhabi court asks of couples
02 Do we have to register a UAE marriage in the UK?
No. A marriage at the Abu Dhabi court is registered in Abu Dhabi. GOV.UK states that only UK marriages are registered in the UK, with consular marriages at British embassies as the exception. The UK recognises it if it was lawful there and would be allowed under UK law. Your proof of marriage at home is the Abu Dhabi certificate, attested before it leaves the UAE. GOV.UK on recognising a marriage abroad Legalisation when another country asks for it The US side, when one of you is American Choosing between a legal wedding and a symbolic ceremony
03 Can we marry at the British Embassy in Dubai instead?
Only in narrow cases. GOV.UK lists the British Embassy in Dubai as offering an opposite-sex marriage to couples who can prove there are no other suitable facilities to marry in the UAE. It needs seven full days in the country before you give notice, then 14 days of public notice, and it is registered in the UK. Whether a couple qualifies is the embassy’s decision; it is not a route we arrange. GOV.UK on marrying at a British embassy
04 Should I change the name on my passport before the wedding?
We would wait until afterwards. GOV.UK says a passport in your married name issued before the wedding is post-dated: you cannot use it before the ceremony, and your old passport is cancelled. That leaves nothing to fly to Abu Dhabi on. Travel on your current passport, booked in that name, and apply with your marriage certificate once you are home. GOV.UK on a new passport after marriage
05 Our dates in the UAE are fixed. Can the court fit around them?
Yes, on our express route. Once your papers are in order, it completes in 1–2 working days, and you choose the date and time yourselves within the court’s opening hours, on a working day. On the regular route the court offers the date, subject to availability. Either way, the papers from the UK have to be complete first, which is why we ask about them in the first conversation. Express marriage when the flights are already booked The Abu Dhabi court’s answers for couples who live abroad

Writing from the UK?

Send us your nationalities, whether either of you was married before and the month you have in mind. We tell you which papers to order first and when the court could realistically see you.

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The Next Step

Plan Your UAE Wedding From the UK

Tell us your nationalities, whether either of you has been married before and the season you have in mind. We reply within 48 hours, starting with the papers to order first.

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