UAE hopes to be Vegas of the East with new marriage law

DUBAI is to recast itself as the Las Vegas of the Middle East as the Emirates expands its marriage reforms to give mixed-faith couples the chance to tie the knot in less than 24 hours.

Since Abu Dhabi became the first destination in the Arab World to offer the rapid mixed faith, civil weddings almost a year ago, more than 5,000 couples from the Middle East and the rest of the world have travelled there to get married.

In February, the reforms are set to be expanded to all seven emirates, positioning Dubai, already one of the most visited cities in the world, to become the region’s wedding capital and cash in on the $16billion (£13billion) market for wedding tourism.

Hesham El Rafei, a legal expert in Abu Dhabi, said: “When it comes to progressive laws, the UAE is a leading reformist in the region as it reshapes the relationship between the law and a 1,000-year-old religious opinion which was hijacked by extremists.”

Dubai will join Abu Dhabi in allowing women to get married outside of Shariah law, which requires that a woman needs her father’s or another male guardian’s approval to get married.

The move will also appeal to those in non-muslim countries who are prevented from marrying outside their religion such as Israel.

Dmitri Sedov, 26, a Jew, and his Christian wife, Elena Gladovsky, 41, recently travelled from Israel to Abu Dhabi to get a civil marriage. Mr Sedov said: “In Abu Dhabi, this process is very fast, and there is little bureaucracy. We were helped through the process.”