MUSCAT: Data obtained from the Supreme Judiciary Council indicates a growing Omanis getting married to foreigners. The total number of Omanis who married foreigners reached 7,719 over the past three years, including 640 Omani women who married non-Omani men. The period from October 29, 2023, to June 30, 2026, saw approximately 1,226 divorces among Omanis married to foreigners, averaging roughly one divorce for every six marriages.
Said bin Rashid al Maktoumi, Head of the Family Counseling at the Department of Family Guidance and Counseling at the Ministry of Social Development, says that the ministry views divorce rates as important social indicators that require continuous monitoring and analysis. The analysis should not only examine the statistics but also study the causes and circumstances involving each case, which contributes to developing preventative and therapeutic programmes that support family stability.
He explained that the Family Guidance and Counseling Department implements specialized programmes that aim at enhancing marital compatibility and family cohesion as well as developing communication and marital disputes management. Among the most prominent of these is the Life Companion initiative, a year-round marital counseling programme offered in various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman. The programme, delivered by qualified specialists, targets those planning to get married as well as newlyweds. The department also provides early intervention counseling services to prevent disputes from reaching the point of divorce, thus enhancing the chances of a lasting marriage whenever possible and safe for both parties.
He noted that the awareness and family guidance programmes cover a range of topics including picking a spouse, building realistic expectations for married life, family dialogue and communication skills, marital disputes management, mutual rights and responsibilities, family budget management and positive parenting.
He added that the programmes place particular emphasis on raising awareness about the importance of respecting cultural and social differences in cases of marriage to someone of a different nationality, enhancing adaptation and understanding skills between spouses to achieve family stability. The ministry also provides individual counseling services for those who need to discuss private matters through the electronic services portal and the unified call center (1555), or by visiting the social development departments in the governorates where specialists provide family counseling services.
By Yousef bin Salem al Habsi
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