Are you a Christian residing in the UAE expatriate and want to get married here with a UAE resident to settle here? If yes, then you can do it in churches that are legally registered at the Dubai courts to perform church marriage ceremonies. You can marry in nine catholic churches across the UAE with your partner as per the catholic rituals. To get married and settled in the UAE, you have to do it as per the country’s laws and get a marriage certificate that should be MOFA attested for further processing.
Criteria for church marriage in the UAE
- One spouse must be roman catholic (either of them)
- One spouse must be a UAE resident (either of them)
- The minimum marriage age for a woman is 18 years
- The minimum marriage age for a man is 21 years
So if you are looking for church marriage attestation to live with your spouse legally in the country, you have to produce some legal documents to arrange your marriage in a church. As per the laws here, you will be asked to produce the following documents in original to get married in a UAE church.
- Baptism certificate of both spouses
- Confirmation certificates
- Emirates ID document
- Passport copy with UAE visa
- Civil marriage certificate
- NOC letter from the Church
- Prenuptial inquiry form
- A birth certificate and a letter from the embassy if either of the spouses is not catholic
- Passport-size photographs of each.
Once you have produced the above documents, intent to marry will be posted at the concerned church, and you can marry on the scheduled date. You will also need two witnesses aged over 18 to certify your legal marriage to get your marriage certificate. After the marriage, the bride, groom, and witness will have to sign essential documents to get the marriage certificate. Your church will issue three copies of the marriage certificate in the English language for the further church marriage attestation process.
Once you have received your marriage certificate, you have to get it attested from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to apply for your resident visa in the country and other legal documentation. Before the attestation process, you will have to translate your marriage certificate into the Arabic language from a professional translation company. Once you are done with this, you will have to submit your produce your marriage certificate in the Dubai court with the mandatory documents for verification. You will need the following documents:
- All three original marriage certificates
- Translation copy in the Arabic language of your marriage certificate
- Copies of passport and visas
- Copies of Emirates ID proof
You will also need all the documents in original with you for the notary verification. Once your marriage certificate gets verified, make the payment for the notary verification fee to get your marriage certificates stamped. You will receive court stamping on two of your marriage certificates for the attestation processing.
After the court verification, you will have to get the MOJ (Ministry of Justice) stamping on both certificates before the MOFA church marriage attestation. After this, you are ready to register your catholic marriage at the relevant embassy depending on your nationality to get your MOFA attestation done.
The marriage certificate attestation process can be challenging and time-consuming. A professional attestation services company can assist you throughout your church marriage certificate attestation process with legal guidance and support. The whole marriage certificate attestation process can take about two working days, and an expert can help you save a lot of time and energy.