المقالات القانونية / قانون الأسرة

Divorce Nullity and Judicial Separation

Recognition of Foreign Marriages/ Divorces

In order for a marriage contracted outside the UAE to be recognized, the marriage certificate should be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country in which the marriage took place, and then attested by the UAE embassy in that country. Further attestations should take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE.

In certain circumstances even a validly attested marriage certificate would not be sufficient to allow a marriage to be recognized in the UAE. This is because in Islam, certain marriages are not capable of recognition. These are as follows:

• A marriage between a Muslim man and a woman who is not Muslim, Christian or Jewish.
• A marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man

Legal Update:
The above information might not apply if both parties are non-muslim. Starting from the 1st of February 2023, UAE issued specific family law to be applied between non-muslim expatriate residents in case none of them wanted to apply his/her home country's law in the UAE. To know more information about this law, please feel free to click this link.

Related Links

• Your Guide in Family Cases
• Family Court Process
• What Kind of Correspondences Can Be Accepted as Evidence in Court?