Dubai Travel Forum

My boyfriend, who will be working in the Middle East next year, has invited me out from Australia to join him for a week of leave in DUBAI the middle of 2010. We plan to stay in a hotel, and, not having seen each other for 3 and a half months, 'reacquaint' ourselves.

As common law marriage and extramarital sex are not recognised in the UAE, is carrying on this kind of intimate relationship in the privacy of our own hotel room legally permitted? Do we face any legal repercussions if we are known to be staying together?

Cheers!

Hello from Dubai!

Every year, thousands of tourists travel to Dubai and naturally not all of them are married. Don't worry - you're in a hotel room and there is no law against an unmarried foreign couple being in a hotel room together.

Yes, it's "against UAE law" but if this were actually enforced then nobody but singles and married couple could ever travel to the UAE, right?

As Jess said, a blind eye is turned to such things. Act sensibly and there'll be no problem. You'd only be in trouble if you caused a nuisance, like staggering around drunk or having a wild party, and the police got involved.

Well still its a long time remaining and I suppose youe boyfriend is not yet in Dubai. If he gets his own private accommodation you can as well stay there and no problem would be there unless as Colin mentioned police is involved for some complaint!!

Remember to keep your "re-acquainting" private. There was a big furore over the British "couple" (don't know if they were married) caught having sex on the beach. They were sentenced to 3 months in prison (but I don't know if they served it). As a person working in the region your bf would also put his work-permit at risk.

Kim, that's entirely different. They were behaving indecently in public, which is an offence not just here but in most countries. FYI they were not married, in fact had only met earlier that day. They went to jail and were then deported.

The man, Vince, has since bragged about it to one of the British tabloids. (If you're interested you can read it here: www.mirror.co.uk/latest-news/news/2009/01/03/sex-on-beach-briton-the-sordid-truth-115875-21013166/

Thanks, but I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of reading about something like that!

Good decision Kim, he shows just what an awful man he is!