More than 1,000 couples tie the knot in Abu Dhabi's new civil marriage court

Twenty per cent of happy couples were tourists visiting the emirate

British couple Sarah Goodman and Craig Lindsey wanted a civil wedding and applied online after new laws were introduced in November to support expatriates in Abu Dhabi.

A simple but elegant service was completed in a matter of minutes.

It was a day to remember for the couple, who have been engaged for eight years.

British couple Craig Lindsey and Sarah Goodman got married one day after flying to the UAE from the UK. All photos: Victor Besa / The National

More than a dozen couples have already registered for civil marriages in Abu Dhabi.

The couple were delighted to become husband and wife and start their new life together in the UAE.

The civil ceremony was held at Abu Dhabi's Non-Muslim Family Court.

The happy couple wait for the civil ceremony to begin.

In fewer than six months, more than a 1,000 non-Emirati couples have tied the knot in Abu Dhabi's new civil marriage court.

After sweeping changes to Abu Dhabi laws that allow non-Muslim residents or visitors to have a civil marriage at court, hundreds of tourists have flocked to the judicial department to get married.

In December, a Canadian couple were the first to register their union at the new court.

So far, more than 20 per cent of the applicants have been tourists.

[We are] providing people who live and invest in the UAE with the freedom to apply liberal rules when it comes to their family affairs

Youssef Saeed Al Abri,
Abu Dhabi Judicial Department

The new regulations are positioning the capital as a wedding destination with couples flying in specifically to tie the knot.

In February, a British couple from Essex, England, flew in from the UK to get married in Abu Dhabi.

​“We decided to get married here because we want to have a civil marriage not a religious one,” said the groom Craig Lindsey at the time.

“We are moving to Dubai so decided it would be nice to have it in the UAE.”

The family court also handles divorce cases after new laws allowed no-fault divorce for the first time.

This is when a couple do not need to submit proof of any wrongdoing to be granted a divorce.

Instead, a simple request for divorce by either partner is sufficient.

The new court has drastically reduced the waiting time needed to get married or divorced.

Couples can now get divorced in a matter of days instead of months, or sometimes years, under the previous laws.

Couples can also have the laws of the country in which they were married applied to their divorce proceedings instead of Sharia, which applies only to Muslims.

The court has so far received 50 no-fault divorce applications, 20 civil inheritance cases and 250 applications for civil will attestation.

Youssef Saeed Al Abri, undersecretary of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, said in a statement that reaching 1,000 civil marriage in fewer than five months was a step forward in “providing people who live and invest in the UAE with the freedom to apply liberal rules when it comes to their family affairs”.

“Twenty per cent of the marriage applicants are tourists who specifically flew to Abu Dhabi to benefit from the exclusive civil marriage service which is only available in the UAE capital, and over 120 nationalities applied to the civil marriage service,” he said.

Up to 50 people have applied for a no-fault divorce since January.

The judicial department said: “The no-fault divorce judgment is issued in one court session within 30 days from filing the case, without the need to submit the case to the Family Guidance, and it included by default the joint custody of the kids.

“The law has deliberately favoured this solution, as it makes the separation a peaceful one without turning couples into opponents by reducing conflict between separating couples and helping them to focus on how to jointly raise their kids and to move on in life.”

“Foreign couples can now get divorced in Abu Dhabi without one person needing to blame the other as the law removes unnecessary finger-pointing, and saves children from witnessing their parent's litigate.”

The new laws also state that inheritance is divided equally among the deceased’s spouse and children regardless of their sex. This is unlike Sharia, which allocates the son a larger share.

“Court statistics also show that 20 cases of civil inheritance for foreigners have been registered since January ... granting the wife 50 per cent of her deceased husband's assets and dividing the remaining 50 per cent among the children in equal shares, regardless of gender,” the statement said.

“It only takes 30 days for the court to issue its decision on the distribution of the estate, and the whole procedure is available in English and Arabic.”