The UAE's premarital medical test is a screening both partners take before a Sharia marriage contract can be registered in the Emirates. A civil marriage there does not need it, and Georgia asks for no medical test at all. This guide covers who has to take the UAE test, what it screens for, where to take it, and what changes when you marry in Tbilisi and bring the certificate back to the UAE.
Quick summary
- A Sharia marriage contract cannot be registered in the UAE without a valid premarital screening certificate for both partners.
- The screening covers HIV, hepatitis and syphilis, plus the inherited blood disorders thalassemia and sickle cell anemia.
- Since January 2025, Emiratis planning to marry also take a genetic test of 570 genes covering more than 840 disorders.
- A civil marriage in the UAE needs no premarital screening, and Georgia's official document list has no medical test of any kind.
- A Georgian certificate counts in the UAE after 3 document stamps, none of them medical.
- A spouse joining your UAE residence visa still takes the standard medical fitness test at 18 or over, wherever you married.
On this page
Is the Premarital Medical Test Mandatory in the UAE?
It is for a Sharia marriage. The UAE government's rule is that a marriage contract under Sharia law cannot be registered without a valid premarital screening certificate for both partners. The rule belongs to the contract rather than to anyone's passport, so an expat Muslim couple in Dubai or Sharjah takes the test just as an Emirati couple does.
Timing follows from that. A Sharia court marriage in Dubai cannot be registered until both certificates are in the file, and each has to still be valid on the day, so couples plan the test around the contract date rather than months ahead.
A civil marriage does not need the test. The same government guidance says premarital screening is not required for a civil marriage, so couples who choose civil marriage in Abu Dhabi skip it entirely.
From our Tbilisi team
Couples comparing routes often start with the test, because it is the step they have heard of. We suggest starting with the contract instead: once you know whether yours is a Sharia contract, a UAE civil marriage or a registration in Tbilisi, the medical question answers itself.
What the UAE Premarital Screening Tests For
The standard screening looks for 2 groups of conditions: infections that can pass between partners, and inherited blood disorders that can pass to children. Emiratis take a third, a genetic panel. The program pairs the tests with counseling, which is why the service is called premarital screening and counseling.
| Test group | What it looks for | Who takes it |
|---|---|---|
| Infectious diseases | HIV, hepatitis and syphilis | Both partners |
| Inherited blood disorders | Thalassemia and sickle cell anemia | Both partners |
| Genetic panel | 570 genes covering more than 840 genetic disorders | Emiratis planning to marry, since January 2025 |
The genetic panel is the newest part: the Ministry of Health and Prevention made it mandatory for Emiratis nationwide in January 2025. An expat couple takes the standard screening in the first 2 rows.
Where to Take the Premarital Test in Each Emirate
Only approved facilities count: government hospitals, health centers accredited by the Ministry of Health and Prevention and, depending on the emirate, certain approved private hospitals. Each service publishes its own fees and document list.
| Emirate | Service |
|---|---|
| Abu Dhabi | Premarital Screening and Counseling Program, Department of Health |
| Dubai | Pre-marital Screening, Dubai Health |
| Sharjah | Pre-Marital Testing Laboratory, Emirates Health Services |
| Ajman | Pre-Marriage Medical Test service |
| Other emirates | Premarital Screening and Counseling, Emirates Health Services |
A report from an unapproved lab does not count
Results from a facility outside the approved list are not accepted for a marriage contract. A full panel from a lab that is not approved, however recent, leaves the couple testing again at an approved center, and the contract date moves back while they wait for the new certificate.
Does Georgia Require a Medical Test for Marriage?
No. The official list for marriage registration in Georgia (opens in a new tab) has no medical test, no blood work and no health certificate, and that holds for Georgian citizens and foreigners alike.
What the registry checks instead is identity and freedom to marry. Before you sign, the registrar explains the legal bars to marriage: being under 18, being married to someone else, being close relatives, and being of the same sex. Religion and nationality are not asked, so the rules for marrying in Georgia as a foreigner are the same whether you fly in from Dubai or from Berlin.
What Georgia asks for instead
- A valid passport for each of you, with your names in Latin letters
- Proof you are in Georgia lawfully: the entry stamp you received, and the UAE residence permit if you entered on it
- 2 adult witnesses with their passports or ID cards
- If either of you was married before, the divorce decree or death certificate with an apostille or legalization and a notarized Georgian translation
The registration itself takes 1 working day. Without a ceremony it is free at any Public Service Hall on weekdays, and you can register the day you apply or on any day within the 2 months an application stays valid.
Using a Georgian Marriage Certificate in the UAE
Marrying in Georgia changes where the paperwork happens rather than removing it. For couples who live in the UAE, the certificate counts there only after 3 stamps, and all 3 are attestations of the document.
- Georgian legalization. A Public Service Hall legalizes the certificate and adds the Foreign Ministry's stamp in the same step, from GEL 30 on the 8th working day to GEL 150 on the same day.
- UAE Embassy in Tbilisi. The consular section attests the legalized original for USD 41, its fee for a non-commercial document such as a marriage contract.
- MOFA in the UAE. You apply online or through the MOFA app, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attests the original for AED 150, its fee for personal-status documents.
The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not start this chain. Ask the Public Service Hall for legalization; the fee is the same.
State fees on the Georgia route
- Premarital medical test
- Not required
- Registration at a Public Service Hall, weekday, no ceremony
- Free
- Georgian legalization of the certificate
- GEL 30 to 150
- UAE Embassy attestation in Tbilisi
- USD 41
- UAE MOFA attestation
- AED 150
A ceremony at a Public Service Hall adds GEL 75. An English translation of the certificate from the same agency costs GEL 30 a page.
The one medical step that does follow is residency. A spouse joining your UAE residence visa takes the medical fitness test that every sponsored family member aged 18 or over has to pass. It belongs to the visa rather than the marriage, so it applies whether you married in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Tbilisi.
Which Marriage Routes Need a Premarital Test
| Route | Premarital medical test | Using the certificate in the UAE |
|---|---|---|
| Sharia contract in the UAE | Both partners, at an approved facility; Emiratis add the genetic panel | A UAE document from the start |
| Civil marriage in the UAE | Not required | A UAE document from the start |
| Civil registration in Georgia | Not required | After Georgian legalization, the UAE Embassy and MOFA attestation |
Georgia offers a civil marriage only. It asks nothing about religion, and a nikah or church blessing can take place after the registration, but only the civil registration creates the marriage in Georgian law.
From our Tbilisi team
Some couples take the UAE screening before flying to Tbilisi, just in case. The registry never asks for it, so we suggest spending that time on what Georgia does check: the stamp on a divorce decree and the witnesses' passports. If you want the screening for your own information, it is worth having; it simply plays no part in the registration.