Couples who live in the UAE marry in Tbilisi under the same rules as any foreign couple, and a valid UAE residence permit gets almost any passport into Georgia. The registration itself takes 1 working day. The planning goes into the UAE side: the Emirates do not accept an apostille, so the certificate needs 3 stamps before it counts there. This guide covers entry, documents, the day itself, that chain, the costs and the Abu Dhabi alternative.
Quick summary
- A valid UAE residence permit gets any nationality into Georgia visa-free for 90 days in any 180; UAE citizens can stay a full year.
- Citizens of 17 listed countries, including Pakistan, Nigeria and Bangladesh, need at least 1 year left on the permit on the day they enter.
- You need passports, 2 adult witnesses and, after a divorce, a legalized decree; there is no medical test and no certificate of no impediment.
- Registration without a ceremony is free at any Public Service Hall on weekdays, and it can happen the day you apply.
- The UAE takes no apostille, so the certificate is legalized in Georgia (GEL 30 to 150), then attested by the UAE Embassy in Tbilisi (USD 41) and UAE MOFA (AED 150).
- Abu Dhabi's civil marriage costs AED 300 and takes up to 10 working days, so Georgia's advantage is speed rather than price.
On this page
Can UAE Residents Get Married in Georgia?
Yes. Georgia sets no residency rule and no minimum stay, so where you live plays no part; what the registry checks is that each foreign partner is in the country lawfully on the day. An Indian and a Filipino living in Dubai, or 2 Britons in Abu Dhabi, register exactly as a couple flying in from London would.
The documents, witnesses and fees are the ones any foreign couple marrying in Georgia meets. Living in the UAE changes 2 things only: how you enter the country, and which stamps the certificate needs once you are married.
Georgian law does not ask about religion, so interfaith couples register on the same terms as everyone else. The marriage is a civil one. A religious ceremony such as a nikah can follow the registration, but only the civil registration creates the marriage in Georgian law.
Entering Georgia on a UAE Residence Permit
Georgia keeps 2 lists that matter to UAE residents. One names the countries whose citizens enter visa-free for a year, the UAE and the other Gulf states among them. The other names 50 places whose residence permits or visas let any nationality in for 90 days in any 180, and the UAE is on that one too.
| Your situation | How you enter | How long you can stay |
|---|---|---|
| UAE citizen | Visa-free on your passport | A full year |
| Citizen of a visa-free country, such as the UK, an EU state or the US | Visa-free on your passport | A full year |
| Any other nationality with a valid UAE residence permit | Visa-free on the UAE permit, which must be valid on the day you enter | 90 days in any 180 |
| Citizen of 1 of the 17 listed countries, on a UAE permit | Visa-free only with at least 1 year left on the permit | 90 days in any 180 |
| No visa-free route | An e-visa from the Georgian portal: USD 20 plus a 2% service fee, decided in about 5 working days | Up to 90 days in any 180, by nationality |
Check the permit's expiry before you book
Since 16 May 2025, citizens of 17 countries entering on a Gulf residence permit need at least 1 year of validity left on the day they arrive: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Uganda and Yemen. A permit with 11 months left does not get you in, and the fix is a Georgian visa arranged before you fly, not a conversation at passport control.
Whichever row is yours, keep the entry stamp you receive at the airport and bring the document you entered on. At the Public Service Hall, that is how you show you are in Georgia lawfully.
Documents to Bring From the UAE
The registry's list is short: a passport for each of you, proof of lawful stay, identity documents for 2 adult witnesses, and proof that any earlier marriage has ended. A passport that shows your name in Latin letters, as nearly all do, is accepted without a translation.
Nothing on the list is medical. Georgia asks for no premarital medical test, blood work or health certificate, and it asks for no certificate of no impediment, no birth certificates and no letter from an employer or visa sponsor.
A previous marriage is where UAE residents get caught out. A divorce granted by a UAE court needs legalization for use in Georgia, because the UAE is outside the Apostille Convention, while a divorce from a home country needs that country's apostille or legalization. Either way the decree reaches Tbilisi stamped, and a notary there certifies the translator's signature on its Georgian translation: GEL 6 for a 1-page document, plus GEL 5 to register the act.
Before you leave Dubai or Abu Dhabi
- Both passports, with your names in Latin letters
- Your Emirates ID and residence details, valid on the day you land, with 1 year or more left if your passport is on the list of 17
- The divorce decree or former spouse's death certificate, apostilled or legalized, if either of you was married before
- Passports or ID cards for 2 adult witnesses, unless we are providing them
- Travel health insurance for every day you are in Georgia
- A return date that leaves time for the Georgian legalization, or a plan for finishing it after you fly home
Registering the Marriage in Tbilisi
You apply together at a Public Service Hall and can register the same day or pick any day within the next 2 months. Tbilisi has 3 branches, and Central, on Zviad Gamsakhurdia Embankment, is the only one that also opens on Saturday and Sunday.
The registration runs in Georgian. The registrar explains the legal bars to marriage, then you, your partner and both witnesses read and sign the record, so bring an interpreter even though the official list does not require one.
| Day | Where and how | State fee |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | Any Public Service Hall, at the registrar's desk | Free |
| Monday to Friday | A Public Service Hall, with a short ceremony | GEL 75 |
| Saturday or Sunday | Tbilisi Central Public Service Hall, with a ceremony, 10:00 to 17:00 | GEL 75 |
| Every day, between the 2 houses | Wedding House No. 2 or No. 3, with a ceremony | GEL 135 on weekdays, GEL 225 at weekends |
From our Tbilisi team
We plan UAE couples around a weekday morning. Flying in on Thursday evening and registering on Friday costs 1 day of leave and keeps the free registration open to you, which Tbilisi does not offer at weekends. Count Georgian public holidays as closed days; the 2 left in 2026 are 14 October and 23 November.
Making the Certificate Valid in the UAE
The UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so it does not accept an apostille on a Georgian certificate. The certificate goes through embassy legalization instead, a chain of 3 stamps, and the first 2 are collected in Tbilisi.
- Legalize it at a Public Service Hall. The agency certifies the certificate and adds the Georgian Foreign Ministry's stamp itself, so you pay once: GEL 30 for the 8th working day, GEL 60 for the 4th, GEL 120 for the 2nd or GEL 150 for the same day.
- Take the original to the UAE Embassy in Tbilisi. Its consular section attests the legalized certificate for USD 41, the fee for a non-commercial document such as a marriage contract, and it publishes no processing time.
- Finish in the UAE. The last stamp is MOFA attestation in the UAE, applied for through mofa.gov.ae or the UAE MOFA app for AED 150, the fee for personal-status documents. Courier delivery inside the UAE adds AED 40 for 3 working days or AED 150 for 1, before VAT.
The certificate is issued in Georgian, and the agency that legalizes it also translates it into English for GEL 30 a page. Ask the UAE office that will receive it whether it wants an Arabic translation as well.
For many couples the certificate's main job in the UAE is sponsoring a spouse's residence visa, where the application asks for the marriage certificate with its UAE attestation. A certificate that stops at the Georgian stamp, or carries an apostille, stalls at that step.
From our Tbilisi team
We suggest a second original to anyone who may need the marriage outside the UAE. A certificate legalized for the UAE counts in the UAE only, so one copy goes through the embassy chain and the other takes an apostille for a home country in the convention, such as India, the UK or the Philippines.
What It Costs to Marry in Georgia From the UAE
The Georgian state charges little for the marriage itself. For a couple who register without a ceremony, the stamps that follow cost more than the wedding.
State and embassy fees for a Georgian marriage used in the UAE
- Registration at a Public Service Hall, weekday, no ceremony
- Free
- Registration with a ceremony, or at a place you choose
- GEL 75 to 255
- Georgian legalization at a Public Service Hall
- GEL 30 to 150
- Agency translation of the certificate into English
- GEL 30 per page
- UAE Embassy in Tbilisi attestation
- USD 41
- UAE MOFA attestation
- AED 150
- MOFA courier inside the UAE, before VAT
- AED 40 or AED 150
- No ceremony, legalization on the 8th working day, 1 translated page, no courier
- GEL 60, USD 41 and AED 150
Flights, the hotel, a notary's fees for any translated divorce papers and a translator's own charges come on top.
Our GCC Attestation package costs $750. It covers the document check and translations, the registry booking, an interpreter and 2 witnesses, the Georgian legalization, the UAE Embassy stage and MOFA attestation, and the finished certificate is couriered to your address in the Gulf.
How Long the Whole Process Takes
The marriage takes 1 working day. The stamps after it set the length of the job, and because the UAE Embassy publishes no processing time, nobody can give you a fixed date for that stage.
| Stage | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Public Service Hall, Tbilisi | The day you apply, or a day you choose within 2 months |
| Georgian legalization | Public Service Hall | The same day at GEL 150, up to the 8th working day at GEL 30 |
| Embassy attestation | UAE Embassy, Tbilisi | No published processing time |
| MOFA attestation | Online, then courier in the UAE | Courier in 1 working day at AED 150 or 3 at AED 40 |
The practical split is to register and collect the Georgian stamp while you are in Tbilisi, leave the embassy stage to someone who stays behind, and finish with MOFA from home. Both of you have to be in the room for the registration itself, which Georgia never allows through a representative.
Timing matters most to couples expecting a baby in the UAE, because the wedding is the quick part and the attestation chain is the slow one. Plan backwards from the date you need the attested original, not from the wedding day.
Before the certificate leaves Tbilisi
- Your names on the certificate match your passports letter for letter
- The stamp is legalization, not an apostille
- The UAE Embassy's attestation is on the original, not on a copy
- The English translation is with it, if the UAE office needs one
- A second original has its apostille, if your home country will need one
Georgia or a Civil Marriage in Abu Dhabi
Staying in the UAE is the real alternative. Civil marriage in Abu Dhabi is open to couples of any religion or nationality except Muslim UAE citizens, and residents and tourists can both apply, so living in Dubai or Sharjah does not rule you out.
| What differs | Georgia | Abu Dhabi civil marriage |
|---|---|---|
| Travel | A trip to Tbilisi | In person in Abu Dhabi, or by video link for UAE residents |
| Witnesses | 2 adults | None required |
| State fee | Free on weekdays without a ceremony | AED 300, or AED 2,500 for the urgent service |
| Time to marry | As soon as the day you apply | Up to 10 working days, or 1 with the urgent service |
| Using it in the UAE | Legalization, UAE Embassy and MOFA attestation first | Already a UAE document |
For 2 expats who can wait up to 10 working days, Abu Dhabi is cheaper and simpler: no flight, no witnesses and no attestation chain. Georgia marries you faster without the AED 2,500 urgent fee, and it can apostille a second original for a home country, but the certificate only counts in the UAE once the chain is done.
Muslim couples also weigh a court marriage in Dubai against Georgia. On the Georgian side the registration asks nothing about religion and needs no guardian's consent for an adult, so the choice comes down to which set of documents you can produce and where you want the certificate to come from.