Divorcing in the United Arab Emirates

Hello Diksha,
Regarding your inquiry about divorce , i can briefly say :" if you are Muslim it is so easy to get divorced ,just go to any  Shareiya Court and ask the judge for divorce from your spouse and justify your reasons for that ,then it takes few days to get your divorce.

Can take a month thru dubai court, don't know pricing. Tnx.

Hi thanks for the question divorce  could be submitted by the husband or the wife or both of them it could be also submitted through a lawyer but in that case it will be costly the easy way is the presentation by both of them  the case should be submitted to sharia court in the emirate you are living means the location of your residence visa the court needs the marriage contract and sometimes legal translation to Arabic of the contract does it include paying money to the wife  divorce   in Muslim cases the husband usually pays money in the form of compensation to his ex wife lf he seeks divorce the judge has many question to ask about divorce causes and he may mediate between partners  The wife or the husband may seek mediation to mend their relation as a substitute to divorce This is a simple reply  while advisers and lawyers have a more illustrated reply regards Adnan Mustafa long serving editor

Hi Diksha,

I'm currently processing my divorce, and my hearing is on 18th Aug. It is not that hard in my case as I was thinking before. If your case is not that complicated and you think your partner will agree to you, then just do it by yourself. First go to typing centre and translate your marriage contract in Arabic (100AED) and attest the document to Ministry of Justice in Al Twar (55AED). Then go to Personal Status Court in Garhoud at ground level typing centre to open a file it will cost you 105AED for typing and 120AED for court fee.

Then they will schedule you to comeback after one month, to family reconciliation court. In my case is easier because my husband never been to UAE. So they just asked me to go to immigration and get a travel report / proof that he really never enter the country. Then proceed to the same typing centre and they will guide you to open your file. In my case, they open my file and they gave me letters or notice to send to my husband thru DHL and I was advised to bring the DHL airwaybill on my hearing date together with my attested marriage contract. So let us see what will happen on 18th.

So far I've spent around 1200AED for everything including typing, attestation, court fee and DHL (325AED).

If you really keen to do it, do it yourself first and hire a lawyer only when necessary.


I hope this information will help.

In my case already with court in India though it was too late.

I’m still unsure how I go about mine if he’s not in the country , it wasn’t registered in Dubai or own home countries and I don’t know where he is? Any advise welcome

You need to know where he is bec the court will need to send him a notice.

Going through something similar myself.
Got an Expat lawyer as were using the UK courts to divorce.
Something you may want to consider - locally or recognised back home...