Ask Elhais

Question:

I married an Egyptian man in 2009. We had a son together in 2011. I am Canadian and my husband became a Canadian citizen in 2015. He and my son are Muslim but I am not. My husband died in late 2015.

My husband has some family in Egypt. I have been advised by a lawyer in Egypt not to return to Egypt with my son because his family may seek custody of him. I have no evidence that they want custody. They have never discussed it or even hinted that it would be a possibility. I care for them but I don’t want to risk losing my boy.

My question is this: I have accepted a job in Dubai as a teacher. My son and I will travel to the UAE in August. I have my marriage certificate, my son’s birth certificate, and my husband’s death certificate all authenticated by the UAE consulate in Ottawa. I am my son’s legal guardian. Do I have any concerns about my son’s custody when entering the UAE? He has no family ties in the UAE.

Answer:

Please be informed that there will be no risk if you come to UAE, you should be the sole custodian as per the UAE law.

There will be a risk if you came here at UAE and the brother and the sister came to UAE that they can claim custody based on the religion difference as you are not a Muslim.

Just in case such situation happened you can appoint a lawyer to assist you with your matter.

Disclaimer:
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 expat 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