The United Arab Emirates is an attractive place for tourists and visitors from all around the world, as its luxury townhouses and five-star hotels and restaurants populate Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other locations within the country.
As the nation began a profound transformation in recent years thanks to ‘petrodollars,’ or money resulting from the oil business, the United Arab Emirates went from having virtually nothing to being one of the wealthiest countries in the Middle East and Asia in general.
UAE: a re-born country
The money has brought technology with it, and technology has attracted visitors to spend seasons in the country without entirely disconnecting from their hometowns. The Internet’s connection speed is high in the Emirates, and people take advantage of this situation to download content, watch online streaming, as well as other activities.
As it turns out, there are thousands of American expats living and working in the United Arab Emirates, away from their country and families for long periods of time. These people need to find entertaining ways to kill free time, and they surely miss American TV shows, movies, and series.
However, most of the US sites and services online need the person to be present in the country to broadcast the full catalog of shows: thanks to geo-blocking, chances are that if you are in the UAE and want to access an American streaming site, the system will tell you that the content is not available for your current location.
One of these services is the Amazon Prime Video, in its American version. For reference, Amazon is maybe the world’s most famous online store and was born in the United States of America.
Amazon Prime Video: dozens of titles at your disposal
Amazon, after experiencing an enormous success in online sales, expanded its catalog of services and developed a video service for Amazon Prime members (these people pay a monthly or annual fee and get access to discounts, earlier deliveries and other benefits.)
So, Amazon Prime video is a service that has numerous titles and series available for Amazon Prime members and is managed by Amazon.com. The mentioned productions carry no additional costs to members other than the monthly or annual fee.
Americans love the Amazon Prime Video feature because it gives them access to the newest episodes of popular TV shows, such as The Man in the High Castle, Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, and Jeremy Clarkson’s The Grand Tour, among dozens of others.
American people can acquire an Amazon Prime membership and enjoy the best of Amazon Prime Video, but how can UAE’s expats do to enjoy those series if they are not within the borders of the US? Well, using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can get the job done, although, given the censorship laws existing in the Emirates, you may want to proceed with caution.
UAE, Internet and censorship
The legality of the use of a Virtual Private Network provider in the United Arab Emirates is rather ambiguous. On one hand, the law says that there is a ban for those individuals who use VPNs, which can reach up to £412,240. In addition to that, there could be imprisonment involved, depending on the circumstances, of course.
So what does the law say? Individuals risk losing millions of dirhams in fines if they use anything other than legal VPN services, according to the UAE Cybercrime law of 2012. Depending on the severity of the offenses, the punishment can even involve a life sentence.
As any other country in the Middle East, the UAE government is concerned about ethical problems, such as child pornography for example, and since VPN usage can involve the hidden performance of such activities, the authorities are always alert.
UAE and the use of VPNs
Despite the serious crimes and threats described above as examples, authorities often overlook the common uses of Virtual Private Networks if they result in no harm to anybody involved.
Most UAE people use VPN services to access VoIP services, such as Skype (which was recently blocked, by the way) and entering restricted international sites for entertainment, mainly in the form of online streaming. Unblocking and watching Amazon Prime Video in the UAE with a VPN is not considered a serious offense, so authorities will most likely save their energies to catch the most dangerous criminals hiding under the encryption benefits of a VPN.
What is a VPN and how can it help you Unblock US Amazon Prime Video in UAE
American expats and people in general with a subscription who want to enjoy one of the dozens of series that Amazon Prime Video can broadcast will be able to sit back and enjoy, thanks to the VPN ability to hide the user’s UAE IP address and replace it with an American one.
Once you are connected to your VPN client or app, entering a US server is necessary, because if you don’t the American Amazon Prime Video system will recognize that you are in the UAE and restrict your entry ability.
In short, VPNs are digital services provided by open source clients or custom companies on the web. These services let people hide their IP address and traffic by rerouting them through remote servers, which the user can choose to connect according to its preferences and current needs.
How to unblock and watch American Amazon Prime Video in UAE
The process to Unblock US Amazon Prime Video in UAE is a very straightforward. You only need to:
- Select a VPN with servers in the United States of America and with solid encryption protocols and measures, to avoid being spotted by the UAE governmental authorities.
- Go the VPN website.
- Sign up for the service. You need to provide personal information like name and email, and also a payment method.
- Download and install the VPN client or app in your phone or device.
- Log in to your recently created account, entering the credentials and information provided in the third step.
- Once you are in, configure encryption and privacy settings according to your preferences.
- Connect to a US server. This is very important.
- Access your Amazon Prime Video account.
- Enter the American series or show you want to watch and enjoy!
Best VPN to Unblock US Amazon Prime Video in UAE
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|---|---|---|
| Multi-platform Compatible | ||
| 256-AES Encryption | ||
| PRICE | $5 for 1 month with code "best10VPN" | $6.95 a month |
| Website Rating | 9.9 | 8.8 |
| 24/7 Live Chat | ||
| Residential / Dedicated IP for permanent streaming access | ||
| Has Mobile App + PC / Mac Support | ||
| Stealth VPN / Advanced Obfuscation techniques | ||
| Visit VPN Provider | Visit TorGuard | Visit PIA |
TorGuard
The best all-around option, TorGuard offers robust encryption, tons of American servers and tutorials and guides so you can learn how to unblock US Amazon Prime Video in UAE by yourself. Additionally, it has more than 3,000 servers in 55 nations, OpenConnect SSL based VPN, all the major encryption protocols, unlimited speeds and bandwidth, and a top customer service.
IPVanish
One of the most convenient alternatives for the objective at hand because it is based on the United States, so find servers to unblock Amazon Prime Video won’t be a problem. Besides, IPVanish has other exciting features, such as fast servers, more than 40,000 IP addresses, a killswitch, and DNS leak protection.
Private Internet Access
Both TorGuard and IPVanish cost around $10 per month, so if you don’t have that kind of budget and don’t want to hire a poor VPN, then you should know that PIA offers a solid service for nearly half the cost.
GhostVPN
With a 15-day money-back guarantee, which is the best refund policy of the VPNs listed here, GhostVPN can let users try it features for two weeks before deciding on a permanent hire. Also, it provides 1,600 servers and content from 51 nations, including the USA. A stealth VPN, a free version, AES 256-Bit encryption and unlimited server switching make GhostVPN one of the most desirable alternatives for unblocking international content and remaining anonymous in the process.
In conclusion, while the UAE’s laws prohibit the use of VPN, the probabilities of receiving actual punishment for using them to enjoy American content online are extremely slim. Use TorGuard, IPVanish, PIA or GhostVPN to unblock US Amazon Prime Video in UAE.
