Of the marriage of 5,000 non-muslim couples registered at the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court, 12 percent of couples were tourists, officials said at a media forum on Thursday.
Ever since the option for non-muslim couples to register their marriage came into effect in December 2021, the numbers have seen an increase throughout the one year, with at least 627 couples registering their civil marriage in November.
A couple from Canada registered their marriage at the new court in December 2021, making them the first non-muslim couple to register.
Eight other couples followed in January and 57 in February 2022.
Couples from a total of 127 countries have registered their marriage in the court, with the majority being those from the Philippines.
In addition, the court at the Judicial Department of Abu Dhabi also has a service entirely separate to the UAE’s marriage system, based on Islamic teachings.
The new family court, which was introduced in November 2021, is aimed at supporting residents in the emirate. The court hears all cases related to marriage, divorce, custody and paternity, inheritance and personal status for non-Muslims.
“It includes cases of equal rights in inheritance, joint custody, no-fault divorces and allowing mothers to register their children under their names,” Abu Dhabi Judicial Department’s legal adviser Mohammed Al Rafei said.
According to the Judicial Department’s head of Foreign Services, Muna Al Raaesi, couples from India, UK, Lebanon, Russia and the US.
The Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court has processed 200 no-fault divorce applications, 23 prenuptial agreements, 130 civil inheritance cases and 1,566 applications to attest wills, so far.
Couples under the no-fault divorce case are not referred to counselling sessions, and the divorce is granted within 30 days, with joint custody of children granted to the couple. For 25 no-fault divorce cases, the court allowed the child to be registered under the mother’s name.
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