# Girlfriend question



## dave91 (Dec 27, 2010)

Hi all

This is my first post here so be gentle!
Basically i may be moving to dubai for a minimum of three years (as long as i get the offer) and i was wondering if you could clear something up for me.

I will be moving there on my own as i am single and have no family to move out with me. I have friends who have had girlfriends in the uk and have had to get married in order to both be over there together. Now my question is this...during my minimum of three years in Dubai what if i was to meet someone with whom we want to be in a relationship? I will have my own apartment/villa and i assume she would have her own also. What can/can't we do while we are living there? I know you cant cohabit without being married but at what point would it be considered cohabiting?

Many thanks

Dave


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Is illegal so here in the forum we'll tell you that upfront.

However many unmarried couples live together or at least stay over the night without issues, as long as you are discreet and don't upset the wrong people, it should be ok.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Also if your employer is paying directly for your accommodation and at some point a girlfriend moves in, is best if you keep this to yourself.


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## dave91 (Dec 27, 2010)

thankyou for the reply.

But are you saying it is illegal to have a girlfriend then?
Also although we would not be living together because we each have our own places, is it illegal for a female to stay even one night at a males home if they are not married?


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Is not illegal to have a girlfriend, what is illegal is for unmarried couples to cohabitateand yes, that includes staying over 'even for one night'... once you get here though you'll see that many peop;e do this without any issues, but they are breaking the law. However, technically speaking I also break the law when I drive with a male companion in my car, who is not my husband, father or brother  As I said, is not an issue provided you don't piss anyone off so badly that the police has to get involved, etc.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

no kissing in public though... holding hands is ok.


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## dave91 (Dec 27, 2010)

ok, thankyou for the help that pretty much answers my question perfectly!


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

No worries and good luck with your offer/move/finding a girlfriend


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

There is no real way for neighbors to know that she is or isn't your wife... just keep to yourself without getting on their bad side and you should be fine. 

Izzy, this brings up another question. _Can_ your father / brother / cousin visit and stay over for a few days if you are female? The same question if you are male, can my sister come visit me and stay "legally" or is that also a hush hush, dont say anything kind of situation? Ive always wondered about that but kept forgetting to ask.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Frist degree blood relatives are ok to live (and therefore stay) in the same house as far as I am aware, but cousins aren't.


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

dizzyizzy said:


> Frist degree blood relatives are ok to live (and therefore stay) in the same house as far as I am aware, but cousins aren't.


Thanks!


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

No worries. Also I meant cousins from opposite sex.


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

dizzyizzy said:


> No worries. Also I meant cousins from opposite sex.


Yeah, I figured as much. Im sure as long as its same sex, no one will say anything. Funny though, if I was gay, I could have my boyfriend coming over or even living with me for ever and no one would ever catch on.....


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## ozmo (Dec 29, 2010)

hi everybody,
i have a query which can be related with this subject.
my girlfriend wants to come here frequently to visit me. but she has to get a visa since coming from Turkey. whats the most effective visa for this purpose. i mean, which visa should she get?
as i know there are 96 hours to 30 days visa in Dubai.


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

ozmo said:


> hi everybody,
> i have a query which can be related with this subject.
> my girlfriend wants to come here frequently to visit me. but she has to get a visa since coming from Turkey. whats the most effective visa for this purpose. i mean, which visa should she get?
> as i know there are 96 hours to 30 days visa in Dubai.


She should apply for the 30-day visit visa. The 96-hour visa is for transit passengers only. The visit visa can be obtained through Emirates (if she is travelling with them) or through a reputable travel agency.


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## ozmo (Dec 29, 2010)

Maz25 said:


> She should apply for the 30-day visit visa. The 96-hour visa is for transit passengers only. The visit visa can be obtained through Emirates (if she is travelling with them) or through a reputable travel agency.


Maz thanks for reply, 
isnt there any other options to get a long time visa? 3 months or 6 months etc..


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

ozmo said:


> Maz thanks for reply,
> isnt there any other options to get a long time visa? 3 months or 6 months etc..


I'm not very familiar with tourist visas but check out Visa Information It might be of some use.


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## furryboots (Jul 31, 2009)

dizzyizzy said:


> Is not illegal to have a girlfriend, what is illegal is for unmarried couples to cohabitateand yes, that includes staying over 'even for one night'... once you get here though you'll see that many peop;e do this without any issues, but they are breaking the law. However, technically speaking I also break the law when I drive with a male companion in my car, who is not my husband, father or brother  As I said, is not an issue provided you don't piss anyone off so badly that the police has to get involved, etc.


If the OP is from Norfolk, it is quite likely that his sister/mother is the same person as his girlfriend.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

The 30 day visa visa through an airline can be extended once for another period of 30 days
there is a 90 day visit visa as well, but not sure if you can sponsor her without being a blood relative


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

furryboots said:


> if the op is from norfolk, it is quite likely that his sister/mother is the same person as his girlfriend.


   Hilarious!!!!


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## Nurse86 (Jan 4, 2011)

Hey everyone!!

So dating isnt illegal!!?! Ive decided to take the leap ive been meaning to do for years and move to dubai for work and meet a rather rich business man out there!! Heres hoping anyways! All my friends keep putting me off moving to Dubai saying its so strict and i wont like it but its an itch ive had for years and ive decided to scratch it!!


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

Nurse86 said:


> Hey everyone!!
> 
> So dating isnt illegal!!?! Ive decided to take the leap ive been meaning to do for years and move to dubai for work and meet a rather rich business man out there!! Heres hoping anyways! All my friends keep putting me off moving to Dubai saying its so strict and i wont like it but its an itch ive had for years and ive decided to scratch it!!


You're going to be disappointed if you move here in the hopes of meeting a rich business man. Not everyone in Dubai is rich although we certainly live lavishly!  So better do a background check on whoever you meet because chances are, you're being lied to.


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## EMARATI_GUY (Jan 5, 2011)

Dear All,

I'm a local guy from UAE, and i would be very happy to answer all your questions. Recently i've been hearing alot of things about Dubai which is totally wrong and i can understand why people talk about it in this way because of the newspapers. I wana tell u that our country is a free country and there is no problem at all for dating or to have a girlfriend in the UAE. Simply no one has the right to ask u who is the girl with u. We are locals and we date girls and we go out with girlfriends either locals or foreigners without any problems at all. What happened recently is that they caught couples who were not married kissing each other and drunk in Public and i think even in Europe u r not allowed to be drunk in the street as u can get caught for that.

So please feel free to live ur life in Dubai and don't complicate your life, and if anyone has a question i'll be more than happy to answer them.

Regards


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## subterminal (Nov 30, 2010)

dave91 said:


> Hi all
> 
> This is my first post here so be gentle!
> Basically i may be moving to dubai for a minimum of three years (as long as i get the offer) and i was wondering if you could clear something up for me.
> ...


My experience with it is simply: "Don't advertise that you live with your woman and no-one will give you a problem about it."
I'm sure someone will correct me though.


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## chaobella (Dec 14, 2010)

All i can say is i have been here for over 6 years and never seen or heard anyone having problems in living a "normal" life here in the UAE... Those articles that you read on the newspapers were exaggerated for mass appeal.

Fact is, UAE is a free/ open country and just like in any other country, it has its certain rules that serves as guidelines to those who knows no limits … And lastly, I always believe that Freedom comes with equal responsibility... Practice common courtesy… and whatever I do – there is no need for everyone to know!:clap2:


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

chaobella said:


> All i can say is i have been here for over 6 years and never seen or heard anyone having problems in living a "normal" life here in the UAE... Those articles that you read on the newspapers were exaggerated for mass appeal.
> 
> Fact is, UAE is a free/ open country and just like in any other country, it has its certain rules that serves as guidelines to those who knows no limits … And lastly, I always believe that Freedom comes with equal responsibility... Practice common courtesy… and whatever I do – there is no need for everyone to know!:clap2:


Whilst I agree that in other countries you might go to jail for being drunk in public or for public indecency, we must admit that in the UAE the penalties are harsher. THERE are consequences for kissing in public (even if it's just a polite reminder from a security guard) and for public drunkness behavoiur. In western countries having sex in public could end up in a humilliating visit to the police courts, here is jail for 3 months. In a western country a public fight under the influence could also mean a few days in jail (provided there are no assault accusations), but in the UAE the result could also be jail for a month or longer. I think to say that the UAE is a FREE and OPEN country is misleading. Is not as bad as the media portrays it, but then again, expats to be or new expats MUST be aware that there are consquences of breaking those rules. It would be irresponsible and misleading to say otherwise. I don't know of anyone in Mexico who went to jail for having sex on the beach for example. Here, well we all know. Same with public drunkness. The UAE is quite flexible and I think the government tries to make as many concessions as they can with western expats, I give them that. But to say that this country is just as open and free as a western coutry is simply not the truth.


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## EMARATI_GUY (Jan 5, 2011)

dizzyizzy said:


> Whilst I agree that in other countries you might go to jail for being drunk in public or for public indecency, we must admit that in the UAE the penalties are harsher. THERE are consequences for kissing in public (even if it's just a polite reminder from a security guard) and for public drunkness behavoiur. In western countries having sex in public could end up in a humilliating visit to the police courts, here is jail for 3 months. In a western country a public fight under the influence could also mean a few days in jail (provided there are no assault accusations), but in the UAE the result could also be jail for a month or longer. I think to say that the UAE is a FREE and OPEN country is misleading. Is not as bad as the media portrays it, but then again, expats to be or new expats MUST be aware that there are consquences of breaking those rules. It would be irresponsible and misleading to say otherwise. I don't know of anyone in Mexico who went to jail for having sex on the beach for example. Here, well we all know. Same with public drunkness. The UAE is quite flexible and I think the government tries to make as much concessions as they can with western expats, I give them that. But to say that this country is just as open and free as a western coutry is simply not the truth.


Well don't forget that you are in a Muslim country and a conservative community so you should respect the rules of the country and the local people. I guess kissing in public or having sex on the beach is not a big issue to you but it is to us. And also why would you have sex on the beach or kiss in public where you know that you live in a muslim conservative society. But trust me the security and the feeling of safety in our country you will not even find it in your country. There is no total freedom in Dubai or in UAE as i told you it's a muslim country but if you are in your own place you can do whatever you want as long as you close your doors and don't disturb the public.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

EMARATI_GUY said:


> Well don't forget that you are in a Muslim country and a conservative community so you should respect the rules of the country and the local people. I guess kissing in public or having sex on the beach is not a big issue to you but it is to us. And also why would you have sex on the beach or kiss in public where you know that you live in a muslim conservative society. But trust me the security and the feeling of safety in our country you will not even find it in your country. There is no total freedom in Dubai or in UAE as i told you it's a muslim country but if you are in your own place you can do whatever you want as long as you close your doors and don't disturb the public.


Dude, I AM not forgetting anything, nor do I condone that kind of behaviour in public. You can not possibly state if that behaviour personally offends me or not, as you do not know me, do you? Moreover, that is completely irrelevant to the issue. All I am saying is that this country is not FREE and OPEN. New expats must know that otherwise some of them might go around behaving stupidly and then have their embarrassing stories printed on the pages of The Sun or 7 Days for the whole world to see. Nobody is criticising your country, or at least I am not. I live here and I like it here and I have no intentions of leaving any time soon and I respect all the rules I am supposed to be respecting. My post is simply in response to your comment " I wana tell u that our country is a free country" (read your post) and to ciaobella's post using the words "open" and "free". Like I said, using those words is MISLEADING. I think the accurate thing would be to say that the country is as 'open' and 'free' as it could get for a MUSLIM country. But on western parameters, it is not. We all know that this is a Muslim country therefore different rules apply. If anything, my post is a REMINDER to encourage newcomers to respect the local rules.


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## EMARATI_GUY (Jan 5, 2011)

dizzyizzy said:


> Dude, I AM not forgetting anything, nor do I condone that kind of behaviour in public. You can not possibly state if that behaviour personally offends me or not, as you do not know me, do you? Moreover, that is completely irrelevant to the issue. All I am saying is that this country is not FREE and OPEN. New expats must know that otherwise some of them might go around behaving stupidly and then have their embarrassing stories printed on the pages of The Sun or 7 Days for the whole world to see. Nobody is criticising your country, or at least I am not. I live here and I like it here and I have no intentions of leaving any time soon and I respect all the rules I am supposed to be respecting. My post is simply in response to your comment " I wana tell u that our country is a free country" (read your post) and to ciaobella's post using the words "open" and "free". Like I said, using those words is MISLEADING. I think the accurate thing would be to say that the country is as 'open' and 'free' as it could get for a MUSLIM country. But on western parameter, it is not. We all know that this is a Muslim country therefore different rules apply. If anything, my post is a REMINDER to encourage newcomers to respect the local rules.



Well i agree with you but we are way different from other muslim countries and trust me when i say about my country free & open i really mean it and try to check the neighbouring countries for example. At the end Dubai is an international city and we all welcome you here no matter where you come from of from what race you are or what religion. As i said i'll be more than happy to teach everyone about our culture and society and i'm really opened to westerners and would love to have friends from all over the world


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

EMARATI_GUY said:


> Well i agree with you but we are way different from other muslim countries and trust me when i say about my country free & open i really mean it and try to check the neighbouring countries for example. At the end Dubai is an international city and we all welcome you here no matter where you come from of from what race you are or what religion. As i said i'll be more than happy to teach everyone about our culture and society and i'm really opened to westerners and would love to have friends from all over the world


How 'open' and 'free' the UAE is compared to other Muslim countries is irrelevant at this forum since this is a DUBAI forum. People come here (at least to this specific section of the forum) looking for information about DUBAI, not the whole Middle East (there is another section for that). I understand your comment and I believe the forum users will appreciate your point of view as an Emirati, but then again, we simply can not use the term 'open' and 'free' loosely as 'open' and 'free' has a whole different meaning to western expats. Is our responsibility in this forum to give accurate information, that is why people come here for answers. Most people will want to respect the rules and do the right thing, just look at the many threads asking if is OK to date, have a girlfriend or live together. My point is just that is MISLEADING to say to a western expat that he/she can conduct themselves in the same way they do back home, because that is simply not true.


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## chaobella (Dec 14, 2010)

MY apologies for the Misleading and general term i used earlier... as those two - OPEN and FREE - words can be perceived in many ways subjectively...

but just like what i mentioned -- UAE have rules which serves as our guidelines -- freedom is both a privilege and a RESPONSIBILITY --- practice COMMON COURTESY since we are dealing with hundreds of different people from different countries, cutures, religion and values -- what can i say...UAE is UAE.. it is not as bad as what they publish it in the news... you can drink and get drunk and at the same time be responsible enough not to be stupid and roam around the streets afterwards... you can have romantic relationships and practice common courtesy of not showing off intimate feelings in public instead keeping it within the walls of your home... you can wear sexy but still keep that sense of mystery and not show it all off..... i guess what im saying is having a healthy middle is not a bad practice here -- anything extremes will always lead to something bad one way or another.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

chaobella said:


> MY apologies for the Misleading and general term i used earlier... as those two - OPEN and FREE - words can be perceived in many ways subjectively...
> 
> but just like what i mentioned -- UAE have rules which serves as our guidelines -- freedom is both a privilege and a RESPONSIBILITY --- practice COMMON COURTESY since we are dealing with hundreds of different people from different countries, cutures, religion and values -- what can i say...UAE is UAE.. it is not as bad as what they publish it in the news... you can drink and get drunk and at the same time be responsible enough not to be stupid and roam around the streets afterwards... you can have romantic relationships and practice common courtesy of not showing off intimate feelings in public instead keeping it within the walls of your home... you can wear sexy but still keep that sense of mystery and not show it all off..... i guess what im saying is having a healthy middle is not a bad practice here -- anything extremes will always lead to something bad one way or another.


I completely agree with you  Sadly some people need to have this spelt for them otherwise as said previously they run the risk of having their stupidity portrayed on the front pages of world news rags  I bet that if we asked to every western expat who has landed in a UAE jail over something they thought was harmless,some of them will say that they didn't know how serious the offence was, otherwise they would have not done it!! Is important that people take *law* seriously around here (and I highlight the word 'law' here because these matters are not even (or not _only_) about common courtesy, but actual punishable offences, whether they find them stupid or disagree on them), or else be prepared to face the consequences


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## M-Dubai (Mar 23, 2011)

*girlfriend visits*

OK, I read through all the thread, and pretty much see that as long as no PDA is going on, one should be fine.

A questin with girlfriend coming to visit... If she gets a visa from the airline, but she is going to stay with me @ my apartment, is this a problem? What I mean, does she need to have a registered or reserve hotel room?


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

The immigration clearance people at the airport might ask her where she is staying while she is in Dubai and she definitely cannot say "With my boyfriend."

It does not happen often but if they ask to see a hotel confirmation, she could tell them that she'll be booking a room through the hotel airport desks that are after baggage clearance. That could help.

If your girlfriend has got a visa from the airline, she does not need to book a hotel room, but like I mentioned before, in case the immgration officer asks her where she is staying, she will need to give him the "correct" answer.

Hope this helps.


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## zin (Oct 28, 2010)

dizzyizzy said:


> No worries. Also I meant cousins from opposite sex.


Before we got married I would sign into my wife's company accomodation as her cousin and this was apparently acceptable for all intents and purposes according to her company. Are you sure cousins are not allowed?


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