Hi everyone, I really hope someone can offer some advice or point me in the right direction to where I can be advised about this.
A very long time ago, I met and fell in love with an Egyptian man. Long story short, after a long distance relationship for a few years we eventually went to Cairo with two witnesses and got married on one of my many trips there. We had two witnesses in Egypt and were given the marriage documents (in Arabic) etc.
My understanding at the time was that this marriage was only legal or recognised in Egypt, and in order for it to be recognised in the UK I would have to have the document/certificate translated and stamped and all those things, otherwise, outside of Egypt it was not recognised and I was not technically, or legally I mean, married. Luckily (and hopefully) at the time, I did not do this. I have never had the documents translated, and therefore legalised, as far as I am aware.
Fast forward a few years, and past a lot of bad stuff and betrayals that led to me ending this relationship (it ended about 2 years after we got married, and about 5 years after knowing each other), and at this point not having spoken to this person for approximately 5 years or so now, I assumed that I would not need to do anything as I am not 'married' outside of Egypt and would not need any kind of divorce. But I'm really worried this may effect me or my future, or any future relationship I may have. Maybe this is really naive of me because this happened when I was much younger and didn't know the full extent of the situation I was in, I was blindly in love, but I am really worried that is may not be the case as I was led to believe, and in order to be truly free of him, and this relationship, I need to divorce him somehow. Is this true? However I have no contact with him, no idea where he is or how to contact him if I ever needed to regarding this and I no longer have the Arabic document/certificate we were given when we got married at the place in Cairo that was required.
So my questions and concerns are: is this marriage Legal and recognised both inside and outside of Egypt? Will it cause me any issues if I were to ever return to Egypt on holiday etc? Which I have avoided doing so since all of this was over years ago. And If the day comes that I eventually want to get married am I considered legally married already and will need to obtain a divorce first? If a divorce is needed, I would rather get this done so I'm truly free of this and him, sooner rather than later so if anyone is able to point in the right direction of which service I should contact for help and advice, I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much in advance for any help and advice you can offer.