# Getting married before I move to the UAE



## rednelly84 (Jul 4, 2010)

Hello everyone,↲
↲
I am due to move to Abu Dhabi in September to start teaching there. My boyfriend has been very supportive of my decision to move however he will not be coming with me. We had discussed the possibility of him coming for a holiday but he is terrified of doing so because we aren't married we will be found out and put in jail. My new employer assures me that locals and the police do not look for this sort of thing and that if we were respectful in public then no one should bat an eye lid. ↲↲
Only, last night out of the blue my boyfriend said that maybe we should get married before I go. If we were to do this, what changes to my paperwork would I need to get done. For example, my teaching degree certificate has been attested by my solicitor and is currently in the hands of the FCO. ↲Any advice would be greatly appreciated


----------



## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

First of all, tell your boyfriend to stop panicking!  provided you behave sensibly, the chances of their being any problems are minimal. It's not as if you are planning on living together. Co-habitation is illegal, but many do it. If he was planning on moving out here too, then it makes sense to get married, but otherwise, I'd caution against rushing into anything.

If you do get married, you don't need to do anything else, as you are coming on your own merit. You would only need to get the marriage certificate attested if you plan on changing your surname.

Good luck.
-


----------

