British Expats

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- Middle East (https://britishexpats.com/forum/middle-east-60/)

- - Dubai (https://britishexpats.com/forum/middle-east-60/dubai-927299/)

Is it possible for a couple to arrive in Dubai, then get married after a few days?

Change of plan - she prefers somewhere in Asia! Women!

Continentally speaking all of the Gulf region is in Asia.

Yes it is possible. Co-habitation prior to marriage is illegal. Get an Islamic wedding, then no need to bother with document certification, translation etc, and guaranteed recognition by the government. Islamic weddings can be arranged very quickly.

Most hotels lax but cameras everywhere and I wouldn't chance it. I saw enough Westerners get zapped that way to say that. Not a lot numerically, a few dozen, enough to say it does get selectively enforced when someone gets angry or needs someone put on the next plane out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carcajou (Post 12736471)

a few dozen? So more than 12 and less than say 48?

Seriously? In 12 years here I’ve not heard of anyone leaving on the midnight express for those reasons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millhouse (Post 12736501)

a few dozen? So more than 12 and less than say 48?

Seriously? In 12 years here I’ve not heard of anyone leaving on the midnight express for those reasons.

Yes, seriously, and yes within that range. I worked for an organisation that employed a huge amount of westerners and other nationalities, and my job position was one, in which I would know when they got booted (and, usually, why).

So, out of that, not a big number, but not one where it just happens once in a blue moon.

Not once did I ever think religious sensibilities were behind it. People report each other for all sorts of reasons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carcajou (Post 12736664)

wow. You must employ a lot of pricks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millhouse (Post 12736761)

wow. You must employ a lot of pricks.

Good contender for 2019's Urban Myth awards

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millhouse (Post 12736501)

a few dozen? So more than 12 and less than say 48?

Seriously? In 12 years here I’ve not heard of anyone leaving on the midnight express for those reasons.

It's got to be bollocks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millhouse (Post 12736761)

wow. You must employ a lot of pricks.

Yes, that was true. However, rarely was it work-related people turning each other in (though, that did happen). Social friendships gone sour, jilted mistresses, nightwatchmen or cleaners looking to score points with a conservative manager, different nationalities not playing nice with each other, general anti-Western virulence in some people, on and on. By the way, it's not only Westerners who get put on the Midnight Express over this.

Don't recall off-hand a case of a Westerner turning in a Westerner (though, it would not surprise me). Nor is it automatic that a ticket on the Midnight Express is the penalty . . . also cases of people told, just don't ever let it happen again. Lots of variables get calculated if a complaint gets made.

The UAE is not a semi-Western society. They have created a semi-Western sheen in a few parts of Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the Western expatriate workforce, but a few steps out of that and the UAE is a deeply conservative Islamic society, with a completely different legal system and norms, and that is how the locals like it. Never forget that we are the ones from out of town, and we should just leave if we are unhappy with it.

Come on carcajou, we've had this discussion more than once on here. After living in the region for 13 yrs and working for a mahoosive firm which employs loads of westerners I have only ever heard of 1 couple having any issues and that was a Brit Dude and his Pino mrs living in Sharjah. And they were married.

As such, I smell shite!