meonline

I am a British expat living in the UAE for the past year. I was born in the UK and lived and worked there all my life. Now my wife and daughter want to join me here now and as part of my contract my employer is paying for this. My wife is from a commnwealth country and now has been granted British nationaility. We married in her country overseas in 2006 and immediately after that I applied for her spouse visa through the British embassy. She has been living and working in the UK since May 2006. I came out to the UAE myself in 2009. We also have a 1 year old daugther. However, as per the visa laws in the UAE I have to get my marriage certificate attested by the Foreign Affairs of the country where the marriage took place, then by the UAE Embassy in the country where the marriage took place.After that I have to get it attested a third time by the Foreign Affairs of the UAE. The marriage certificate has been attested by the Foreign Affairs of the country in which the marriage took place and now it is in the hands of he UAE Embassy in the country where the marriage took place. We are facing a problem from this embassy because they are saying that our marriage never took place which is completely shocking to us because my wifes British nationaility was granted on the basis of being married to me and we went through the stringent nationaility application processes of the UK Immigration and Border Service.

We have reached deadlock in the situation. The UAE embassy is asking for proof that I entered the country where our marriage took place but I told them that I cannot produce that original passport I travelled on because it was reported lost, and I was issued with a new one. We feel as if we are being discriminated against despite following all the rules. We have all photographs, and all witnesses from the marriage are present. The UAE embassy have refused to give us a reason why they think our marriage never took place.

I suspect that the embassy is treating us like a case of sham marriage given the recent crackdown by the British government. How can we deal with this ridiculous situation? This has been going on for a few weeks now. Thanks.

lionheart

Wow that's shocking. Can the British Embassy not help you? After all, they seem to have given your wife a spouse visa without any problems? What country (you can pm me if you wish)?

vastmassive

Well my friend It looks as though we are both in a very very similar situation, I was married last year in Portugal and until now we have still not compeated the process. There is no UAE embassy in Portugal and no Portugese embassy here. the officials over here are unable to help as they are all NOT SURE.

Can you believe I work for a Document clearing company!!!! so even when I am surrounded by experts in these areas I still can't get it done. However....... The legal department here tells me there is a way around situations like this, and to a degree it makes sence........

The UAE as a whole has to respect the traditions of each country that they have a mandate with...... for example if you are a member of a tribe that has a partucular marriage ritual that is performed and your country excepts it as legally binding then the UAE must agree with it........ The be all and end all of these situations is that if your country accepts your marriage, they must to LEGALLY!!!!! if you obtained a new passport and your wife changed hers and it was excepted then YOU ARE MARRIED!!!! no question....... if they do not agree then you must take this case to the british embassy and they will handle it on your behalf.........

meonline

Thanks for your insight. My sympathies with you. I am waiting to here from the embassy on Monday, if nothing transpires then I will be forced to go over their head and seek independent advice. I honestly don't understand why these people create unneccesary problems for people who actually want to come and live and work in their country.

Norm_uk

May I ask is she from a Muslim background? I heard of something like this recently.

N.

meonline

Yes.

meonline

Just heard back from the embassy. They have refused to attest the marriage certificate because I don't have my old passport that shows the stamp of my entry into the country where I got married. That is all they are concerned with. So that means my wife and daughter cannot join me out here and so probably back to the UK this December thanks to the ridiculous demands of this embassy. If anybody knows any way around this, please help. Now I am really living an expat nightmare.

mathematist

That's definitely not good news. I really do hope that things improve.

Does your wife have a British Passport yet? If so, could you have another marriage ceremony in a UK marriage in a registry office in the UK and then get the certificate attested from here via the usual process etc, FCO, UAE embassy here etc...? I doubt this would be considered fraud since you are only married and just confirming it here in the UK.

What do you guys think?

Also meonline, is your field of work considered a respectable one just out interest? Could this also affect the outcome too?

meonline

Mathmetist, this idea did cross my mind. I don't know what the technicalities are. Would be interesting to find out if somebody has more information on this. My wife has a British passport now, yes. I work in the DIFC so I don't think that should be a factor.

Oyibopeppeh

I have a similar sort of issue in that I'm hearing rumours that my Nigerian wife and daughter will not be given residence visas due to the fact that they do not have ILR (indefinite leave to remain) in the UK. They are currently here on visitors visas.

We were married in the UK under a Home Office COA (Certificate Of Approval) in 2009.

Can anyone please confirm if this is the case?

mathematist

if your family have a British residency and passport, they can stay with you for 30 days, go to another nearby country and come back after a few hours like others?

Oyibopeppeh

No, they are both here in the UK on visitor visas

Norm_uk

If you're not also a Muslim they could be getting arsey then because according to their laws Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslim men (Muslim men can marry non-Muslim women though of course because it's a religion of total equality )...that's what happened to someone I knew recently (eventually got it sorted though but not sure how).