UAE: Civil marriage applications surge; over 10,000 foreigners marry under new law – News

The Abu Dhabi Family Court receives about 40 applications a day, especially after the launch of a “fast service” that allows all proceedings to be concluded within 24 hours

Abu Dhabi Department of Justice (AD|D) has received over 10,000 civil marriage applications to the Civil Family Courts since Law No. 14, 2021 on Civil Marriages and Its Effects, with 40 civil marriage applications per day in the emirate Abu Dhabi took effect early last year.

Yousef Saeed Alabri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice, said the continued role of the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court for Foreigners as a pioneering model of civil family courts stems from the implementation of the ambitious vision of the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the UAE , Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s directive aimed at establishing a leading judicial system to strengthen the emirate’s competitive position.

He said more than 10,000 civil marriage applications had been registered since the law came into force, with 40 civil marriage applications being filed every day. This equates to 4 civil marriage files per working hour, especially after the launch of the “fast” civil marriage service which only allows marriages to be concluded within 24 hours.

The express service was launched to meet the needs of a large number of tourists from all over the world to conclude civil marriages in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Yousef Alabri explained that the Abu Dhabi courts are committed to providing judicial excellence electronically, from the registration of applications to the completion of proceedings and attendance at hearings, as they are paperless electronic courts and the only bilingual courts in the Arab region The Court, as it provides forms and judgments in Arabic and English, thereby guaranteeing the right of foreigners to understand the proceedings in a simplified manner, without any language barriers that may hinder the understanding of the decisions made by the court in this case.

Foreigners’ civil and family courts provide a wide range of services for tourists and residents from various countries, such as civil marriage, no-fault civil divorce, joint custody of children, civil will and inheritance, parent-child relationship certification, etc.