Western Asia
Video Chat with People from the United Arab Emirates
A video chat with someone in the United Arab Emirates could connect you with an Emirati or with one of the many residents who moved there from South Asia, the Arab world, the Philippines, Europe or Africa. You might meet people in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain or Ras Al Khaimah. Arabic is the official language, but English is the everyday common ground in shops, offices and friendships, and Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam and Tagalog are heard all the time.
The Emirates run on Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4) with no daylight saving. At 9 PM in Dubai it's lunchtime in New York during US summer time and early evening in London. Summers are hot, so social life often stretches late into the night, which makes evenings there a lively time to connect. Good topics: desert camping, the beach, food from every corner of the world plus Emirati dishes like machboos and luqaimat, football and cricket.
The United Arab Emirates at a glance
| Flag | 🇦🇪 |
|---|---|
| Official name | United Arab Emirates |
| Capital | Abu Dhabi |
| Region | Asia · Western Asia |
| Official language | Arabic |
| Currency | United Arab Emirates dirham (د.إ, AED) |
| Calling code | +971 |
| Time zone | Gulf Standard Time (Asia/Dubai) |
How to say hello
A few words of Arabic make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic | مرحبا | MAR-ha-ba | Hello |
| Arabic (Gulf) | شلونك؟ | SHLOH-nak | How are you? (Gulf dialect) |
| Arabic | مساء الخير | ma-SAA al-KHAYR | Good evening |
Tips for chatting with people from the United Arab Emirates
- Don't guess where someone is from just because they're in the UAE; "Where's home for you?" is a better opener and often leads to great stories.
- A word or two of Arabic, like "marhaba", is appreciated even when the rest of the chat is in English. Our Arabic phrases help with the basics.
- Ask for recommendations: a favorite late-night food spot, the best beach or a desert trip worth taking.
- From the Americas, your late morning is their evening; from Europe, it's your late afternoon.
Only meet people from the United Arab Emirates
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from the United Arab Emirates, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for United Arab Emirates and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from the United Arab Emirates, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from the United Arab Emirates are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
The United Arab Emirates borders 2 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: