Family mediation for families in the Gulf

Working across the Gulf makes a separation more complicated than it needs to be: residence tied to a job, school places tied to the year, and a legal position that differs from one country to the next.

British and international families work across the Gulf, and a separation there brings a set of pressures that do not arise at home. Residence is usually tied to an employer, housing often comes with the job, school places run on the academic year, and a change in one of those can force decisions about all of them at once.

This page covers Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. The United Arab Emirates has a page of its own, and there is a separate one for families in Dubai.

Situations we are asked about

• A contract ending, and a decision about whether the children return to the UK and when.
• One parent remaining in the Gulf on a work visa while the other returns to England or Wales.
• An English divorce to be sorted out while both of you are living abroad.
• Savings, an end-of-service payment or property held in more than one country.

Money and property in two countries

End-of-service payments, savings and property held in the Gulf can all be discussed in mediation. Whether an English court would take them into account, and whether an English order could reach them in practice, are legal questions that need advice in both countries – and the answer is often less straightforward than families expect.

If a child is taken or kept without agreement

None of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait or Oman is a party to the 1980 Child Abduction Convention or the 1996 Child Protection Convention – nor is the UAE. That is the single most important thing on this page. That does not mean nothing can be done. It does mean the return machinery those conventions provide is not available to you. The route is through the courts of the country concerned, with diplomatic assistance where it applies. Specialist legal advice matters more here than almost anywhere, and it matters immediately.

This is a summary, not advice, and the exceptions and detail matter enormously. Our guide to the Hague Conventions explains how they work. If a child has already been taken or is not being returned, take specialist legal advice immediately – mediation must never delay that.

School years and holidays

Children at school in the Gulf follow the Gulf calendar, not the English one. The year generally runs from late August or early September to late June, with a long summer break, and the holidays are the local ones: Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Islamic New Year, National Day and a winter break. English half terms fall in the middle of Gulf term time, so an arrangement built around them will not work.

The point that catches families out is that the Eid holidays move. They follow the lunar calendar and fall roughly eleven days earlier each year against the Western one, so the same holiday drifts through the months over time. A parenting plan that says “the children come in April” will be out of step within a couple of years. The plans that survive are written against the school calendar instead: “the first week of the Eid al-Fitr break”, or “half of the summer holiday”. Agree as well who checks the dates once the school publishes them, and by when.

Travel, distance and contact

Six to seven hours’ flying from the UK, with frequent direct flights from most Gulf capitals. The journey is rarely the obstacle. Visas, employment, school terms and rules about children travelling are the things that need checking in advance, and they differ between these countries – take local advice rather than assuming what applies in one applies in another.

Language and timing

Mediation is held in English, Bengali or Hindi. Interpreters are arranged for Arabic, Urdu, Malayalam, Tagalog or another language where they are needed, and this is discussed and costed before anything is booked. Much of this site can also be read and listened to in six other languages.

The Gulf is currently 2 hours ahead of the UK, so sessions are arranged for a time that works in both places. Appointment times are agreed with each of you beforehand.

Someone who knows the context

I lived and worked in the Gulf for a good part of my career. It means I already know the shape of life there – how a job, a visa and a home tend to arrive as one package and leave the same way, what the school year really looks like, and the part that wider family and community play when a marriage is in difficulty. You will not have to explain any of that from the beginning, and you will not be asked to justify it either.

What it does not make me is a lawyer in any Gulf country. For the legal position there you need somebody qualified there. What I can offer is an understanding of the world these decisions are being made in.

How this would work

Everything is held online. Each of you meets the mediator separately first – that is the MIAM, and it is where suitability is assessed, including whether an English mediator is right for your situation at all. After that, joint sessions are arranged at a time that works in both countries, or as shuttle sessions where being in the same call is not right.

A MIAM matters only if a case in England and Wales is possible; a MIAM certificate carries no weight before a foreign court. Mediation cannot decide which country has authority, cannot give legal advice, and what you agree is not enforceable until a lawyer makes it so – so independent advice, usually in both countries, runs alongside.

Where there has been abuse or controlling behaviour, mediation may not be suitable at all: see domestic abuse and mediation.

Fees: a MIAM is £125 per person and joint sessions £180 per person – full fees. The Government voucher and Legal Aid have eligibility rules most families living abroad will not meet; it is checked individually, never assumed.

Ask for a free 15-minute chat

Not sure an English mediator is the right choice? That is what the free chat is for. If a mediator in your own country would serve you better, we will say so.

Questions we are asked

Sources

• HCCH – status table, 1980 Child Abduction Convention
• HCCH – status table, 1996 Child Protection Convention
• GOV.UK – international parental child abduction

Treaty status and official guidance checked on 27 September 2026.