# Can I get married twice?



## mattprizzle (Jul 15, 2011)

Hi all, I hope someone can advise, I’m moving to dubai in August and am still trying to get documents attested which is not proving to be very straight forward. I’m a UK citizen but got married in Cyprus a year and a half ago and have a Cypriot marriage certificate. In order to get this attested I have already sent it to the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Nicosia to get them to legalise it. I then have to get it attested in the UAE embassy in the country of origin but Cyprus do not have a UAE embassy and neither do Greece so after many phone calls and searching I found that it has to go to Italy. I posted the certificate some time ago but it has not been received by them, I fear it may have been lost in the notoriously unreliable Italian Post system along with my 40 Euro fee (they do not accept any other form of payment other than cash). If it has been lost then I will have to get any new certificate issued from Cyprus and start the whole process again which will take weeks. The process is infuriatingly slow with many channels of communication in several different countries so I am trying to think how I can get around it. Does anyone know if there will be ay implications for me if I get ‘married’ again in the UK at a registry office as I think this may be the most expedient way to do it.


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## whitecap (Jan 28, 2011)

mattprizzle said:


> Hi all, I hope someone can advise, I’m moving to dubai in August and am still trying to get documents attested which is not proving to be very straight forward. I’m a UK citizen but got married in Cyprus a year and a half ago and have a Cypriot marriage certificate. In order to get this attested I have already sent it to the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Nicosia to get them to legalise it. I then have to get it attested in the UAE embassy in the country of origin but Cyprus do not have a UAE embassy and neither do Greece so after many phone calls and searching I found that it has to go to Italy. I posted the certificate some time ago but it has not been received by them, I fear it may have been lost in the notoriously unreliable Italian Post system along with my 40 Euro fee (they do not accept any other form of payment other than cash). If it has been lost then I will have to get any new certificate issued from Cyprus and start the whole process again which will take weeks. The process is infuriatingly slow with many channels of communication in several different countries so I am trying to think how I can get around it. Does anyone know if there will be ay implications for me if I get ‘married’ again in the UK at a registry office as I think this may be the most expedient way to do it.


why don't you ask your local registrar, I would have thought that they would need to see your Cypriot certificate though. Looking on the CAB site it does mention:

Making a marriage legally valid

If you have been married in a way that is not recognised as valid in the United Kingdom, the marriage can take place again according to United Kingdom law provided that both you and your partner meet the requirements described earlier.

But as I said I would check with the registrar.


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## zin (Oct 28, 2010)

Cyprus does has a small consulate in Deira. What we did was get it stamped in Cyprus like you and just gave it to the UAE ministry of foreign affairs here to attest as per their instructions. 

Not sure why you would look for a Greek embassy or have to send it to Italy?


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## mattprizzle (Jul 15, 2011)

Thanks for the replies, the reason I've sent it to Italy is because I was told that it needed to be stamped by the UAE embassy in the country of origin ie Cyprus. The UAE don't have an embassy in Cyprus or Greece but the embassy in Italy deal with both countries.

I have now spoken to a registrar who has confirmed that we can get married again in the UK but they would have to mention the original marriage on the new certificate.


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## truck (Jul 16, 2011)

my experience , getting married once was more than enough would even do it twice


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## ReggieDXB007 (Mar 10, 2011)

mattprizzle said:


> Hi all, I hope someone can advise, I’m moving to dubai in August and am still trying to get documents attested which is not proving to be very straight forward. I’m a UK citizen but got married in Cyprus a year and a half ago and have a Cypriot marriage certificate. In order to get this attested I have already sent it to the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Nicosia to get them to legalise it. I then have to get it attested in the UAE embassy in the country of origin but Cyprus do not have a UAE embassy and neither do Greece so after many phone calls and searching I found that it has to go to Italy. I posted the certificate some time ago but it has not been received by them, I fear it may have been lost in the notoriously unreliable Italian Post system along with my 40 Euro fee (they do not accept any other form of payment other than cash). If it has been lost then I will have to get any new certificate issued from Cyprus and start the whole process again which will take weeks. The process is infuriatingly slow with many channels of communication in several different countries so I am trying to think how I can get around it. Does anyone know if there will be ay implications for me if I get ‘married’ again in the UK at a registry office as I think this may be the most expedient way to do it.


Cyprus has an embassy in Abu Dhabi which I believe is able to deal with consular matters - Deira (Gurair Centre) houses the Cyprus Trade Centre and Cyprus Tourism Office and they used to be extrememly helpful in collecting and sending documents to Doha in the days when the only Cypriot Embassy was there.

I have a Greek marriage certificate and we just had it translated into Arabic at the official translation bureau at the ministry of foreign affairs in Athens and it seems to have been accepted ever since. Can't remember if I needed to get it stamped here at all.

If you are pressed for time, you could try to get it translated into Arabic here - there's only one accredited Greek-Arabic translator in the UAE Hrach Kalsahakian ([email protected]) and he tells me that the Cypriot Embassy/Trade Centre will stamp it as a genuine translation which should then be acceptable by the authorities here. 

Hope it all works out for you...


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## gb226690 (Oct 4, 2011)

mattprizzle said:


> Thanks for the replies, the reason I've sent it to Italy is because I was told that it needed to be stamped by the UAE embassy in the country of origin ie Cyprus. The UAE don't have an embassy in Cyprus or Greece but the embassy in Italy deal with both countries.
> 
> I have now spoken to a registrar who has confirmed that we can get married again in the UK but they would have to mention the original marriage on the new certificate.


Hi - I am having the same problem that you had as we have a Greek marriage certificate. Can you help me please? How did you get yours sorted? I have spoken to my registary office and they said I cannot get married again here as it would be deemed as illegal?

Any help you can give me I would greatly appreciate - I am literally tearing my hair out!

Thanks


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

gb226690 said:


> Hi - I am having the same problem that you had as we have a Greek marriage certificate. Can you help me please? How did you get yours sorted? I have spoken to my registary office and they said I cannot get married again here as it would be deemed as illegal?
> 
> Any help you can give me I would greatly appreciate - I am literally tearing my hair out!
> 
> Thanks


It's not illegal to marry the same person twice. Friends of mine were married in Greece over 10 years ago and remarried in a UK registry office before coming to the UAE as it was much easier to get a UK marriage certificate attested.


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## gb226690 (Oct 4, 2011)

Elphaba said:


> It's not illegal to marry the same person twice. Friends of mine were married in Greece over 10 years ago and remarried in a UK registry office before coming to the UAE as it was much easier to get a UK marriage certificate attested.


The problem is though - if the registry office won't marry us because they are saying it is illegal then my hands are tied because I can't force them to marry us - and I can't prove it isn't legal because if you read all of the information on the internet it does sound like it is. I guess we could get married in the registry office without declaring our Greek wedding - but if for some reason it was found out to be illegal then i guess it would be null and void anyway and I'd be in big trouble.

My employer believes that the Greek Embassy in the UAE can attest things without sending them off anywhere - so because it already has an apostlle stamp - hopefully I'll be able to do it when I get there. otherwise my husband will be staying in the UK!!


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