Getting married in Egypt

kareelena wrote:

The Egyptian wrote:

All ex-USSR female citizens cannot get married without having a six-month non-touristic residence visa first, the only way for some people to get is by getting married Urfi and using Urfi contract to get a six months visa, afterwards it can be used for legal marriage

kareelena wrote:

Hi, guys
I am so glad I found this topic by luck. I am currently in the situatuion that many people are used to be and I need anybody's help. I plan to marry in Cairo soon and nowadays I am trying to find all the possible information I need for that. My head is in a big mess. Those friends who got married there tell me this, the embassy's web-site tells that, the Internet tells that and so on and so fort. I gotta make it clear for myself finally.
I live in Belarus, as far as I understood all I need to get from my country is the paper I am not married and have never been. Then with this paper I come to Cairo, notarize it in my embassy and then what? I am a muslim and I heard I can make nikah and after it with the marriage contract, both of our passports and photos I go to mugamma to apply for a 6-months visa. After I get it, I can marry in an official way, they say in shara-akari...I guess it is a notary office, is it? Or where should we? I also heard we cannot make nikah, because I am a foreighner, only after getting this fiance visa and we must make an orfi contract, but I don't wanna do it!!
Please, ya gama3, help me with all the steps how it should be done:(
And do we need medical certificates as well?

I think i wrote about the ufri contract, i am a muslim and i dont wanna make it like that, so i asked if its possible to make nikah instead of it and obtain 6months visa afterwards?

the answer is NO ....

First off, Nikah (done in a mosque) is done ONLY when both partners are Egyptian Muslims.

If one partner is a foreigner, it has to be done in the Ministry of Justice.

Ministry of Justice has some requirements, one of which is for ex-USSR females to have a non-touristic residence visa for 6 months at least.

This means if you are already on a work/student/family visa in Egypt, you can get married straight away.

However, since you do not have such a visa, and have no access to getting it on other grounds, your only workaround is to get married Urfi, then use Urfi to get the six months visa, then get married legally.

The Egyptian wrote:

kareelena wrote:

The Egyptian wrote:

All ex-USSR female citizens cannot get married without having a six-month non-touristic residence visa first, the only way for some people to get is by getting married Urfi and using Urfi contract to get a six months visa, afterwards it can be used for legal marriage

I think i wrote about the ufri contract, i am a muslim and i dont wanna make it like that, so i asked if its possible to make nikah instead of it and obtain 6months visa afterwards?

the answer is NO ....

First off, Nikah (done in a mosque) is done ONLY when both partners are Egyptian Muslims.

If one partner is a foreigner, it has to be done in the Ministry of Justice.

Ministry of Justice has some requirements, one of which is for ex-USSR females to have a non-touristic residence visa for 6 months at least.

This means if you are already on a work/student/family visa in Egypt, you can get married straight away.

However, since you do not have such a visa, and have no access to getting it on other grounds, your only workaround is to get married Urfi, then use Urfi to get the six months visa, then get married legally.

wallahy this is so strange because I know at least 2 of my friends who made nikah instead of orfi...they said it's possible because you get a permission paper from the embassy that says you are not married in your home country and u have no obstacles to marry in egypt and imam does it all with no problem.
Shukran leek for your help. I understood the whole process in general!

Salaam All-

I came across your thread through Google, thanks for sharing all of your advice/experiences! I have a unique (or so I think) situation that I'd like to run by you all:

Me: American male, converted to Islam (have Azhar cert), live and work in New York.
Fiance: Egyptian, student in New York, Muslim.

The issue:
We did our civil marriage in the US a few months ago as we thought we were going to do the katb alkitaab earlier in the year. So now we are technically married in the United States, but without a religious component. Our wedding is this summer in Egypt and we want to add the religious component. Has anyone had any experience like this?

We are considering doing the katb kitaab here in New York at an Islamic Center, then going to the Egyptian Consulate for processing/translation as it sounds like there's no way to do these steps in Egypt quickly (I'll only be in Egypt for a week).

Also - I know it is more common for foreign women to marry Egyptian men, anyone know if procedures differ for foreign males marrying Egyptian women?

Thank you all for any feedback!

Hello, my name is Pia...i would like to know if anyone can give me some information about:
i am an slovenian citizen,living in Slovenia,my boyfriend is Nigerian and he is living and working in Dubai...we plan to get married,but noone is helpful on any of embassies,it's like they are only sitting on their asses and doing nothing,this is so sad   to getting married in Dubai is so dufficult,cuz UAE is not a signer to Haag convention, Slovenia is,and this makes it crazy and so on....so i was thinking if there is any possibility to get married on a visit visa in Cairo for us? does anyone have any ideas maybe?

Tnx for help,
Pia

SunshinePia wrote:

Hello, my name is Pia...i would like to know if anyone can give me some information about:
i am an slovenian citizen,living in Slovenia,my boyfriend is Nigerian and he is living and working in Dubai...we plan to get married,but noone is helpful on any of embassies,it's like they are only sitting on their asses and doing nothing,this is so sad   to getting married in Dubai is so dufficult,cuz UAE is not a signer to Haag convention, Slovenia is,and this makes it crazy and so on....so i was thinking if there is any possibility to get married on a visit visa in Cairo for us? does anyone have any ideas maybe?

Tnx for help,
Pia

What difference does it make for a country to be a signatory to the Hague convention in terms of you getting married in that country?

What the heck has the hague convention and whether a country is signed up for it or not got to do with you getting married??

UAE - my husband egyptian, me british - got married the egyptian embassy.
what is the problem with getting married in the uae?

hi.im polish but I live in uk and I will get merrid in egipt soon please tell me about procedure .thank you

betti73 wrote:

hi.im polish but I live in uk and I will get merrid in egipt soon please tell me about procedure .thank you

Can everyone provide the following info with their question :

1- Your gender
2- Your marital state (single, divorced, widowed)
3- Your religion
4- Your nationality
5- Your visa status in Egypt (if any)


By Your I mean your and your future spouse as well.

Hi,tnx for the reply. It's a big difference when it comes to papers+time+money...for example i can only get a 14 days turist visa for Dubai and i have no idea how i would be able to fix all this in 14 days. Slovenia is so freaking complicated when it comes to visa stuff and paper stuff. The problem is that all papers that i would need to get married in Dubai needs to be translated to englihs first and certified,then send it to nearest embassy od UAE,that's in Rome,cuz we don't have one...they need to translate it to arabic....then back to me...then send it to Dubai,cuz the paper work need like 4 weeks....then if everything would be ok we would be able to get married,then after to  different courts and no idea what else,then send it to Cairo( i am not sure) cuz i read the handle UAE issues since we don't have any embassy there....nd then back to me...and after all that i would be able to sign the marriage in Slovenia....that's why i was thinking if it's possible to get married for 2 foreigners with turist visa in Cairo? or is this impossible?

SunshinePia wrote:

that's why i was thinking if it's possible to get married for 2 foreigners with turist visa in Cairo? or is this impossible?

If your embassies would give you the NOC's, it could be possible

tnx for the info will ask them

but surely all this translations et al - are going to be the same.

Even when you arrange a marriage abroad - say the seychelles form europe - you have to have all the correct paperwork done and all the necessary translations.
SO basically you have to allow the correct time frame in which to do all this red tape no matter where you are going to get married.
The rest of the world doesn't behave like Las Vegas!!

biffy wrote:

but surely all this translations et al - are going to be the same.

Even when you arrange a marriage abroad - say the seychelles form europe - you have to have all the correct paperwork done and all the necessary translations.
SO basically you have to allow the correct time frame in which to do all this red tape no matter where you are going to get married.
The rest of the world doesn't behave like Las Vegas!!

Yeah but what she means, if there is a Slovenian embassy in Egypt things (translations, attestations, legalizations ...etc.) will be easier than getting married in a country where there is no embassy

exactly,it's much easier and faster and cheaper if the embassy is there

no not really 0 becuase you can do most of these tings from the home country.

How easy or difficult is it to get married in Egypt as I am from USA and I am marrying a Christian Egyptian?

To the "Egyptian", I found your detailed step by step process regarding marrying in Egypt very informative,thanks. I see the blog is from last year but I am wondering if you are able to recommend a local "Lawyer" or other "Facilitation"office in Cairo , just to take the hassel of running around off my shoulder and do the needed paper work ?
Thanks

THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLAY.DO YOU KNOW IF I HAVE ALL MY PAPER WORK DONE FOR GET MERRID IN EGIPT AND IT IS OK TO GO TO CAIRO AND THEN PEOPLE FROM OFFICE WILL TRANSLATE INTO ARABIC ??? OR I HAVE TO DO THIS IN POLAND ????/

It is all a matter of signature verifications. If the documents are issued by the foreign embassy in Egypt, such as a permission to marry, for instance, they do not need to be validated by authorities in sweden and the egyptian embassy in the same country.

If the documents come from sweden, they have to be attested in Sweden, including translation into Arabic and stamp from Egyptian Embassy in Sweden.

As an Egyptian, you will have to prepare documentation as well, proving your family status and salary.

You might want to contact the swedish embassy to make sure of the requirement for an egyptian to marry a swedish. Some embassy require documentation from the egyptian counterpart before issuing a certificate of no impediment, to make sure the man is not already married or is free to marry.

2613 wrote:

How easy or difficult is it to get married in Egypt as I am from USA and I am marrying a Christian Egyptian?

Can everyone provide the following info with their question :

1- Your gender
2- Your marital state (single, divorced, widowed)
3- Your religion
4- Your nationality
5- Your visa status in Egypt (if any)


By Your I mean your and your future spouse as well.

MacB wrote:

To the "Egyptian", I found your detailed step by step process regarding marrying in Egypt very informative,thanks. I see the blog is from last year but I am wondering if you are able to recommend a local "Lawyer" or other "Facilitation"office in Cairo , just to take the hassel of running around off my shoulder and do the needed paper work ?
Thanks

I would not recommend that. Most of them are crooks, will make you pay through the nose and do nothing.

Do it yourself, it will save time, money and hassle.

betti73 wrote:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLAY.DO YOU KNOW IF I HAVE ALL MY PAPER WORK DONE FOR GET MERRID IN EGIPT AND IT IS OK TO GO TO CAIRO AND THEN PEOPLE FROM OFFICE WILL TRANSLATE INTO ARABIC ??? OR I HAVE TO DO THIS IN POLAND ????/

Can everyone provide the following info with their question :

1- Your gender
2- Your marital state (single, divorced, widowed)
3- Your religion
4- Your nationality
5- Your visa status in Egypt (if any)


By Your I mean your and your future spouse as well.

ExpEgypt wrote:

It is all a matter of signature verifications. If the documents are issued by the foreign embassy in Egypt, such as a permission to marry, for instance, they do not need to be validated by authorities in sweden and the egyptian embassy in the same country.

true

ExpEgypt wrote:

If the documents come from sweden, they have to be attested in Sweden, including translation into Arabic and stamp from Egyptian Embassy in Sweden.

Also true

ExpEgypt wrote:

As an Egyptian, you will have to prepare documentation as well, proving your family status

True

ExpEgypt wrote:

and salary.

NOT true ...... Egyptian government doesn't ask for that.

ExpEgypt wrote:

You might want to contact the swedish embassy to make sure of the requirement for an egyptian to marry a swedish. Some embassy require documentation from the egyptian counterpart before issuing a certificate of no impediment, to make sure the man is not already married or is free to marry.

Exactly. Requirements to issue the approval/non-objection certificate are vastly variable from embassy to embassy.

Some embassies require nothing, some require lots of documents from their citizen, some require lots of documents from the Egyptian citizen, some require lots of documents from both ......etc.

It is not difficult to get married in UAE if your fiancee is resident. It is actually fairly easy.

There is no such thing as 'living and working' in UAE on a visit visa. It is illegal and it leads to immediate deportation.

In order to get married in Dubai IF your fiancee is legally resident there, you will need:

- a medical test, including sexually transmitted diseases, HIV etc, from an approved hospital in the UAE.

- A certificate of no impediment from your embassy, proving you are not married and free to marry.

It is difficult for a man to get married to a woman in UAE if:

1. He's not legally resident in the UAE (Iqamah)

2. He is already married and does not have sufficient funds to sponsor two wives in his country,

3. He is unable to obtain documentation from his country regarding his marital status, either because he is already married there, or he is concerned his wife will come to know.

4. The woman is already married in her country and cannot obtain documentation from her embassy or registry office.

Two foreigners can get married in Cairo, but it is much more complicated than the UAE.
Both of you will have provide documents showing you are free to marry.

Please, Pia, I seriously smell a rat in this situation. Ask your fiancee to show you his residence permit and family status. If he refuses, just walk away...

SunshinePia wrote:

Hello, my name is Pia...i would like to know if anyone can give me some information about:
i am an slovenian citizen,living in Slovenia,my boyfriend is Nigerian and he is living and working in Dubai...we plan to get married,but noone is helpful on any of embassies,it's like they are only sitting on their asses and doing nothing,this is so sad   to getting married in Dubai is so dufficult,cuz UAE is not a signer to Haag convention, Slovenia is,and this makes it crazy and so on....so i was thinking if there is any possibility to get married on a visit visa in Cairo for us? does anyone have any ideas maybe?

Tnx for help,
Pia

ExpEgypt wrote:

It is not difficult to get married in UAE if your fiancee is resident. It is actually fairly easy.

There is no such thing as 'living and working' in UAE on a visit visa. It is illegal and it leads to immediate deportation.

In order to get married in Dubai IF your fiancee is legally resident there, you will need:

- a medical test, including sexually transmitted diseases, HIV etc, from an approved hospital in the UAE.

- A certificate of no impediment from your embassy, proving you are not married and free to marry.

It is difficult for a man to get married to a woman in UAE if:

1. He's not legally resident in the UAE (Iqamah)

2. He is already married and does not have sufficient funds to sponsor two wives in his country,

3. He is unable to obtain documentation from his country regarding his marital status, either because he is already married there, or he is concerned his wife will come to know.

4. The woman is already married in her country and cannot obtain documentation from her embassy or registry office.

Two foreigners can get married in Cairo, but it is much more complicated than the UAE.
Both of you will have provide documents showing you are free to marry.

Please, Pia, I seriously smell a rat in this situation. Ask your fiancee to show you his residence permit and family status. If he refuses, just walk away...

SunshinePia wrote:

Hello, my name is Pia...i would like to know if anyone can give me some information about:
i am an slovenian citizen,living in Slovenia,my boyfriend is Nigerian and he is living and working in Dubai...we plan to get married,but noone is helpful on any of embassies,it's like they are only sitting on their asses and doing nothing,this is so sad   to getting married in Dubai is so dufficult,cuz UAE is not a signer to Haag convention, Slovenia is,and this makes it crazy and so on....so i was thinking if there is any possibility to get married on a visit visa in Cairo for us? does anyone have any ideas maybe?

Tnx for help,
Pia

Being a UAE resident myself, I second your statement.

Hello! I am glad I found this forum. I planned my appointment at the Us Embassy for the appropriate affidavit. Is it possible to do this, ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice paperwork all in one day in Cairo? Also, I know it can take a week or so to get the official papers, but can they give a temporary one in the mean time?

Smelserjl wrote:

Hello! I am glad I found this forum. I planned my appointment at the Us Embassy for the appropriate affidavit. Is it possible to do this, ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice paperwork all in one day in Cairo? Also, I know it can take a week or so to get the official papers, but can they give a temporary one in the mean time?

Check what time of the day the embassy delivers the papers ...... MoFA takes max 30 minutes afterwards ...... MoJ you need to be there before 12 with all the papers in place. No temporary paper is given.

Oh darn! I had heard that MoJ gives temp papers after you finish everything, we wanted to go on our honeymoon that weekend

Smelserjl wrote:

Oh darn! I had heard that MoJ gives temp papers after you finish everything, we wanted to go on our honeymoon that weekend

It's almost impossible to finish everything in one day anyways.

And it all depends what time the embassy delivers documents. Some embassies have fixed times of the day to deliver documents.

Plan A would be to get the papers from the embassy, go to MoFA, then go to MoJ next day early morning.

Plan B would be to go to the embassy, and if it's too late, then go to MoFA 8 AM next day then MoJ.

You will need also lots of papers with you at MoJ.

Usually Egyptians getting married with a wedding registrar get a temporary paper. MoJ doesn't give temporary paper (that was the case when I got married there 2 years ago) ...

How do you think Ramadan will affect this? And also, I will have a tourist visa stamp. I saw your post about the process, but I didn't really understand that part.

Smelserjl wrote:

How do you think Ramadan will affect this? And also, I will have a tourist visa stamp. I saw your post about the process, but I didn't really understand that part.

If u r American you will need a Touristic residence Stamp from Mogamma Al Tahrir ...... u can get it on the spot.

Ramadan = Much shorter working hours everywhere ......

You need : 6 photos each, your visa copy, your residence stamp copy, your fiance's ID card copy, your passport copy, Health Certificate for both of you, 50 EGP Family Fund stamp from any post office.... it's two copies each btw .......

Also what are your religions?

So the touristic residence stamp is not the same as the tourist stamp I got from the Egyptian embassy in DC for tourist purposes? Also, he is Muslim and I am Christian. When I fill out the papers at the US Embassy in Cairo, supposedly they will certify I am Christian.

Smelserjl wrote:

So the touristic residence stamp is not the same as the tourist stamp I got from the Egyptian embassy in DC for tourist purposes? Also, he is Muslim and I am Christian. When I fill out the papers at the US Embassy in Cairo, supposedly they will certify I am Christian.

You do not need a stamp from the Egyptian Embassy in DC. You just fly in, make sure you have $15 in USD Change (coins not accepted), buy the visa stamp from any bank before immigration counter ..... and voila !

to get married you still need to go to Tahrir Complex (El Mogamma) to get a touristic residence stamp besides the "Entry Visa" stamp which you got upon entry for $15 .....

Some embassies accept to write the religion based on your pledge/affidavit ..... The US embassy is one of them (as far as I know back in 2004 when my best friend married an American, but you should also verify that with the embassy) ..... as long as the embassy document says you're Christian, you're in the clear.

Yes I know I cold have gotten the visa stamp at the airport, but I'm always hassled in DC airports when I try to leave the country without the appropriate visa, so I just get it ahead of time.

Thanks so much for these tips!

Smelserjl wrote:

Yes I know I cold have gotten the visa stamp at the airport, but I'm always hassled in DC airports when I try to leave the country without the appropriate visa, so I just get it ahead of time.

Thanks so much for these tips!

Tons of Americans fly in to Egypt from everywhere in the US, there is no hassle.

You can simply print this and show it to the immigration officer/flight counter if they do not know it

http://www.emirates.com/english/plan_bo … 1d825e8fd7

I'll do that next time, since I already have the visa and I'll be leaving in three weeks. I read on another blog that if you are foreigner, sometimes u can get to the front of the line at MoFA or MoJ. Is that true? Do. Need appointments or u just show up?

Smelserjl wrote:

I'll do that next time, since I already have the visa and I'll be leaving in three weeks. I read on another blog that if you are foreigner, sometimes u can get to the front of the line at MoFA or MoJ. Is that true? Do. Need appointments or u just show up?

At MoFA, you cannot get to the front of the line. There is a queuing system. Sometimes there are shorter lines for women ....

At MoJ, everyone is a foreigner ! because Egyptian-Egyptian marriages cannot be conducted there ...... so literally ALL the couples are either foreigners or mixed !

No need for appointments. It's simply first come, first served.

yes 2 lines one for women usually shorter

Does the touristic residency stamp require that I have been in Egypt for a certain period of time? And a job? My job won't start until like a week later